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Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Native Americans Hurt by Federal Health Cuts, Despite RFK Jr.'s Promises of Protection
Navajo Nation leaders took turns hiking alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in April to detail the tribal nation's priorities to improve access to health care and clean water. They also advocated for the preservation and reestablishment of U.S. government programs that have far-reaching impacts for their nation. (Katheryn Houghton/KFF Health News) WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — Navajo Nation leaders took turns talking with the U.S. government's top health official as they hiked along a sandstone ridge overlooking their rural, high-desert town before the morning sun grew too hot. Buu Nygren, president of the Navajo Nation, paused at the edge with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Below them, tribal government buildings, homes, and juniper trees dotted the tan and deep-red landscape. Nygren said he wanted Kennedy to look at the capital for the nation of about 400,000 enrolled members. The tribal president pointed toward an antiquated health center that he hoped federal funding would help replace and described life for the thousands of locals without running water due to delayed government projects. Nygren said Kennedy had already done a lot, primarily saving the Indian Health Service from a round of staffing cuts rippling through the federal government. 'When we started hearing about the layoffs and the freezes, you were the first one to stand up for Indian Country,' he told Kennedy, of his move to spare the federal agency charged with providing health care to Native Americans and Alaska Natives. But Nygren and other Navajo leaders said cuts to federal health programs outside the Indian Health Service are hurting Native Americans. 'You're disrupting real lives,' Cherilyn Yazzie, a Navajo council delegate, told KFF Health News as she described recent changes. Kennedy has repeatedly promised to prioritize Native Americans' health care. But Native Americans and health officials across tribal nations say those overtures are overshadowed by the collateral harm from massive cuts to federal health programs. The sweeping reductions have resulted in cuts to funding directed toward or disproportionately relied on by Native Americans. Staffing cuts, tribal health leaders say, have led to missing data and poor communication. The Indian Health Service provides free health care at its hospitals and clinics to Native Americans, who, as a group, face higher rates of chronic diseases and die younger than other populations. Those inequities are attributable to centuries of systemic discrimination. But many tribal members don't live near an agency clinic or hospital. And those who do may face limited services, chronic underfunding, and staffing shortages. To work around those gaps, health organizations lean on other federally funded programs. 'There may be a misconception among some of the administration that Indian Country is only impacted by changes to the Indian Health Service,' said Liz Malerba, a tribal policy expert and citizen of the Mohegan Tribe. 'That's simply not true.' Tribes have lost more than $6 million in grants from other HHS agencies, the National Indian Health Board wrote in a May letter to Kennedy. Janet Alkire, chairperson of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in the Dakotas, said at a May 14 Senate committee hearing that those grants paid for community health workers, vaccinations, data modernization, and other public health efforts. The government also canceled funding for programs it said violated President Donald Trump's ban on 'diversity, equity, and inclusion,' including one aimed at Native American youth interested in science and medicine and another that helps several tribes increase access to healthy food — something Kennedy has said he wants to prioritize. Tribal health officials say slashed federal staffing has made it harder to get technical support and money for federally funded health projects they run. The firings have cut or eliminated staff at programs related to preventing overdoses in tribal communities, using traditional food and medicine to fight chronic disease, and helping low-income people afford to heat and cool their homes through the Low Income Home Energy Program. The Oglala Sioux Tribe is in South Dakota, where Native Americans who struggle to heat their homes have died of hypothermia. Through mid-May the tribe hadn't been able to access its latest funding installment from the energy program, said John Long, the tribe's chief of staff. Abigail Echo-Hawk, director of the Urban Indian Health Institute at the Seattle Indian Health Board, said the government has sent her organization incomplete health data. That includes statistics about Native Americans at risk for suicide and substance use disorders, which the center uses to shape public health policy and programs. 'People are going to die because we don't have access to the data,' Echo-Hawk said. Her organization is also having trouble administering a $2.2 million federal grant, she said, because the agency handling the money fired staffers she worked with. The grant pays for public health initiatives such as smoking cessation and vaccinations. 'It is very confusing to say chronic disease prevention is the No. 1 priority and then to eradicate the support needed to address chronic disease prevention in Indian Country,' Echo-Hawk said. HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard said Kennedy aims to combat chronic diseases and improve well-being among Native Americans 'through culturally relevant, community-driven solutions.' Hilliard did not respond to questions about Kennedy's specific plans for Native American health or concerns about existing and proposed funding and staffing changes. As Kennedy hiked alongside Navajo Nation leaders, KFF Health News asked how he would improve and protect access to care for tribal communities amid rollbacks within his department. 'That's exactly what I'm doing,' Kennedy responded. 