America Spent Centuries Mistreating Native American Children. Trump Is Making It Worse.
A new look at the president’s budget reveals devastating cuts to education.
JIM WATSON VIA GETTY IMAGES
Native American dancers perform for U.S. President Barack Obama during the Cannon Ball Flag Day Celebration in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, June 13, 2014.
A century ago, the U.S. government forced hundreds of thousands of Native American students to attend boarding schools where authorities shaved their heads, banned their traditional languages and gave them Western names. Today, these students still attend schools in crumbling buildings with white-washed curriculum and dismal resources.
So when recent college graduate Teddy McCullough went to the White House’s first ever Tribal Youth Gathering in 2015 and listened to Michelle Obama celebrate the beauty of his people, he finally felt recognized.
“It was one of the most inspiring events I’ve been to,” said McCullough, a member of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians. “To have the First Lady of the United States talk about her own experiences growing up and relating it to some of the things a lot of Native youth face … it felt personal.”
Former President Barack Obama made unprecedented investments in Native American youth. He budgeted millions of dollars to repair and replace dilapidated Native American schools. He launched a cross-agency initiative to help Native American students become future leaders. And he invited over 1,000 Native American students to D.C. for a gathering to celebrate their potential.
But President Donald Trump, who released his full budget proposal in May, plans to dismantle all of that.
The cuts proposed in Trump’s budget to Native American youth initiatives have received little attention on a national scale. But community leaders say that if the budget passes in its current form, the results will be beyond devastating for their children.
“This budget as it’s been proposed would absolutely decimate Indian education,” said Ahniwake Rose, executive director of the National Indian Education Association and America Spent Centuries Mistreating Native American Children. Trump Is Making It Worse. | HuffPost: