WASHINGTON, DC – On the heels of her Alaska Federation of Natives speech urging a better future for Alaska Natives, Senator Lisa Murkowski on Wednesday joined her colleague Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota in introducing a plan to find solutions to the many challenges facing Native American children throughout Indian Country.

The joint effort from the two legislators is named the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children, to commemorate the legacies of the former Chairwoman of Mandan, Hidatsa & Arikara Nation and Alaska Native Elder Walter Soboleff and is already being praised and supported by National Indian tribal groups.

The legislation would create a Commission on Native American Children to conduct a study into issues facing Native children – such as high rates of poverty and unemployment, child abuse, domestic violence, crime, substance abuse, and few economic opportunities. The commission would also make recommendations on how to assure that Native children are better taken care of and given the opportunities to thrive. Heitkamp and Murkowski are both members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

“Last week at the Alaska Federation of Natives, we heard a group of kids from Tanana speak up with tremendous courage and express that they have had enough of violence, alcohol, drugs, and suicide in their communities,” said Senator Murkowski. “Their call for us to take a pledge to protect our communities against suicide is a call to action for all of us. I am proud to co-sponsor the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission with Sen. Heitkamp. We must ensure our federal government upholds the trust responsibility and this Commission will examine from the lens of justice, education, and healthcare how to improve the lives of our Nation’s native children. We can and must do better for our Native youth.”

“It is also appropriate we honor Dr. Walter Soboleff, our champion for cultural education in Alaska,” Murkowskicontinued. “Dr. Soboleff lived a life committed to ensuring our public education system honored cultural values, and that our University system provided an option for students to learn cultural practices with the established of the Alaska Native Studies Department at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.”

“We have all heard stories or seen first-hand the struggles that too many Native children and their families face from extreme poverty to child abuse to suicide. Since I’ve been in public office, I’ve worked to address many of these challenges, and I’m proud my first bill as a U.S. Senator will take a serious look at finding solutions to better protect Native children and give them the opportunities they deserve,” said Senator Heitkamp. ““We need to strive for a day when Native children no longer live in third-world conditions; where they don’t face the threat of abuse on a daily basis; where they receive the good health care and education to help them grow and succeed. However, we don’t just have a moral obligation to fix this, we have treaty and trust responsibilities to do so. The federal government pledged long ago to protect Native families and children. We haven’t lived up to that promise. But we can change that.”

Background:

• 37 percent of Native children live in poverty;
• Suicide rates are 2.5 times the national average for children 15-24 years old;
• High school graduation rate for Native students is around 50 percent, compared to more than 75 percent for white students; and
• While the overall rate of child mortality in the U.S. has decreased since 2000, the rate for Native children has increased 15 percent.

To help reverse these impacts, the Commission on Native Children would conduct a comprehensive study on the programs, grants, and support available for Native children, both at government agencies and on the ground in Native communities, with the goal of developing a sustainable system that delivers wrap-around services to Native children. Then, the 11 member Commission would issue a report regarding how to address a series of challenges currently facing Native children. A Native Children Subcommittee would also provide advice to the Commission.

The Commission’s report would address how to achieve:

• Better Use of Existing Resources – The Commission will identify ways to streamline current federal, state, and local programs to be more effective and give tribes greater flexibility to devise programs for their communities in the spirit of self-determination and allow government agencies to redirect resources to the areas of most need.
• Increased Coordination – The Commission will seek to improve coordination of existing programs benefitting Native children. The federal government houses programs across numerous different agencies, yet these programs too often do not work together.
• Measurable Outcomes – The Commission will recommend measures to determine the wellbeing of Native children, and use these measurements to propose short-term, mid-term, and long-term national policy goals.
• Stronger Data – The Commission will seek to develop better data collection methods. Too often Native children are left out of the conversation because existing data collection, reporting, and analysis practices exclude them.
• Stronger Private Sector Partnerships – The Commission will seek to identify obstacles to public-private partnerships in Native communities.
• Implementation of Best Practices – The Commission will identify and highlight successful models that can be adopted in Native communities.