'Making sure that all the cuts do not affect these communities.' Kennedy has said his focus on Native American health stems from personal and family experience, something he repeated to Navajo leadership. As an attorney, he worked with tribes on environmental health lawsuits. He also served as an editor at ICT, a major Native American news outlet. The secretary said he was also influenced by his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, and his father, U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who were both assassinated when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a child. 'They thought that America would never live up to its moral authority and its role as an exemplary nation around the world if we didn't first look back and remediate or mitigate the original sin of the American experience — the genocide of the Native people,' Kennedy said during his visit. Some tribal leaders say the recent cuts, and the way the administration made them, violate treaties in which the U.S. promised to provide for the health and welfare of tribes in return for taking their land. 'We have not been consulted with meaningfully on any of these actions,' said Malerba, director of policy and legislative affairs for the United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection Fund, which advocates for tribes from Texas to Maine. Alkire said at the congressional hearing that many Native American health organizations sent letters to the health department asking for consultations but none has received a response. Tribal consultation is legally required when federal agencies pursue changes that would have a significant impact on tribal nations. 'This is not just a moral question of what we owe Native people,' Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said at the hearing. 'It is also a question of the law.' Tribal leaders are worried about additional proposed changes, including funding cuts to the Indian Health Service and a reorganization of the federal health department. Esther Lucero, president and CEO of the Seattle Indian Health Board, said the maneuvers remind her of the level of daily uncertainty she felt working through the covid-19 pandemic — only with fewer resources. 'Our ability to serve those who are desperately in need feels at risk,' Lucero said. Among the most pressing concerns are congressional Republicans' proposed cuts to Medicaid, the primary government health insurance program for people with low incomes or disabilities. About 30% of Native American and Alaska Native people younger than 65 are enrolled in Medicaid, and the program helps keep Indian Health Service and other tribal health facilities afloat. Native American adults would be exempt from Medicaid work requirements approved by House Republicans last month. After Kennedy summited Window Rock with Navajo Nation leaders, the tribe held a prayer ceremony in which they blessed him in Diné Bizaad, the Navajo language. President Nygren stressed how meaningful it was for the country's health secretary to walk alongside them. He also reminded Kennedy of the list of priorities they'd discussed. That included maintaining the federal low-income energy assistance program. 'We look forward to reestablishing and protecting some of the services that your department provides,' Nygren said. As of mid-May, the Trump administration had proposed eliminating the energy program, which remains unstaffed. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF. Subscribe to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing. This article first appeared on KFF Health News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
CBS News
02-06-2025
- Business
- CBS News
RFK Jr. is struggling to keep his promise to protect Native Americans from health cuts
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — Navajo Nation leaders took turns talking with the U.S. government's top health official as they hiked along a sandstone ridge overlooking their rural, high-desert town before the morning sun grew too hot. Buu Nygren, president of the Navajo Nation, paused at the edge with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Below them, tribal government buildings, homes, and juniper trees dotted the tan and deep-red landscape. Nygren said he wanted Kennedy to look at the capital for the nation of about 400,000 enrolled members. The tribal president pointed toward an antiquated health center that he hoped federal funding would help replace and described life for the thousands of locals without running water due to delayed government projects. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren talk on the edge of a ridge in Window Rock, Arizona, about the nation's list of health priorities. Katheryn Houghton/KFF Health News Nygren said Kennedy had already done a lot, primarily saving the Indian Health Service from a round of staffing cuts rippling through the federal government. "When we started hearing about the layoffs and the freezes, you were the first one to stand up for Indian Country," he told Kennedy, of his move to spare the federal agency charged with providing health care to Native Americans and Alaska Natives. But Nygren and other Navajo leaders said cuts to federal health programs outside the Indian Health Service are hurting Native Americans. "You're disrupting real lives," Cherilyn Yazzie, a Navajo council delegate, told KFF Health News as she described recent changes. Kennedy has repeatedly promised to prioritize Native Americans' health care. But Native Americans and health officials across tribal nations say those overtures are overshadowed by the collateral harm from massive cuts to federal health programs. The sweeping reductions have resulted in cuts to funding directed toward or disproportionately relied on by Native Americans. Staffing cuts, tribal health leaders say, have led to missing data and poor communication. The Indian Health Service provides free health care at its hospitals and clinics to Native Americans, who, as a group, face higher rates of chronic diseases and die younger than other populations. Those inequities are attributable to centuries of systemic discrimination. But many tribal members don't live near an agency clinic or hospital. And those who do may face limited services, chronic underfunding, and staffing shortages. To work around those gaps, health organizations lean on other federally funded programs. "There may be a misconception among some of the administration that Indian Country is only impacted by changes to the Indian Health Service," said Liz Malerba, a tribal policy expert and citizen of the Mohegan