Al Macias

President Joe Biden speaks before signing a proclamation designating the Baaj Nwaavjo I'Tah Kukveni National Monument at the Red Butte Airfield on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Tusayan, Arizona.

President Joe Biden welcomed tribal leadership from across Indian Country to the White House on Wednesday. The third-ever Tribal Nations Summit kicked off in Washington, D.C. This two-day annual gathering in the nation’s capital began under the Biden-Harris administration in 2021.

“We’ve made progress, but we know Indigenous communities still live in the shadows of the failed policies of the past,” says Biden. “That’s why, that’s why I’m committed to working with you to write a new and better chapter in American history.” 

Two years later, they’re touting federal investments ranging from infrastructure to climate accomplishments, including the recent designation for the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni — Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.