Trump administration makes major cuts to Native American boarding school research projects

Trump administration makes major cuts to Native American boarding school research projects
Trump speaks during a swearing-In Ceremony for the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (AFP)
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Updated 19 April 2025
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Trump administration makes major cuts to Native American boarding school research projects

Trump administration makes major cuts to Native American boarding school research projects
  • The cuts are just a fraction of the grants canceled by the National Endowment for the Humanities in recent weeks as part of the Republican administration’s deep cost-cutting effort across the federal
  • At least $1.6 million in federal funds for projects meant to capture and digitize stories of the systemic abuse of generations of Indigenous children in boarding schools

DUBAI: At least $1.6 million in federal funds for projects meant to capture and digitize stories of the systemic abuse of generations of Indigenous children in boarding schools at the hands of the US government have been slashed due to federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The cuts are just a fraction of the grants canceled by the National Endowment for the Humanities in recent weeks as part of the Trump administration’s deep cost-cutting effort across the federal government. But coming on the heels of a major federal boarding school investigation by the previous administration and an apology by then-President Joe Biden, they illustrate a seismic shift.
“If we’re looking to ‘Make America Great Again,’ then I think it should start with the truth about the true American history,” said Deborah Parker, CEO of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.
The coalition lost more than $282,000 as a result of the cuts, halting its work to digitize more than 100,000 pages of boarding school records for its database. Parker, a citizen of the Tulalip Tribes in Washington state, said Native Americans nationwide depend on the site to find loved ones who were taken or sent to these boarding schools.
Searching that database last year, Roberta “Birdie” Sam, a member of Tlingit & Haida, was able to confirm that her grandmother had been at a boarding school in Alaska. She also discovered that around a dozen cousins, aunts and uncles had also been at a boarding school in Oregon, including one who died there. She said the knowledge has helped her with healing.
“I understand why our relationship has been the way it has been. And that’s been a great relief for myself,” she said. “I’ve spent a lot of years very disconnected from my family, wondering what happened. And now I know — some of it anyways.”
An April 2 letter to the healing coalition that was signed by Michael McDonald, acting chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, says the “grant no longer effectuates the agency’s needs and priorities.”
The Associated Press left messages by phone and email for the National Endowment for the Humanities. White House officials and the Office of Management and Budget also did not respond Friday to an email requesting comment.
Indigenous children were sent to boarding schools. For 150 years the US removed Indigenous children from their homes and sent them away to the schools, where they were stripped of their cultures, histories and religions, and beaten for speaking their native languages.
At least 973 Native American children died at government-funded boarding schools, according to an Interior Department investigation launched by former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. Both the report and independent researchers say the actual number was much higher.
The forced assimilation policy officially ended with the enactment of the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978. But the government never fully investigated the boarding school system until the Biden administration.
In October, Biden apologized for the government’s creation of the schools and the policies that supported them.
Haaland, a Laguna Pueblo citizen who’s running for governor in New Mexico, described the recent cuts as the latest step in the Trump administration’s “pattern of hiding the full story of our country.” But she said they can’t erase the extensive work already done.
“They cannot undo the healing communities felt as they told their stories at our events to hear from survivors and descendants,” she said in a statement. “They cannot undo the investigation that brings this dark chapter of our history to light. They cannot undo the relief Native people felt when President Biden apologized on behalf of the United States.”
Boarding school research programs are feeling the strain. Among the grants terminated earlier this month was $30,000 for a project between the Koahnic Broadcast Corporation and Alaska Native Heritage Center to record and broadcast oral histories of elders in Alaska. Koahnic received an identical letter from McDonald.
Benjamin Jacuk, the Alaska Native Heritage Center’s director of Indigenous research, said the news came around the same time they lost about $100,000 through a Institute of Museum and Library Services grant for curating a boarding school exhibit.
“This is a story that for all of us, we weren’t able to really hear because it was so painful or for multitudes of reasons,” said Jacuk, a citizen of Kenaitze Indian Tribe. “And so it’s really important right now to be able to record these stories that our elders at this point are really opening up to being able to tell.”
Former Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Bryan Newland described the cuts as frustrating, especially given the size of the grants.
“It’s not even a drop in the ocean when it comes to the federal budget,” said Newland, a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community (Ojibwe). “And so it’s hard to argue that this is something that’s really promoting government efficiency or saving taxpayer funds.”
In April 2024, the National Endowment for the Humanities announced that it was awarding $411,000 to more than a dozen tribal nations and organizations working to illustrate the impact of these boarding schools. More than half of those awards have since been terminated. The grant cuts were documented by the non-profit organization National Humanities Alliance.
John Campbell, a member of Tlingit and the Tulalip Tribes, said the coalition’s database helped him better understand his parents, who were both boarding school survivors and “passed on that tradition of being traumatized.”
When he was growing up, his mother used to put soap in his mouth when he said a bad word. He said he learned through the site that she experienced that punishment beginning when she was 6-years-old in a boarding school in Washington state when she would speak her language. “She didn’t talk about it that much,” he said. “She didn’t want to talk about it either. It was too traumatic.”


