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- By Levi Rickert
When Dr. Jill Biden stepped onto Navajo Nation land in April 2021, she began a series of tribal visits that surpassed any first lady before her, building on a tradition Eleanor Roosevelt started in 1937 with the first-ever presidential spouse visit to Indian Country.
As her time in the White House comes to an end, Biden’s legacy will be marked by an unprecedented level of direct engagement with tribal nations, breaking centuries of limited interactions between first ladies and Native communities. Her nine visits to tribal lands focused on issues ranging from healthcare access to Native language preservation.
Interior Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Bryan Newland (Bay Mills), who accompanied Dr. Biden on four tribal visits, said the first lady actively sought opportunities to highlight tribal communities, including the good things happening and good people living on reservations. Rather than waiting for invitations, Biden and her team looked for ways to engage with Indian Country.
“In the history of the United States, that’s really rare,” Newland said. “Dr. Biden has proven with her actions that she sees us and cares about what happens in Indian Country.”
Her engagement also extended off the reservation, hosting a White House reception for Native American Heritage Month with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), and speaking at the 2021 White House Tribal Nations Summit.
The frequency of her visits prompted President Joe Biden to comment on his wife’s Indigenous interaction during his White House summit remarks that year.
“By the way, she spent a lot of time on other reservations — other Nations as well. I’m worried she’s not going to come home one of these days,” Biden joked to tribal leaders, who received his remarks with laughter.
These visits and attention represented a significant departure from historical precedent. First Lady Roosevelt made that first visit in 1937 during her visit to Osage Nation.
Nearly eight decades later, First Lady Michelle Obama accompanied her husband, President Barack Obama, to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.
“As I’ve traveled the country as First Lady, it’s been one of my greatest honors to visit Tribal Nations and Native communities,” Dr. Biden wrote to Native News Online in an email Saturday. “Joe and his Administration have been proud to partner in those efforts, and we’re proud to stand with all of Indian Country as we work to build a brighter future together.”
During her visits, Biden met with tribal leaders at health clinics and schools, participated in roundtables and spoke in gymnasiums with Native leaders and young people about their heritage, their vision for the future, and other timely topics: expanding broadband access, supporting the revitalization of their Native languages, and growing their Native economies.
Former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez fondly recalled the first lady’s visit to the Navajo Nation early in the Biden-Harris administration in April 2021, when the nation was still feeling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. First Lady Biden met with front-line workers.
“My wife, Phefelia, and I were honored to have the First Lady accept our invitation to visit Navajo during our presidency,” Nez told Native News Online recently. “Dr. Biden is a strong advocate for Indigenous people and resulted in unprecedented support and funding for tribal nations across the country under the Biden administration.”
Following the meeting, President Biden appointed Phefelia to the board of trustees for the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.
In her final tribal visit as first lady, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe Chairperson Austin Lowe hosted Dr. Biden in May 2024 for discussions about healthcare in Indian Country.
“We discussed the federal government’s trust responsibility to tribes, along with how the federal government could support tribes to improve healthcare for our people,” Lowe said. “Dr. Biden is a friend to Indian Country, and she will be missed.”
First Lady Jill Biden’s Work in Indian Country
May 2024: First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff participated in a health care listening session with Bay Mills Indian Community and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians at the Sault Tribe Cultural Center in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
October 2023: The First Lady and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland visited the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin to highlight the Biden Administration’s commitment to supporting Native communities and working together with Tribal Nations. During the visit, the First Lady and Secretary Haaland toured the Menominee Tribal Enterprises’ sawmill, visited the College of Menominee Nation, and participated in the College of Menominee Nation’s Women’s Empowerment Summit.
May 2023: The First Lady visited Bethel, Alaska, to highlight the Biden-Harris Administration's historic investments to expand broadband connectivity in Native American communities, including Alaska Native communities in Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (Y-K Delta).
November 2022: The First Lady hosted the first White House reception in honor of Native American Heritage Month with Secretary Haaland. Attendees included Tribal leaders; Native state and local elected officials, artists, writers, athletes, education and health care advocates, and business leaders; and Native youth who participated in the White House Tribal Youth Forum at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services the day before.
March 2022: The First Lady and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra visited the San Xavier Health Clinic, a primary care outpatient clinic on the Tohono O’odham Nation, as part of the Biden Administration’s Cancer Moonshot. Biden met with Tribal healthcare leaders about the Tohono O’odham Nation’s cancer program and services.
December 2021: The First Lady and Secretary Haaland visited the Cherokee Immersion School on the Cherokee Nation to highlight the importance of – and the Biden Administration’s support for – Native language revitalization efforts. Biden met with students and educators and heard about the Tribe’s Cherokee language revitalization programs.
November 2021: The First Lady delivered remarks on Native language revitalization at the 2021 White House Tribal Nations Summit. She was introduced by several Native youth who spoke in their Native languages.
October 2021: The First Lady and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy visited the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan to hold a listening session on youth mental health and meet with families and educators.
July 2021: The First Lady visited the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) in Anchorage, Alaska, to hear about how it serves Alaska Natives who live in Anchorage and in communities across the state. Biden was briefed on ANTHC’s role in the COVID-19 response and vaccination effort, as well the role of telehealth in Alaska – particularly rural communities.
April 2021: The First Lady visited the Navajo Nation. She gave a radio address to the Nation from Window Rock, met with Navajo women leaders, held a listening session with Navajo students, and thanked frontline workers at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic.
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