Events - White House Council on Native American Affairs

The eight signatory Federal Agencies of the Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Interagency Coordination and Collaboration for the Protection of Indigenous Sacred Sites (MOU) invite you to participate in a Listening Session on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, 1:30PM-4:30PM ET. The purpose of this session is to solicit priorities, guidance, and recommendations from Tribal leaders and Native Hawaiian Organizations (NHOs) on the implementation of the MOU. The MOU signatories also encourage traditional cultural practitioners, Tribal elders, and those with Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) expertise to provide comments and share their perspectives about the MOU and its implementation.

The WHCNAA will host its first engagement session with Tribal leaders on January 31, 2022, as announced by WHCNAA co-chair Secretary Haaland at the 2021 White House Tribal Nations Summit. Following this inaugural session, WHCNAA-Tribal leader engagement sessions will occur three times a year, in addition to the Tribal Nations Summit. The goal of the Tribal leader engagement sessions is for Tribal leaders to have meaningful input on the policies and deliverables of the WHCNAA.

President Biden and the Administration look forward to hosting a robust and meaningful dialogue with Tribal leaders on key issues, policy initiatives, and goals for Indian Country. This year we have changed the name from a conference to a summit to reflect the federal government’s Nation-to-Nation relationship with Tribal Nations. The Biden-Harris Administration is deeply committed to honoring our trust and treaty responsibilities to federally recognized Tribes and the Summit provides an opportunity for Tribal leaders to engage directly with officials from the highest levels of the Administration.