Building Future Tribal Leaders – Close Up and USET/USET SPF Partnership

November 5, 2024

Between 1869 and the 1960s, hundreds of thousands of Native American children were removed from their homes and families and placed in boarding schools operated by the federal government and the churches. The children that were removed from their homes, families, and communities during this time were taken to schools far away where they were punished for speaking their Native language, banned from acting in any way that might be seen to represent traditional or cultural practices, stripped of traditional clothing, hair and personal belongings and behaviors reflective of their native culture.

Despite the federal government’s attempts to erase and extinguish our culture as part of the Boarding School policy, in addition to many other federal policies of removal, assimilation, and termination, we persevered, and we are still here. To ensure our continued growth, perseverance, and prosperity as nations and as a people, our youth are a critical component to that future. Today, our Native youth are leaning into their knowledge and power, demonstrating their commitment and dedication to creating a strong and healthy future for the benefit of all our families, communities, and nations. To further support them, we must encourage them to further discover and take ownership of their voice, power, courage, and avenues for contribution.  For more than 30 years, USET has partnered with the Close Up Foundation.  During this seven-day/six-night program that takes place in coordination with the USET/USET SPF Impact Week in Washington, DC, students explore current issues facing Native Americans, the rights and responsibilities of dual citizenship, and the complex relationship between Tribal Nations and the federal government. While discovering Washington, DC, and meeting with fellow USET youth, Tribal leaders, and the USET/USET SPF Board of Directors, students get an inside look at the American political system and avenues to best advocate our Indian Country interests.

USET/USET SPF President Kirk Francis, Chief of the Penobscot Nation said, “One reason I think it's extremely important to invest in our youth is because none of us get here without being invested in. My Tribal leadership invested in me growing up. They saw something in me at a young age, brought me to these conferences, exposed me to these conversations, and it was really eye-opening for me to get out of the community I grew up in and really understand how things all tie together and how we're all facing those kinds of common problems that Indian country faces. So, for me, it was a real aspirational time in my life that really made a difference in terms of giving me goals and objectives as I got older.”

Watch the video created during the 2024 USET/USET SPF Impact Week Meeting:

Learn more about Native American Heritage Month.