Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 214 / Tuesday, November 5, 2024 / Presidential Documents 87777 

Proclamation 10853 of October 31, 2024 

National Native American Heritage Month, 2024 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

During National Native American Heritage Month, we honor the history, 

rich cultures, and vast contributions of Native peoples. We celebrate the 

hundreds of Tribal Nations that are ushering in a new era in our Nationto-Nation relationships. And we recommit to respecting Tribal sovereignty 

and self-determination and working in partnership with Tribal Nations to 

bring new prosperity and security to Native peoples. 

Indigenous peoples’ history in the United States is defined by strength, 

survival, and a deep commitment to and pride in their heritage, right to 

self-governance, and ways of life. Native peoples have built and sustained 

powerful Tribal Nations, and the knowledge they developed still benefits 

us today. However, our Nation’s failed policies of the past subjected generations of Native peoples to cruelty, violence, and intimidation. The forced 

removal of Native peoples from their homes and ancestral homelands; attempts to assimilate entire generations; and stripping of Indigenous peoples 

of their identities, cultures, and traditions are some of the darkest chapters 

of our Nation’s history. The trauma and turmoil fundamentally altered their 

communities. As the first President to visit Indian Country in 10 years, 

I delivered a national apology for the unspeakable harms caused to Native 

peoples at Federal Indian Boarding Schools. 

Indigenous peoples have persisted and survived—a testament to their resilience and resolve. Today, Native communities are leading the way forward 

and continuing to strengthen the fabric of the United States. They have 

long served in the United States military and currently serve in the highest 

levels of government—including the Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, 

America’s first Native American Cabinet secretary. In every field and sector, 

Native peoples are pushing for progress and contributing to our shared 

prosperity. 

Since I came into office, the Federal Government has made record investments in Tribal Nations. Federal contracts with Native American-owned 

companies increased by over $8 billion from 2020 to 2023. My American 

Rescue Plan made the largest direct Federal investment in Tribal Nations 

ever, helping vaccinate Tribal communities during the COVID–19 pandemic 

and keeping the economy going. My Bipartisan Infrastructure Law made 

the single biggest investment in Tribal roads, bridges, water, high-speed 

internet, electricity, irrigation, environmental cleanup, and so much more. 

My Inflation Reduction Act made the biggest investment in fighting climate 

change ever—including funding to help Tribal communities lead in the 

just transition to clean energy and ease the impact of droughts, wildfires, 

and rising sea levels, which threaten Native lives and precious homelands. 

My Administration is also working to ensure that Native communities are 

safe and secure and have the resources they need to thrive. I signed an 

Executive Order that improves the Federal response to the epidemic of 

missing and murdered Indigenous peoples. When we reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act in 2022, we included historic provisions to reaffirm 

Tribal sovereignty and expand Tribal jurisdiction in cases where outside 

perpetrators harm members of their Nation. And for the first time ever, 


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87778 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 214 / Tuesday, November 5, 2024 / Presidential Documents 

my Administration also secured advance funding for the Indian Health Service so hospitals can plan ahead, order supplies, and hire doctors. We have 

provided historic funding to Tribal communities to help fight the behavioral 

health crisis and taken significant steps to improve maternal health for 

Native American women, who are twice as likely to die from pregnancyrelated complications as white women. 

I have always believed that we must know the good, the bad, and the 

truth of who we are as a Nation—we must acknowledge our history so 

that we can begin to remember and heal. That is why I became the first 

President to issue a formal apology for the Federal Indian Boarding School 

era, one of the most horrific chapters in our Nation’s history. For 150 

years, the Federal Government mandated the removal of Native children 

from their families and Tribes—and as a result, generations of Native children 

had their childhoods stolen and whole Tribal cultures were erased. I am 

proud to formally end the silence surrounding this shameful era and I 

remain proud that my Administration defended the Indian Child Welfare 

Act in court, ensuring that our Nation respects Tribal sovereignty and protects 

Native children by helping Native families stay together and grow up with 

their languages and cultures. And we are working to support Native American 

families and communities as they heal from the Federal Indian Boarding 

School era through the Department of the Interior’s Road to Healing initiative 

and by supporting Native language preservation and public safety initiatives. 

My Administration has also worked with Tribal Nations to preserve, protect, 

and steward important ancestral Tribal lands and waters. Through more 

than 200 co-stewardship and co-management agreements signed under my 

leadership, we are working side by side with Tribes to make decisions 

about how to manage the lands that are most precious to them. And to 

date, I have protected and conserved more than 45 million acres of our 

Nation’s lands and waters. That includes the Chumash Heritage National 

Marine Sanctuary, vast offshore waters off California’s coast and the first 

sanctuary to be proposed by Indigenous communities. I have also established, 

expanded, and restored 11 national monuments, many containing sites considered sacred to Tribal Nations—from Bears Ears National Monument, Grand 

Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and Avi Kwa Ame National Monument to Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, 

and others. 

During National Native American Heritage Month, we honor the heritage 

and contributions of Native peoples, and we work tirelessly to build a 

future grounded in dignity, respect, and partnership. We remain committed 

to working with Native communities to write a new and better chapter 

in American history for Tribal Nations—one that honors the solemn promise 

the United States made to Tribal Nations, fulfills our Federal trust and 

treaty obligations, and works together to rebuild Tribal economies and institutions. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States 

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution 

and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2024 

as National Native American Heritage Month. I urge all Americans, as well 

as their elected representatives at the Federal, State, and local levels, to 

observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities. 

Also, I urge all Americans to celebrate November 29, 2024, as Native American Heritage Day. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 214 / Tuesday, November 5, 2024 / Presidential Documents 87779 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day 

of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the 

Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fortyninth. 

[FR Doc. 2024–25808 

Filed 11–4–24; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3395–F4–P 


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