WHEREAS, the National Indian Health Board (NIHB), established in 1972, serves all Federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Tribal governments by advocating for the improvement of health care delivery to AI/ANs, as well as upholding the Federal government’s trust responsibility to AI/AN Tribal governments; and

WHEREAS, the NIHB serves all federally recognized Tribes, constituting a diverse service population with wide-ranging perspectives, opinions, and values; and

WHEREAS, the governing body of the NIHB is its Board of Directors, comprised of a representative elected from the Tribes in each Indian Health Service Area; and

WHEREAS, AI/ANs have suffered physical, mental, emotional and spiritual harms resulting from historical and intergenerational trauma that began with European colonialism and imperialistic policies implemented by the United States government and encouraged by United States Supreme Court judgments that embraced the Doctrine of Discovery, whereby Tribal lands could be seized and rightfully claimed by European Christian governments under the auspices that Tribal lands were “discovered” by Europeans and thereafter under European ownership; and

WHEREAS, European colonialism includes a history of genocide against AI/AN people, and the United States government’s westward expansion under Manifest Destiny contributed to genocide, along with forced removal and relocation of numerous Tribes under the Indian Removal Act of 1830; and

WHEREAS, after committing physical genocide of AI/AN people, the United States government shifted its focus to cultural genocide and the control and regulation of Tribes through a series of systemic and programmatic initiatives; and

WHEREAS, the United States Congress passed the Civilization Fund Act of 1819, which provided funding for religious institutions to create schools to “civilize” AI/AN children through educational curricula designed to require the adoption of the English language, Anglo-American customs and cultural expressions, and the Christian religion; and