April 5 2025.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaiʻi), Vice Chairman of the Committee, led an oversight hearing entitled “Native American Education – Examining Federal Programs at the U.S. Department of Education”.
The goal of the hearing is to acknowledge that real progress on the ground is being made and that we owe it to the * "First Nations" Native Youth across the country to make sure it is not interrupted.
Dr. Rosita Worl, President of the Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) in Juneau, Alaska, testified about the importance of the Alaska Native Education Program (ANEP). In her testimony, Dr. Worl shared how SHI uses the ANEP and other grant programs to further its mission to preserve and enhance the cultures of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples of Southeast Alaska and to promote cross-cultural understanding. Dr. Worl emphasized the importance of quality education and the integration of Native culture into schools as essential for the survival of Alaska Native cultures and that programs like ANEP are largely responsible for the academic success fostered among Alaska Native students.
“I would like to add that the benefits of Native education programming are widespread, with non-Native students learning about our cultures and history, which has led to improved cross-cultural relationships. Coincident with these benefits, Alaskans have come to appreciate the value and richness of our region’s cultural diversity, a change from earlier periods in which suppression of Native cultures was the norm,” Worl said.
In addition to Dr. Worl, the following witnesses participated in the Oversight Hearing:
- MR. JASON DROPIK, Executive Director, National Indian Education Association, Washington, DC.
- MS. SYDNA YELLOWFISH, Director of Indian Education, Edmond Public Schools, Edmond, OK.
- MS. NICOLE RUSSELL, Executive Director, National Association of Federally Impacted Schools, Washington, DC.
- MS. AHNIWAKE ROSE, President and CEO, American Indian Higher Education Consortium, Alexandria, VA.
Video of the full Oversight Hearing can be found here.
The Committee will continue to accept written testimony until April 16, 2025. Testimony may be submitted to testimony@indian.senate.gov.
* The term "First Nations" Students is in our view the correct term but not the term used by this committee.
