Shelly Lowe, the chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, addresses a reception at the White House on October 21, 2024.

Lowe is a citizen of the Navajo Nation. She is the first Native person to lead the National Endowment for the Humanities, having been nominated to the federal government post by President Joe Biden.

In introducing Biden at the reception, Lowe said the Democratic president “ensured that when I came into my position, there were others who looked like me, other Native voices, other Native individuals who were leading us and who are making the administration do what we needed to do.”

“He gave us all a space,” Lowe said to sustained applause. “He gave us all a place. He gave us all the opportunity to have a voice.”

The reception included recipients of the National Humanities Medal: poet and musician Joy Harjo (Muscogee), educator Robert Martin (Cherokee), author Robin Wall Kimmerer (Potawatomi) and culture leader Rosita Worl (Tlingit). The winners were presented their awards in private ceremony with Biden.

2023 recipient Robin Wall Kimmerer (Potawatomi) has written several books on Indigenous wisdom and the natural world, including “Braiding Sweetgrass,” which has sold more than two million copies. #ArtsHumanitiesMedal Read more: https://t.co/tEaawGe0No pic.twitter.com/TckngKOhul

— National Endowment for the Humanities (@NEHgov) October 22, 2024

2023 recipient Rosita Worl (Tlingit) is an anthropologist and president of the Sealaska Heritage Institute. From 2000-2013, she served on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act National Review Committee. #ArtsHumanitiesMedal Read more: https://t.co/JkcHWK0YvC pic.twitter.com/A1kElkucTs

— National Endowment for the Humanities (@NEHgov) October 22, 2024

2022 recipient Joy Harjo of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation is a poet, musician, and playwright who shares the experiences of Native Americans through her work.

She has served three terms as the poet laureate of the U.S. #ArtsHumanitiesMedal

Read more: https://t.co/XpYyjWo3Ay pic.twitter.com/VP2i3yKpHc

— National Endowment for the Humanities (@NEHgov) October 21, 2024

2022 recipient Robert Martin (Cherokee) has been president of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), a public tribal college, in Santa Fe since 2007.

IAIA also operates the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. #ArtsHumanitiesMedal

Read more: https://t.co/7NWSnLy9BE pic.twitter.com/lUrHJiJud7

— National Endowment for the Humanities (@NEHgov) October 22, 2024