Tribe. "That's simply not true." Tribes have lost more than $6 million in grants from other HHS agencies, the National Indian Health Board wrote in a May letter to Kennedy. Janet Alkire, chairperson of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in the Dakotas, said at a May 14 Senate committee hearing that those grants paid for community health workers, vaccinations, data modernization, and other public health efforts. The government also canceled funding for programs it said violated President Trump's ban on "diversity, equity, and inclusion," including one aimed at Native American youth interested in science and medicine and another that helps several tribes increase access to healthy food — something Kennedy has said he wants to prioritize. Tribal health officials say slashed federal staffing has made it harder to get technical support and money for federally funded health projects they run. The firings have cut or eliminated staff at programs related to preventing overdoses in tribal communities, using traditional food and medicine to fight chronic disease, and helping low-income people afford to heat and cool their homes through the Low Income Home Energy Program. The Oglala Sioux Tribe is in South Dakota, where Native Americans who struggle to heat their homes have died of hypothermia. Through mid-May the tribe hadn't been able to access its latest funding installment from the energy program, said John Long, the tribe's chief of staff. Abigail Echo-Hawk, director of the Urban Indian Health Institute at the Seattle Indian Health Board, said the government has sent her organization incomplete health data. That includes statistics about Native Americans at risk for suicide and substance use disorders, which the center uses to shape public health policy and programs. "People are going to die because we don't have access to the data," Echo-Hawk said. Her organization is also having trouble administering a $2.2 million federal grant, she said, because the agency handling the money fired staffers she worked with. The grant pays for public health initiatives such as smoking cessation and vaccinations. "It is very confusing to say chronic disease prevention is the No. 1 priority and then to eradicate the support needed to address chronic disease prevention in Indian Country," Echo-Hawk said. HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard said Kennedy aims to combat chronic diseases and improve well-being among Native Americans "through culturally relevant, community-driven solutions." Hilliard did not respond to questions about Kennedy's specific plans for Native American health or concerns about existing and proposed funding and staffing changes. As Kennedy hiked alongside Navajo Nation leaders, KFF Health News asked how he would improve and protect access to care for tribal communities amid rollbacks within his department. "That's exactly what I'm doing," Kennedy responded. "Making sure that all the cuts do not affect these communities." Kennedy has said his focus on Native American health stems from personal and family experience, something he repeated to Navajo leadership. As an attorney, he worked with tribes on environmental health lawsuits. He also served as an editor at ICT, a major Native American news outlet. The secretary said he was also influenced by his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, and his father, U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who were both assassinated when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a child. "They thought that America would never live up to its moral authority and its role as an exemplary nation around the world if we didn't first look back and remediate or mitigate the original sin of the American experience — the genocide of the Native people," Kennedy said during his visit. Some tribal leaders say the recent cuts, and the way the administration made them, violate treaties in which the U.S. promised to provide for the health and welfare of tribes in return for taking their land. "We have not been consulted with meaningfully on any of these actions," said Malerba, director of policy and legislative affairs for the United South and Eastern Tribes Sovereignty Protection Fund, which advocates for tribes from Texas to Maine. Alkire said at the congressional hearing that many Native American health organizations sent letters to the health department asking for consultations but none has received a response. Tribal consultation is legally required when federal agencies pursue changes that would have a significant impact on tribal nations. "This is not just a moral question of what we owe Native people," Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said at the hearing. "It is also a question of the law." Tribal leaders are worried about additional proposed changes, including funding cuts to the Indian Health Service and a reorganization of the federal health department. Esther Lucero, president and CEO of the Seattle Indian Health Board, said the maneuvers remind her of the level of daily uncertainty she felt working through the COVID-19 pandemic — only with fewer resources. "Our ability to serve those who are desperately in need feels at risk," Lucero said. Among the most pressing concerns are congressional Republicans' proposed cuts to Medicaid, the primary government health insurance program for people with low incomes or disabilities. About 30% of Native American and Alaska Native people younger than 65 are enrolled in Medicaid, and the program helps keep Indian Health Service and other tribal health facilities afloat. Native American adults would be exempt from Medicaid work requirements approved by House Republicans on May 21. After Kennedy summited Window Rock with Navajo Nation leaders, the tribe held a prayer ceremony in which they blessed him in Diné Bizaad, the Navajo language. President Nygren stressed how meaningful it was for the country's health secretary to walk alongside them. He also reminded Kennedy of the list of priorities they'd discussed. That included maintaining the federal low-income energy assistance program. "We look forward to reestablishing and protecting some of the services that your department provides," Nygren said. As of mid-May, the Trump administration had proposed eliminating the energy program, which remains unstaffed. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.
