In a March 23rd interview with WBUR, experts discuss the difference that President Biden's $31 Billion American Rescue Plan will make for Native Americans. Guests included Dante Desiderio, executive director of the non-profit NAFOA; Dr. Mary Owen, practicing family physician and President of the Association of American Indian Physicians; Stephen Roe Lewis, governor of the Gila River Indian Community.
According to the wbur.org article, Stephen Lewis said, “This funding is a historic level of funding for tribal governments, not just because of the amount of funding, but because of the equitable treatment of tribal governments. And ... the acknowledgment of tribal sovereignty and self-determination that have played just a tremendous amount of critical support in our response to this pandemic."
Lewis continued, "And this American Rescue Plan Act funding will not only see the community and other tribes through the pandemic, but will help us to put the tribal infrastructure in place, should we be faced with a similar situation in the future."
Read the full article and interview here.
Source: "American Rescue Plan: Is It A Turning Point For Native American Communities?" written by Meghna Chakrabarti and Stefano Kotsonis for WBUR. March 23, 2021.