Putin eases access to Russian citizenship for Georgian breakaway regions

Putin eases access to Russian citizenship for Georgian breakaway regions
Updated 4 sec ago
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Putin eases access to Russian citizenship for Georgian breakaway regions

Putin eases access to Russian citizenship for Georgian breakaway regions
Under the decree, applicants will no longer be required to permanently reside in Russia
Georgia and Russia have no diplomatic relations since the 2008 war

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday signed a decree simplifying access to Russian citizenship for people from two Georgian breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Under the decree, applicants will no longer be required to permanently reside in Russia to get citizenship, or prove their knowledge of the Russian language or culture.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia are recognized by most of the world as Georgian territory, but has been under de-facto Russian control since a brief 2008 war between Moscow and Tbilisi.

In Abkhazia, another pro-Russian president recently won an election after the previous one was ousted following tense protests over a bill giving Russians easier access to coastal property along the Black Sea.

Georgia and Russia have no diplomatic relations since the 2008 war, but critics accuse the current Georgian ruling party of being pro-Russian, and claim it came to power as a result of a rigged election.

Georgia, which shares a border with Russia, declined to join international financial and economic sanctions against Moscow over its Ukraine offensive, or to support Kyiv with military equipment.

Erdogan sees end in sight for US sanctions on Turkish defense sector

Erdogan sees end in sight for US sanctions on Turkish defense sector
Updated 49 min 43 sec ago
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Erdogan sees end in sight for US sanctions on Turkish defense sector

Erdogan sees end in sight for US sanctions on Turkish defense sector

ISTANBUL: Turkiye has seen an easing of US sanctions on its defense sector since Donald Trump became president, with steps toward ending the measure advancing quickly, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday.
“We can easily say that there is a softening in CAATSA,,” he told reporters while returning from a European summit, referring to US sanctions legislation.
In 2020, Washington imposed sanctions on Ankara over its purchase of an S-400 Russian surface-to-air missile defense system under a 2017 law known as CAATSA, which aims to limit Russia’s military influence.
The move soured ties between the two NATO member countries.
It also booted Turkiye out of its F-35 program, with Washington saying the presence of the S-400 would allow the Russians to collect information on the stealth jet’s capabilities.
Erdogan said Turkiye had raised the sanctions issue with Trump and his newly-appointed envoy to Ankara, Tom Barrack
“With my friend Trump taking office, we have achieved a more open, more constructive and more sincere communication on these issues,” Erdogan added, saying Turkiye valued “every positive step in this direction.”
“I believe we will overcome the CAATSA process much faster. As two great NATO allies, there should be no restrictions or obstacles in the field of defense between us,” he said.
Turkiye’s partnership with the United States was “of vital importance for the establishment of stability in our region and the world” he said.
In March, Erdogan spoke to Trump about the need to finalize a deal to let Turkiye buy US F-16 fighter planes and be readmitted to the development program for F-35 warplanes.
Turkiye has been seeking to modernize its airforce, and has been seeking to buy 40 Eurofighter Typhoons which are built by a four-nation consortium grouping Germany, Britain, Spain and Italy.


Militants kill at least 23 in Nigeria attack, security sources say

Militants kill at least 23 in Nigeria attack, security sources say
Updated 17 May 2025
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Militants kill at least 23 in Nigeria attack, security sources say

Militants kill at least 23 in Nigeria attack, security sources say

MAIDUGURI: At least 23 farmers and fishermen were killed and others abducted by suspected Islamist militants in northeastern Nigeria’s Borno state this week, security sources and local residents told Reuters.
Nigeria has been grappling with a long-running insurgency in its northeast, primarily driven by the Islamist armed group Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province.
The latest attack happened in the village of Malam Karanti on Thursday morning, the security sources and residents said.
A spokesman for Nigeria’s army did not respond to phone calls and text messages seeking comment.
Local resident Sani Auwal said by phone that militants had gathered farmers and fishermen near the village and killed 23 people, many of them bean farmers. They spared an elderly man who later alerted the community, he said.
Another local resident Usman Ali said the community had tried to recover the bodies of those killed but had been chased back by the militants.
Last month Borno’s governor acknowledged that Boko Haram had renewed attacks and kidnappings in the state, reversing previous gains by security forces.


