Today, President Biden will sign an Executive Order establishing the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, and delivering on the President’s commitment to reinstate and reinvigorate this historic Initiative.
Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities together constitute the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States and make invaluable contributions to our society, our economy, and our culture. Yet for far too long, systemic barriers to equity, justice, and opportunity have put the American dream out of reach for many AA and NHPI communities, and racism, nativism, and xenophobia against AA and NHPI communities continues to threaten safety and dignity of AA and NHPI families. The new Initiative is charged with driving an ambitious, whole-of-government agenda to advance equity, justice, and opportunity for AA and NHPI communities by:
WASHINGTON â Native American leaders and advocates testified on May 26 that COVID-19 has had a âdevastating effectâ on fluent language speakers.
During a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Michelle Sauve, acting commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans, was one of several who addressed COVID-19âs impact on Native languages.
âCOVID-19 has had a devastating effect on the elderly population, who are the keys to cultural continuity,â she said. âElders are often the only first-language speakers and sometimes the only speakers for many Native languages. For example, the Kiowa Tribe in Oklahoma recently lost two of the tribeâs five fluent elder speaker mentors to COVID-19. Prior to the pandemic, there were only 20 fluent Kiowa speakers out of a population of 12,000.â
Today, President Biden will sign an Executive Order establishing the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders,.
Cherokee Nation/Osiyo TV
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Wednesday to express support for a piece of language preservation legislation named for the late Cherokee linguist Durbin Feeling. The Durbin Feeling Native Languages Act will ensure that the federal government is upholding its promises and the carrying out the policies designed to support native languages, Hoskin testified. The nationwide survey it produces will help guide investments in native language and ensure that all native languages remain vital for generations to come. It is an important bill, and I urge each member of the Committee to commit to getting this legislation to the President’s desk this Congress.
Alaska overhauls elections
Author:
May 6, 2021
Turnout in Alaska Native villages such as Togiak, shown here, surged in 2014 thanks to improved voting access. (Photo by Stephanie Woodard)
âItâs going to be a great testâ
Joaqlin Estus
In November, Alaskans voted by a narrow margin to overhaul their election process.
How might it help or hamper the state’s senior senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski, who is up for reelection in 2022?
Greg Razo, Yup’ik, was a sponsor of the voter initiative that brought the changes. He supported Ballot Measure 2 for several reasons.
“First of all, it opened up the books so that we can see who is donating money to political campaigns so that there s no dark money coming in. Everybody has a fair playing field when we know who s paying for their candidacy,” Razo said.