BIE staff cuts result in lawsuit from tribal nations, Native students

Yahoo

11-03-2025

Kalle BenallieICTThree tribal nations and five Native students are suing the United States Department of Interior and Bureau of Indian Affairs in response to staff cuts at the Bureau of Indian Education and in the schools they fund and operate. In February, the bureau terminated a significant number of employees in the Bureau of Indian Education that helped operate schools in lieu of President Donald Trump's executive orders to reduce federal staffing. Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, lost more than a quarter of its staff and nearly one-quarter of the staff at the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, due to the federal layoffs that occurred on Valentine's Day. The cuts have led to disruptions in education, safety, student programs, student centers, financial aid and a clean environment.The Native American Rights Fund in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is guiding the case for the nations and students which include: the Pueblo of Isleta, Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, Cheyenne Arapaho Tribes and students: Ella Bowen, Kaiya Brown, Danielle Ledesma, Victor Organista, and Aiyanna Tanyan. 'They keep saying that these cuts won't impact individuals and services, but they do – they affect us a lot. Besides the classes that lost instructors, the entire school only has three custodial staff now. The school's restrooms have overflowing trashcans and no toilet paper. Students are cleaning up the restrooms themselves just to make them usable,' said Ella Bowen, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, in a press release. Bowen is a freshman at Haskell. SIPI student Kaiya Jade Brown, Navajo, who is named in the lawsuit, said it's been demoralizing. 'SIPI already was understaffed and things have gotten much worse. We had a power outage in my dorm for 13 hours because there was no maintenance staff available to restore power. I had to leave my dorm to find somewhere I could submit assignments,' Brown said. 'There also was a campus-wide power outage that cancelled classes.' Tribal nations said the BIE did not consult or notify them. The BIE is responsible for providing educational opportunities for Native Americans and Alaska Natives across the country, part of the U.S. government's trust responsibilities — the legal and moral obligations the U.S. has to protect and uphold treaties, laws and congressional acts dealing with tribes.'The United States government has legal obligations to Tribal Nations that they agreed to in treaties and have been written into federal law. The abrupt and drastic changes that happened since February, without consultation or even pre-notification, are completely illegal,' said NARF Staff Attorney Jacqueline De León.There are 183 bureau-funded elementary and secondary schools on 64 reservations in 23 states that serve about 42,000 Indian students, according to the BIE's website. It says 55 are BIE-operated and 128 are tribally operated. Haskell and SIPI are the only two tribal colleges operated by the BIE. 'Tribal Nations and the federal government should be working together to best serve our Native students. Instead, the administration is randomly, without preparation and in violation of their federal trust responsibility, taking away teachers and staff from already-underserved facilities. Our students deserve better,' said Pueblo of Isleta Governor Eugene Jiron.Some instructional staff have been rehired but not all. On Friday, March 7, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, an organization that serves the 34 tribal colleges and universities across the country, announced on social media that "25 positions recently terminated at Haskell Indian Nations University and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute have been reinstated" and thanked Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum for restoring this "vital infrastructure for Indian Country." "However, there are nearly 30 positions who serve critical needs at these institutions that still need to be addressed," read the statement. The BIA told the Associated Press it was department policy to not comment on pending litigation. A spokesperson for the Interior Department also declined to comment.The Associated Press contributed to this story.Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter.