SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The state of New Mexico must create a remedial plan to improve K-12 education after falling short of providing an adequa…
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Several moments were pivotal in Pope Francis’ relations with Native communities in the Americas. In Bolivia in 2015, he asked for forgiveness for Catholic complicity in colonialism. Later that year in Washington, he declared the 18th century missionary priest Junipero Serra to be a saint, a move some denounced because of the priest's controversial legacy. In Mexico in 2016, Francis demonstrated his support for blending Indigenous culture into worship. He apologized for the church's role in residential schools in Canada in 2022. The following year, he led the Vatican's repudiation of the “Doctrine of Discovery.”
Whoever succeeds Pope Francis will inherit his momentous and controversial legacy of relations with Indigenous people throughout the Americas. Francis, who died April 21, apologized for the “catastrophic” legacy of residential schools in Canada. He oversaw the repudiation of the so-called “Doctrine of Discovery,” based on colonial-era papal decrees that legitimized seizures of Native lands. But some Indigenous leaders criticized Francis for canonizing Junipero Serra, the 18th century missionary accused of mistreating Native people. Even Francis’ admirers say more action from the church is needed.
President Donald Trump made clear Sunday that he would not follow his predecessor's practice of recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day alongside C…
FILE - Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, right, and Bryan Newland, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior, left, present President Joe Biden with an Eighth Generation blanket from a tribally-owned business, embroidered with "Joe Biden Champion for Indian Country," at the 2024 White House Tribal Nations Summit at the Department of the Interior in Washington, Dec. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Members of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina are awaiting the release of a Department of the Interior report that, as soon as this week, coul…
At least $1.6 million in federal funds for projects meant to capture and digitize stories of the systemic abuse of generations of Indigenous children in boarding schools at the hands of the U.S. government have been slashed due to federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration. The cuts are just a fraction of the grants canceled by the National Endowment for the Humanities in recent weeks as part of the Republican administration’s deep cost-cutting effort across the federal government. But coming on the heels of a major federal boarding school investigation by the previous administration and an apology by then-President Joe Biden, they illustrate a seismic shift.
A key program using traditional medicine and foods to tackle chronic disease in Native American and Alaska Native communities has been gutted in the federal health layoffs. Tribal leaders say the move earlier this month conflicts with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s stated priority of preventing chronic disease in their communities. With little information, tribes wonder if staff cuts in the Healthy Tribes program are part of the Trump administration’s push to end diversity, equity and inclusion. Grantees say it's not clear what is left of the 11-year-old program or whom they can ask for help. Tribal leaders and health officials say the cuts amount to another violation of the government’s legal obligation to tribes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department has withdrawn from an agreement to address disparities in discipline for Native American students a…
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., second from left, listens to W. Ron Allen, second from right, Chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, as Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, left, Chairwoman of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), and Chris Anoatubby, Lt. Governor of the Chickasaw Nation, during the Fireside Chat at the Tribal Self-Determination and Self-Governance Conference Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Chandler, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)