By Jim Eckstrom | Special to the Press Jan 28, 2021
IRVING — The Seneca Nation president says President Joe Biden continues to “put words into action” in recognizing the sovereignty of Native people.
Biden signed a memo Tuesday directing federal agencies to detail — and report out on — how they will incorporate Native American needs into policies.
“It is encouraging to see, in writing, that the new administration is pledging to make honoring our treaties and respecting our self-governance a top priority,” said Seneca Nation President Matthew Pagels on Wednesday. “We wholeheartedly agree that we not only deserve a seat at the table when decisions impacting our people and our lands are made, but also must be fully empowered to lead and assure that federal policies are helpful, not harmful.”
Pagels, elected Seneca president in November, said he looks forward to seeing implementation of the president’s memo and to “developing the ‘constructive relationship’ President Biden outlined in it.”
Biden had made a point early of reaching out to Native American tribes by nominating U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., to be the first Native American secretary of the Interior and a cabinet official. The department oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other agencies with responsibilities to tribes.
With the stroke of a pen, Biden also has blocked completion of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. The pipeline was planned to transport oil from western Canada into the United States and would have crossed the territories of the Fort Belknap Indian Community of Montana and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.
Many Senecas still deeply resent construction of the Kinzua Dam in the 1960s, which displaced members from homes along the Allegheny River, and they have been active in recent years in opposing energy-related projects they believe would harm waterways that flow into their territory.
“It is a priority of my administration to make respect for Tribal sovereignty and self-governance, commitment to fulfilling federal trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations, and regular, meaningful, and robust consultation with Tribal Nations cornerstones of Federal Indian policy,” Biden wrote in the memo.
“History demonstrates that we best serve Native American people when Tribal governments are empowered to lead their communities, and when federal officials speak with and listen to Tribal leaders in formulating federal policy that affects Tribal Nations,” he added.
The Hill reported that the order isn’t a large departure from current federal policy requiring consultation with tribes, but tribal leaders have complained for decades that they are all but ignored by federal agencies.
“To do this one week in office really speaks to his commitment to Indian Country,” Nikki Pitre, executive director of the Center for Native American Youth and a member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, told The Hill. “Indian Country really just wants to be engaged and be consulted and having the executive order means we have it in writing now.”
