On Indigenous Peoples’ Day this year — a day that ought to be a moment of reflection, honor, and renewal of Indigenous heritage — the reality instead evokes mourning, shame, and questions of national accountability.
The United States has never made full reparations to the Indigenous nations and individuals who endured genocide, dispossession, apartheid, and ongoing structural violence — before and after the founding of this country. What little “penance” has been offered is a fraction of what justice would require.
Indigenous People's Day 2023
The recognition of Indigenous People’s Day every second Monday in October was federally recognized during President Obama’s tenure, intended to “replace” Columbus Day, which was officially recognized in 1937.
In fiscal year 2024, the U.S. federal budget allocated roughly $2.9 billion to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), of which about $2.3 billion was directed toward the “Operation of Indian Programs” suite (i.e. the programs that support tribal governance, law enforcement, infrastructure, and social services).
Even if we treat that $2.9 billion as the total “payment” toward Indigenous obligations (which it is not), it amounts to a mere 0.04% percent of the United States’ broader discretionary budget (or smaller still, of the full federal budget).
By contrast, the American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) population —about 10 million people, or approximately 2.9% of the U.S. population— must stretch those limited resources across 574 federally recognized tribes and nations.
That means a few tens of millions (or less) per tribe, on average—insufficient for a people whose needs include infrastructure repair, health care, education, basic services, land recovery, cultural revival, and climate resilience.
But even that narrow framework excludes nearly 100 tribes and Indigenous entities recognized only at the state level and not federally. Those communities are shut out of nearly all federal allocations.
Over the course of my 12 years working with tribal nations, several of these unrecognized or “conditionally” recognized communities have encountered systematic rejection under the BIA’s recognition criteria.
For example, the United Houma Nation, with over 10,000 enrolled members, has been denied federal recognition twice (in 1994 and again in 2015).
Likewise, the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe (PACIT) was denied in 1996 and once more in 2008. During my time with the Louisiana Sea Grant (2015–2016), I assisted with PACIT’s application process.
Their neighbor, the Isle de Jean Charles community, also received a negative ruling; they now plan to reapply under the BIA’s recently revised criteria.
The application process is extremely resource-intensive, requiring genealogical, documentary, land, and cultural evidence, much of which has been lost or suppressed over centuries of dispossession and erasure.
In the past nine months, the pressures on Indigenous communities have only escalated—even among those with federal status.
The Trump administration’s proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget would impose sweeping cuts across Indian Country. Tribal program funding is slated to be reduced by $617 million, nearly a 25 percent cut to core BIA programs, including elimination of the Indian Guaranteed Loan program and the Indian Land Consolidation Program.
Additional cuts include:
$107 million would be slashed from tribal public safety and justice (law enforcement, courts, policing) — a 20 percent cut to an already underfunded sector.
$187 million would be cut from the Bureau of Indian Education’s construction program, undermining the upkeep or modernization of tribal schools and educational infrastructure.
Competitive grants for housing and other tribal development programs would be “streamlined” or eliminated, reducing flexibility and leveraging capacity for tribes.
The Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) program faces elimination of its discretionary award funds: the proposal would fully cut the $291 million discretionary allocation, much of which funds Native CDFIs.
The ONHIR program (often seen as a modest reconciliation gesture) — with a budget of only $2 million — would be eliminated entirely, with the justification that “its functions have been fully discharged.”
Earlier this year, the Trump administration removed “climate-focused financing” from eligibility for Native American CDFI assistance —a move that explores an additional frontier of exclusion just as Indigenous communities are experiencing climate stress and environmental damage at disproportionate rates.
More broadly, if his broader funding freeze proposals succeed, Indigenous communities could suffer $24.5 billion in withheld federal grants (for health, education, public safety, social services, etc.). Such withholding not only disrupts essential programs—it undermines legally binding treaty and trust obligations.
A tracker commissioned by Senator Brian Schatz estimates that the administration is blocking or freezing more than $316 billion over programs that support Indian Country, including public safety, housing, transportation, education, and more.
These proposed cuts and freezes are not mere policy shifts — they are assaults on sovereignty, trust duties, and Indigenous life. They force already overburdened communities to choose between health, safety, education, or cultural survival.
On a day meant to honor Indigenous resilience and history, we must instead acknowledge a deeper wound: the refusal of this nation to reckon with its original debts, the systematic denial of recognition, and the ongoing efforts to starve tribal lifelines.
Reflection without accountability is hollow.
Celebration without justice is betrayal.
List of 574 Federally-recognized Indian Tribes in the United States (Library of Congress)
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs Final Rule (January 15, 2025)
Thank you Rebekah, how you know all this is a mystery to me. I know it is all MEANT to fly way under the radar, but I guess my brain has been clogged by every other cruel thing this administration is doing to hurt people. This country needs an IMPEACH HIM movement, maybe the THIRD time will be the charm.