The Independent
14-04-2025
- Health
- The Independent
RFK Jr. wants to help tribal communities get healthy. Trump gutted a program that was doing just that
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has spent time highlighting ways tribal communities in Arizona and New Mexico can prevent chronic disease among Native Americans and Alaska Natives, something he has said is one of his top priorities. But Health Secretary Kennedy didn't appear to publicly address a Native health program using traditional medicine and foods to tackle disproportionate rates of conditions like diabetes and liver disease. The program, called Healthy Tribes, was gutted in this month's federal health layoffs. Some Native leaders say they are having trouble grasping the dissonance between Kennedy's words and his actions. With little information, they wonder if Healthy Tribes is part of the Trump administration's push to end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. There also is confusion about what and who is left at the 11-year-old program, which was part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, under Kennedy's agency, and doled out $32.5 million a year. Tribal leaders and health officials told The Associated Press that cuts to the Healthy Tribes program are another violation of the federal government's legal obligation, or trust responsibility, to tribal nations under treaties, law and other acts. That includes funding for health care through the Indian Health Service, as well as education and public safety for citizens of the 574 federally recognized tribes. But federal funding has long fallen short of meeting those needs, leaving tribal governments to rely on additional grants and programs like Healthy Tribes. 'So many layers of communications of collaboration and partnerships have just been turned off,' said Onawa Miller, a Quechan Indian Nation citizen and director of tribal public health for United South and Eastern Tribes, which serves 33 tribes in those regions of the U.S. She said her organization already has received its annual $2 million in Healthy Tribes funding. Several tribal facilities received an email from a CDC employee April 1 notifying them that the positions of many people who staffed the Healthy Tribes program had been eliminated 'as part of the reduction in force efforts at CDC.' The American Federation of Government Employees union, which represents thousands of workers at the CDC in Atlanta, said more than 30 civil servant jobs were or are being eliminated. That includes 11 positions in the Healthy Tribes program and others in the larger Division of Population Health. An email sent to the account of Healthy Tribes director Dr. Julianna Reece, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was met with an automated reply: 'Due to the recent HHS reduction in force, I have been placed on administrative leave and will be separated from the agency on June 2nd.' Reece did not respond to requests for comment sent to her federal and personal email accounts. Part of the government upheaval in the past several weeks includes top officials at the National Institutes of Health being offered transfers to Indian Health Service offices far from Washington, D.C. The National Indian Health Board also has said the government eliminated key staff and programs at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health's Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health. The government is required to consult with tribes on decisions impacting them, like mass layoffs in February at the Indian Health Service that were rescinded hours later, and tribal leaders have warned the Trump administration that such consultations are not happening. In some cases tribes can take legal action against the U.S. for failing to meet its trust responsibilities. 'It is a violation of trust, without a doubt,' said W. Ron Allen, chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe in Washington state. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not answer questions related to the Healthy Tribes cuts but told the AP in an email that the Indian Health Service was not impacted by this month's workforce reductions and there are no plans to consolidate any of its offices. Kennedy's swing through the Southwest included a visit to a community health center in metro Phoenix that provides physical and mental health care to Native people and a hike with the Navajo Nation president. He also moderated a panel at the Tribal Self-Governance Conference, held on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona, but didn't take questions from the audience, tribal leaders on stage or journalists. Allen said he had a constructive conversation with Kennedy, reminding him IHS is already underfunded and understaffed and that tribes rely on additional federal grants and programs. 'Your issue is to reduce the central office, and so we're OK with that, but move the functions that serve the tribes out to the tribes,' Allen said he told Kennedy. 