Green Matters — Biden Issues Grant to Relocate Native Americans From Rising Oceans

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the 2022 White House Tribal Nations Summit at the Department of the Interior on Nov. 30, 2022 in Washington, DC. / Getty Images

Dec 1, 2022

By Lizzy Rosenberg — For centuries, Native Americans have been forcibly relocated from their rightful homes to more vulnerable locations. And after far too long, President Biden is finally attempting to reconcile. On Wednesday, Nov. 30 during the two-day White House Tribal Nationals Summit, the POTUS promised to allocate $75 million to relocate three tribes to higher grounds, away from rising sea levels. In addition to Biden's grant to relocate Native Americans, he also vowed to give them more federal power.

This is only the beginning — as global warming continues, upwards of $5 billion will be needed over the next five decades to help with tribal relocation in relation to climate change.

“We must safeguard Indian Country from the intensifying and unique impacts of climate change,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland stated via CNBC. “Helping these communities move to safety on their homelands is one of the most important climate related investments we could make in Indian Country.”

But, it's crucial that with more federal involvement, comes respect for tribes' way of life.

“Administrations can bring in their priorities, but they shouldn’t be telling us who have lived here since the beginning of time how to manage our resources, which resources we can even access,” Richard Peterson, president of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, stated via AP News. “These are things that are inherent in our sovereignty.”

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