President Joe Biden is set to make an announcement Wednesday about his support for a new team – and flag – competing in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, the White House said.
Lacrosse will be included as an Olympic game in 2028 and, when Biden attends the White House Tribal Nations Summit on Wednesday, he “will announce his support for the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (previously known as the Iroquois Confederacy) to compete under their own flag in lacrosse internationally at the 2028 Olympics,” a White House official said.
Biden, the official added, “will recognize that due to the Confederacy’s unique role in inventing the sport of lacrosse, their sustained global leadership within the sport since its invention and their Nation-to-Nation request for support, they should be granted a narrowly scoped exception to field their own team.”
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy spans parts of the Northeastern United States and Canada.
“It is made up of six Nations – the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, and Tuscarora Nation – and predates European settlement,” the official said.
The decision began to come together this July, when Haudenosaunee leaders met with White House officials from the National Security Council, Domestic Policy Council and Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
“Upon its creation over two thousand years ago, lacrosse brought Nations together. It became a force for peace, friendship, and healing, and remains both a revered part of their culture and a cherished pastime for many Americans. The Haudenosaunee Nationals Lacrosse Organization, established in 1983, has competed internationally under their Haudenosaunee flag since 1990, and both men’s and women’s teams have consistently been among the best in the world,” the official said.
The International Olympic Committee will have to approve the move. CNN has reached out to the IOC for comment on this story.
During the summit, Biden will sign a new executive order aimed at strengthening tribal sovereignty while reforming funding apparatuses for tribal nations.
According to a fact sheet shared with CNN ahead of Wednesday’s summit, the executive order – the third signed by Biden aimed at strengthening bonds with Tribal nations – will direct all federal agencies to move funding programs to more closely fall in line with to the Indian Self-Determination and Educational Assistance Act, “which has allowed Tribal Nations to build and run their own hospitals, schools, and police forces to better meet the needs of their communities using the same federal dollars.”
The executive order also establishes a new “one stop shop” for Tribes and Native businesses to seek federal funding called the “Tribal Access to Capital Clearinghouse” while directing the White House Council on Native American Affairs, the Office and Management and Budget, and the White House Domestic Policy Council to reassess what it says are “unmet federal obligations” to Tribal Nations.
“Altogether, this EO will demonstrate the Biden-Harris’s commitment administration’s commitment to ushering in the next era of tribal self-determination and recognize that tribal governments must be treated as permanent, equal and vital parts of America’s system of government,” Domestic Policy Adviser Neera Tanden told reporters Tuesday.
In addition to Wednesday’s order, the Biden administration is expected to announce a slew of new actions aimed at strengthening ties with tribal nations, including a series of steps the administration will take to ensure the preservation of Native American history and resources.
As part of those efforts, the administration is expected to announce more than 190 co-stewardship agreements across the federal government, “which allow Tribal Nations to collaborate with the Federal Government to manage the federal lands, waters, and resources that are most important to them,” according to a fact sheet shared with CNN Tuesday.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland – the first Native American to serve as a United States cabinet secretary – will also announce a new “Theme Study” led by the National Parks Service, “to broaden how we interpret and understand the Indian Reorganization period,” from 1934 to 1950, the secretary told reporters.
“If there’s one thing I hope tribal leaders walk away from this year’s summit with, it’s this – the progress we’ve made together is substantial, it’s history-making, and it’s thanks to President Biden working diligently with tribes across the country that we are finally building the future our people deserve,” Haaland said Tuesday.
Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Haaland and 10 cabinet members are expected to announce additional actions during the summit this week, including steps aimed at improving childcare assistance for tribal communities, expanding FEMA’s ability to assist tribal communities in the wake of natural disasters and disseminating a guide for best practices in the management, treatment and protection of Native American sacred sites.
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