{"id":413958,"date":"2026-02-12T22:18:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T04:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=413958"},"modified":"2026-02-13T12:36:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T18:36:53","slug":"were-gonna-make-some-meaningful-change-indian-country-rallies-to-support-youth-and-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2026\/02\/12\/were-gonna-make-some-meaningful-change-indian-country-rallies-to-support-youth-and-families\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We’re gonna make some meaningful change’: Indian Country rallies to support youth and families"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Lisa<\/a>
Bearing a name tag with her given Nuu\u2019etaa language name meaning “Strong Voice,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) greets a well-wisher at a reception in Washington, D.C., on February 11, 2026. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
‘We’re gonna make some meaningful change’: Indian Country rallies to support youth and families<\/div>\r\n
Thursday, February 12, 2026<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C. —\r\nIndian Country is rallying to continue the work of the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children<\/a>.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nCongress established the commission in honor of Alyce Spotted Bear<\/a>, an educator and former chairwoman of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation<\/a>, and Walter Soboleff<\/a>, a revered Tlingit elder who fought for Alaska Native rights and education. Members of the panel spent more than three years studying the ways in which the federal government can better support American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian children.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“We gathered baseline data on topics including juvenile justice, socioeconomic issues, mental health, suicide, infant and child mortality, child welfare, substance use, ACEs or adverse childhood experiences, educational achievement, physical health, and\u200awe held hearings both in-person and during COVID virtually,” commission member Anita Fineday told the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs<\/a> on January 28<\/a>.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“We heard from elected officials, community leaders,” said Fineday, a citizen of the White Earth Nation who previously served as chief judge of her tribe’s court system in Minnesota.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“We had 26 site visits and 10 regional hearings, as well as 25 virtual hearings. We heard from experts in their fields, and we heard from scholars who had worked in each of these areas throughout their careers,” Fineday added.\r\n

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