North Dakota's first Native American Poet Laureate and an expert in the history of Native American boarding schools in the United States - addressed the graduating class of the University of North Dakota. A citizen of the Turtle Mountain band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota, Lajimodiere told the students about rediscovering the power of her cultural traditions after her family was stripped of their Indigenous language, culture, and ceremonies. She quoted one of her poems, "Identity Crisis":
One day I heard the drum.
Time stood still
as I watched the dancers,
moccasin feet patting the earth.
I couldn't breathe for the beauty.
Today, on Indigenous Peoples' Day in the United States, USAID celebrates the rich histories and cultures of Indigenous American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian people and the invaluable knowledge and traditions that they bring to communities - including our own USAID community. We also take time to recognize the historic failures of many countries, including our own, to respect Indigenous communities' basic human rights, and we recommit to being inclusive of Indigenous groups and organizations in our workforce and in our programming. To fulfill this important commitment, we are focused on three key lines of effort.
First, we are expanding our engagement and partnership with tribal colleges and Indigenous American communities to build relationships and share information about opportunities to work at or with USAID. In March, USAID participated in the American Indian Higher Education Conference in New Mexico, where we solicited ideas and proposals from attendees on inclusive development. And we are finalizing formal partnerships with several tribal colleges and universities.
Second, we are helping our employees better engage Indigenous Peoples' organizations as meaningful partners and leaders in the design and implementation of our global programs. USAID's Policy on Promoting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (PRO-IP) commits the Agency to designing and implementing programs that combat the historic marginalization of Indigenous Peoples. We also recently launched a new learning document, Co-Creation with Indigenous Peoples, which outlines lessons learned and best practices for engaging Indigenous Peoples as equal partners in the creation of USAID programs and activities.
Third, USAID's Inclusive Development Hub recently launched the Racial and Ethnic Equity Initiative, which promotes opportunities for historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups, including Indigenous communities, to partner directly with our Agency and participate in activity design and implementation.
As we mark Indigenous Peoples' Day this year, let us rededicate ourselves to honoring Indigenous communities and their contributions - and redouble our efforts to promote their rights at home and through our work around the world.