'Because if we don't have those resources, how are we gonna make our communities healthy? He agrees.' Research shows Native Americans have shorter life expectancies than other ethnic groups, and the Indian Health Service says they face higher mortality rates from chronic conditions like diabetes and liver disease. In Seattle, Healthy Tribes money pays for a program called GATHER, which focuses on integrating traditional tribal medicine practices into health care. Providers at the Seattle Indian Health Board can use medicine made from plants grown in a community garden. A traditional Native medicine apprentice or healer is a part of a patient's care team. Seattle Indian Health Board President Esther Lucero, a descendant of the Navajo Nation, said her staff meets with people from the CDC and other Healthy Tribes grantees bimonthly to discuss project updates and ensure compliance with grants. But after last week's layoffs, they are having trouble contacting anyone. 'If you can't actually administer the dollars, how are you going to actually get them out to the programs?' she said. 'With this current administration, it's almost like every day we receive an unexpected notice, and then we will get a follow-up notice that says ... you need to move forward as usual.' Lycia Ortega, interim CEO of Los Angeles -based United American Indian Involvement, echoed concerns about the ambiguous and somewhat confusing messages. Her organization uses Healthy Tribes money to foster connections between younger people and elders in Native American and Alaska Native communities. Native communities have had to push back against the Trump administration's efforts to cut programs that might be considered DEI initiatives, she said, with the help of lawyers, policy experts and watchdogs who point out areas where the government might not be honoring the trust responsibility. Native people 'have a distinct political power,' said Ortega, a citizen of the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, but 'there are policymakers who see tribes as a threat rather than a partner.' Stephen Roe Lewis, governor of the Gila River Indian Community, said he told Kennedy privately that consulting with and engaging in respectful partnerships with tribes is key to fulfilling the federal government's trust responsibilities. Since the Trump administration began making massive cuts to the federal workforce, many tribal leaders have had to clarify with newly appointed federal officials that services to tribes are not based on race but rather on the political status of tribal nations. 'I made it very clear, we are not DEI — as tribal nations, as a political entity," he said.
Boston Globe
12-04-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
RFK Jr. wants to target chronic disease in US tribes. A key program to do that was gutted.
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Tribal leaders and health officials told The Associated Press that cuts to the Healthy Tribes program are another violation of the federal government's legal obligation, or trust responsibility, to tribal nations under treaties, law and other acts. That includes funding for health care through the Indian Health Service, as well as education and public safety for citizens of the 574 federally recognized tribes. Advertisement But federal funding has long fallen short of meeting those needs, leaving tribal governments to rely on additional grants and programs like Healthy Tribes. 'So many layers of communications of collaboration and partnerships have just been turned off,' said Onawa Miller, a Quechan Indian Nation citizen and director of tribal public health for United South and Eastern Tribes, which serves 33 tribes in those regions of the U.S. She said her organization already has received its annual $2 million in Healthy Tribes funding. Advertisement Several tribal facilities received an email from a CDC employee April 1 notifying them that the positions of many people who staffed the Healthy Tribes program had been eliminated 'as part of the reduction in force efforts at CDC.' The American Federation of Government Employees union, which represents thousands of workers at the CDC in Atlanta, said more than 30 civil servant jobs were or are being eliminated. That includes 11 positions in the Healthy Tribes program and others in the larger Division of Population Health. An email sent to the account of Healthy Tribes director Dr. Julianna Reece, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was met with an automated reply: 'Due to the recent HHS reduction in force, I have been placed on administrative leave and will be separated from the agency on June 2nd.' Reece did not respond to requests for comment sent to her federal and personal email accounts. Native leaders call change 'a violation of trust' Part of the government upheaval in the past several weeks includes top officials at the National Institutes of Health being offered transfers to Indian Health Service offices far from Washington, D.C. The National Indian Health Board also has said the government eliminated key staff and programs at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health's Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health. The government is required to consult with tribes on decisions impacting them, like mass layoffs in February at the Indian Health Service that were rescinded hours later, and tribal leaders have warned the Trump administration that such consultations are not happening. In some cases tribes can take legal action against the U.S. for failing to meet its trust responsibilities. Advertisement 'It is a violation of trust, without a doubt,' said W. Ron Allen, chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe in Washington state. