Gila River Indian Neighborhood Elder
Bernice Lyons was certainly one of many neighborhood elders who confirmed up on the Gila
River Crossing Neighborhood Faculty on Thursday by 9 a.m., excited to listen to
Vice President Kamala Harris communicate throughout her first go to to Indian
Nation. 

Lyons, 72, by no means imagined seeing such
a robust public determine go to her small tribal nation, however when she
noticed the advert in her native paper about Harris’ go to, she jumped on the
probability to be there.

“I mentioned, ‘Hell yeah, I’m going to see right here,’” Lyons mentioned.

Despite the fact that Lyons waited greater than
three hours to listen to Harris discuss, she loved visiting with everybody who
attended and mentioned it was well worth the wait. 

“I’m glad she got here down,” Lyons mentioned,
including she was glad Harris obtained to see what the Gila River Indian
Neighborhood is like in particular person.

Harris’ cease on the Gila River Indian
Neighborhood was a possibility to focus on the Biden/Harris
administration’s work with tribal nations throughout the U.S., together with the
initiatives funded by means of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Regulation.

Gila River Indian Neighborhood Gov.
Stephen Roe Lewis mentioned internet hosting Harris provides them an opportunity to specific
their deep appreciation to the Biden/Harris administration for his or her
“true partnership and funding” in tribal communities.

Lewis mentioned GRIC has all the time made it a
level to work with any president’s administration to their greatest skill
as a sovereign nation. However Lewis mentioned that the Biden/Harris
administration has taken partnerships to an entire new degree and has
introduced tribes to the desk in a significant means.

“They’re working with us on
necessary enterprise and options for every tribe’s distinctive wants,” he
mentioned, noting that he can simply level to the profitable partnerships
with the administration, together with the federally funded initiatives.

Lewis mentioned Harris is a real accomplice
of Indian Nation who shares and respects the values Indigenous folks
maintain expensive, together with discovering revolutionary methods to deal with the water
scarcity impacting the Southwest and defending Indigenous youngsters and
households.

Lewis launched Harris, and he or she was
greeted with applause from a crowded health club on the Gila River Crossing
Neighborhood Faculty round 12:50 p.m. on Thursday. She expressed her
gratitude for the hospitality of the Gila River Indian Neighborhood and
tribal leaders.

“It’s so great to be right here,”
Harris mentioned, thanking the neighborhood for the nice and cozy welcome she and her
husband have acquired. “It means a lot to us, and it means a lot to
the president, that we’re capable of be right here with you to thanks for the
partnership and the work that now we have performed and can proceed to do
collectively.”

Harris’ 15-minute speech touched on
matters particular to Indian Nation, together with the economic system, local weather
change, lacking and murdered Indigenous folks, veterans, voting rights,
and the Indian Youngster Welfare Act.

“President Joe Biden and I consider
that the bonds between our nations are sacred,” Harris mentioned. “We consider
now we have an obligation to safeguard and strengthen these bonds, to uphold our
belief and treaty obligations, to honor tribal sovereignty, and to make sure
tribal self-determination.”

An instance she shared was how the
Gila River Indian Neighborhood efficiently constructed the Gila River Crossing
Neighborhood Faculty by means of its partnerships.

Harris mentioned the Gila River Indian
Neighborhood is the primary tribe to accomplice with the federal authorities
by means of an revolutionary leasing program to construct a totally Indigenous-built,
Indigenous-owned, and Indigenous-run faculty.

One other huge level shared by Harris is
how it’s the administration’s responsibility to deal with the deep disparities
that persist throughout Indian Nation. 

“Disparities which might be the results of
centuries of damaged treaties, dangerous assimilation insurance policies,
displacement, dispossession, and violence,” she mentioned. “Now we have an obligation to
make it possible for all Native folks have the chance to thrive.”

A means to assist Indigenous folks
thrive, Harris mentioned, is thru financial alternative as a result of turning any
dream right into a actuality requires entry to capital and monetary companies
akin to loans or traces of credit score. 

“As we all know, many Native communities
are lower off from these important sources,” she mentioned, noting that
Indigenous households are greater than 3 times as more likely to lack entry
to conventional monetary establishments. 

To handle this inequity, Harris mentioned
the administration has invested greater than $500 million in Native
entrepreneurs and small companies and is investing thousands and thousands extra in
neighborhood banks.

Harris additionally emphasised how Indigenous
communities proceed to be on the forefront of addressing the local weather
disaster, and yearly tribal land is more and more threatened by
wildfire, drought, and floods.  

“Native peoples have served as
accountable stewards of the environment for millennia,” she mentioned, “And
to be able to create enduring options to the local weather disaster, we should
then depend on the data and the expertise of Native communities.”

The way in which to do this, Harris mentioned, is
by investing in Indigenous-led — not merely Indigenous-consulted —
climate-resilient infrastructure initiatives.

Harris mentioned the administration is
pleased with its progress within the partnerships developed with tribal nations
throughout the nation, however she understands there’s nonetheless a lot to do. 

“Collectively, we are going to proceed to work
collectively in partnership towards a future the place all of our kids can
notice their God-given potential, a greater future for this technology
and 7 generations to come back,” she mentioned. “In that combat, collectively we
will work to proceed to strengthen this partnership, to depend in your
management, and to work collectively in assist of our frequent trigger.”

After listening to Harris and tribal
officers communicate, Gila River Indian Neighborhood member Cheyenna Jackson
mentioned it offered nice perception into not solely what the tribal authorities
is doing, however what the federal authorities is doing, too. 

“The longer term seems to be brilliant for what they’ve deliberate,” Jackson mentioned.

Jackson lives within the Gila River
Indian Neighborhood and mentioned she by no means thought she’d see a vice chairman
go to, however having Harris go to exhibits the administration cares in regards to the
neighborhood.

“It makes us really feel extra necessary quite than being pushed to the again burner,” she added.

Harris additionally met with a number of
Indigenous youths from the Gila River Indian Neighborhood, together with Miss
Gila River Lehua Lani Dosela and Jr. Miss Gila River Eleanor Lynch. 

“It’s lovely having the ability to see our neighborhood concerned in an incredible occasion,” Dosela, 23, mentioned, 

Dosela obtained to sing the Nationwide
Anthem in her conventional language as a part of the opening remarks for
Harris, and he or she was excited to be a part of it. 

“This can be a huge second not just for me
as a result of it’s a once-in-a-lifetime alternative but in addition for our
neighborhood,” Dolsea mentioned. She added that listening to Harris give a speech in
her neighborhood was eye-opening as a result of it confirmed her what her neighborhood
can do.

“Having that reference to the (federal) authorities is wonderful,” Dosela mentioned.

Lynch, 14, echoed Dosela’s pleasure in Harris’ go to. 

She mentioned that it was an incredible
expertise for her to take part within the occasion as a result of she obtained to speak
with Harris in particular person, and he or she appreciated Harris’s recommendation to the
Indigenous youth of her neighborhood.

“Memorable recommendation that she gave us
was that we’re the longer term technology and that it’s good we’re being
capable of characterize our neighborhood,” Lynch mentioned.