India and US at odds on Kashmir truce with Pakistan — analysts

India and US at odds on Kashmir truce with Pakistan — analysts
Updated 17 May 2025
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India and US at odds on Kashmir truce with Pakistan — analysts

India and US at odds on Kashmir truce with Pakistan — analysts
  • Trump announced the truce after four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks from both sides, killing about 70 people
  • President Trump’s rhetoric about the ceasefire is ‘irritating’ for India, an important ally for the US, an analyst says

NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump’s claim to have helped end fighting between arch-rivals India and Pakistan has driven a wedge between him and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, analysts say.

A week since Trump announced a surprise truce between India and Pakistan to end a brief but intense conflict, New Delhi and Washington differ about the way it was achieved.

The US administration thought “an intervention at this stage might give them some basic benefit in terms of highlighting Trump’s role,” Indian foreign policy expert Harsh V. Pant told AFP.

“That... became the driver and in a sense the hurry which with Trump announced the ceasefire,” said Pant from the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation (ORF) think tank.

Fighting began when India launched strikes on May 7 against what it called “terrorist camps” in Pakistan following an April militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 people.

New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing the militants it claimed were behind the attack, which Pakistan denies.

Trump announced the truce after four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks from both sides, killing about 70 people, including dozens of civilians, and sent thousands fleeing.

He later boasted about bringing India and Pakistan “back from the brink,” telling Fox News on Friday it was “a bigger success than I’ll ever be given credit for.”

New Delhi however shrugs off these claims, which go against decades-long Indian policy that opposes foreign mediation in conflicts with Islamabad.

India and Pakistan claim the currently divided Kashmir in full. New Delhi considers the Himalayan region an internal matter, with politicians long viewing external mediation as a sign of weakness.

Modi’s first speech since the ceasefire did not mention US involvement and his government has since insisted that talks with Pakistan are “strictly bilateral.”

India was also quick to dismiss Trump’s suggestion that trade pressures hastened a truce.

“The issue of trade did not come up” in discussions with US officials, the Indian foreign ministry said this week.

According to ORF fellow Manoj Joshi, Trump’s rhetoric is “irritating” for India — whose strategic location and massive market size have made the country an important ally for the United States.

But India is being “very cautious” because it is in negotiations for a trade deal with Washington to avoid steep tarriffs, he said.

“We (India) would like the agenda to go in a different direction,” said Joshi.

It is also a thorny matter domestically.

Main opposition Congress party said Trump’s announcement had “upstaged” the Hindu nationalist leader’s “much-delayed address.”

It also demanded an all-party meeting to ask whether India is changing its policy on “third-party mediation” for Kashmir, disputed between Pakistan and India.

The two South Asian rivals had in the 1970s agreed to settle “differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations.”

Modi has previously poked fun at former Congress governments for “weak” responses against Pakistan in various skirmishes.

“So India would obviously respond to that and deny that... about as politely as they feel they can get away with,” said South Asia researcher Pramit Pal Chaudhuri of political consultancy Eurasia Group.

Trump’s claimed mediation was welcomed by Islamabad, which “needed an American intervention to give them the off-ramp they needed to get out of a conflict,” Chaudhuri added.

On Thursday, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar reaffirmed that “where Pakistan is concerned, our relations, our dealings with them will be bilateral, and strictly bilateral.”

But the same day, speaking from Qatar, Trump repeated claims of brokering a ceasefire and using trade as a tool.

“(I said) let’s do trade instead of war. And Pakistan was very happy with that, and India was very happy with that,” Trump said in his speech.

It has been a decade since Modi last met a Pakistani leader. Since then, relations have deteriorated, coming to a head when India unilaterally revoked in 2019 limited autonomy of the part of Kashmir it administers.

According to Joshi, “the hyphenation of India and Pakistan” is also “irritating” for New Delhi, which has tried to carve out a separate identity on the global stage.

“The optics of Trump hammering it day after day... is politically damaging for Modi,” Sushant Singh, a former Indian soldier and South Asian studies lecturer at Yale University, wrote on X.

“[Modi] can’t personally counter Trump, and despite attempts by India’s big media to play it down, social media amplifies Trump,” Singh said.


British police charge three Iranians in counter terrorism probe

British police charge three Iranians in counter terrorism probe
Updated 17 May 2025
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British police charge three Iranians in counter terrorism probe

British police charge three Iranians in counter terrorism probe

British police have charged three Iranian men with offenses under the National Security Act after a major counter-terrorism investigation, the police said on Saturday.
British counter-terrorism police arrested eight men including seven Iranians earlier this month in two separate operations in what the British interior minister called some of the biggest investigations of their kind in recent years.
Mostafa Sepahvand, Farhad Javadi Manesh, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori were charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between August 14, 2024, and February 16, 2025, the police said in a statement.
The foreign state to which the charges relate is Iran, they added.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has previously said he was “disturbed” to learn that Iranian citizens had been arrested by British authorities.
The British government has placed Iran on the highest tier of its foreign influence register, requiring Tehran to register everything it does to exert political influence in the UK.