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not answer questions related to the Healthy Tribes cuts but told the AP in an email that the Indian Health Service was not impacted by this month's workforce reductions and there are no plans to consolidate any of its offices. Kennedy's swing through the Southwest included a visit to a community health center in metro Phoenix that provides physical and mental health care to Native people and a hike with the Navajo Nation president. He also moderated a panel at the Tribal Self-Governance Conference, held on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona, but didn't take questions from the audience, tribal leaders on stage or journalists. Allen said he had a constructive conversation with Kennedy, reminding him IHS is already underfunded and understaffed and that tribes rely on additional federal grants and programs. 'Your issue is to reduce the central office, and so we're OK with that, but move the functions that serve the tribes out to the tribes,' Allen said he told Kennedy. 'Because if we don't have those resources, how are we gonna make our communities healthy? He agrees.' Grants fund traditional medicine practices Research shows Native Americans have shorter life expectancies than other ethnic groups, and the Indian Health Service says they face higher mortality rates from chronic conditions like diabetes and liver disease. Advertisement In Seattle, Healthy Tribes money pays for a program called GATHER, which focuses on integrating traditional tribal medicine practices into health care. Providers at the Seattle Indian Health Board can use medicine made from plants grown in a community garden. A traditional Native medicine apprentice or healer is a part of a patient's care team. Seattle Indian Health Board President Esther Lucero, a descendant of the Navajo Nation, said her staff meets with people from the CDC and other Healthy Tribes grantees bimonthly to discuss project updates and ensure compliance with grants. But after last week's layoffs, they are having trouble contacting anyone. 'If you can't actually administer the dollars, how are you going to actually get them out to the programs?' she said. 'With this current administration, it's almost like every day we receive an unexpected notice, and then we will get a follow-up notice that says ... you need to move forward as usual.' Lycia Ortega, interim CEO of Los Angeles-based United American Indian Involvement, echoed concerns about the ambiguous and somewhat confusing messages. Her organization uses Healthy Tribes money to foster connections between younger people and elders in Native American and Alaska Native communities. Native communities have had to push back against the Trump administration's efforts to cut programs that might be considered DEI initiatives, she said, with the help of lawyers, policy experts and watchdogs who point out areas where the government might not be honoring the trust responsibility. Native people 'have a distinct political power,' said Ortega, a citizen of the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, but 'there are policymakers who see tribes as a threat rather than a partner.' Stephen Roe Lewis, governor of the Gila River Indian Community, said he told Kennedy privately that consulting with and engaging in respectful partnerships with tribes is key to fulfilling the federal government's trust responsibilities. Advertisement Since the Trump administration began making massive cuts to the federal workforce, many tribal leaders have had to clarify with newly appointed federal officials that services to tribes are not based on race but rather on the political status of tribal nations. 'I made it very clear, we are not DEI — as tribal nations, as a political entity," he said. Bose reported from Jackson, Mississippi, and Bohrer from Juneau, Alaska. Associated Press writers Terry Tang in Phoenix and Mike Stobbe in New York contributed.
New York Times
12-04-2025
- General
- New York Times
Corrections: April 12, 2025
An article on Tuesday about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s plans for the Indian Health Service misattributed a quote about Native Americans as political minorities. It was said by a Native leader who requested anonymity, not David Simmons, the government affairs and advocacy director for the National Indian Child Welfare Association. A review on Friday about the action film 'G20' misstated the title of a movie, in one instance. It is 'The Woman King,' not 'The Woman Queen.' An article on Page 50 this weekend about rebuilding in the Palisades misstates the given name of a former Los Angeles fire chief. She is Kristin Crowley, not Lauren. Because of an editing error, an obituary on Tuesday about Jay North, who played the title role on the television show 'Dennis the Menace,' misidentified the character Gale Gordon played on that show. He played Dennis's neighbor John Wilson, the brother of Dennis's former neighbor George Wilson; he did not play George. (Mr. Gordon joined the cast after Joseph Kearns, the actor who had played George Wilson, died in 1962.)
