In May, the U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland addressed attendees at the virtual Native Nations_UW Tribal Leadership Summit. Secretary Haaland, who is the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary, tackled topics including water quality, wild rice, wolf populations, land into trust, and culturally-relevant policies impacting Indigenous academic success, such as eagle feathers at K-12 and post-secondary graduation.
Following the Tribal Leadership Summit, Tribal leaders, Tribal representatives, and UW–Madison faculty, staff, and students expressed optimism that further developing educational pathways to higher education, expanding Indigenous language instruction, and creating improved pathways for collaborative research with Native Nations will be addressed in the near future.
The event marked the kick-off to Phase 2 of the multi-year Native Nations_UW Working Group, which aims to address issues around community well-being, health services, the environment, economic development, education and family well-being in partnership with the Native Nations in Wisconsin.