President Donald Trump recently instructed the Interior Department to look into wiping negative references to the nation’s past while embracing “the beauty, abundance and grandeur of the American landscape.”
Trump’s executive order from March, which covers more than 500 million acres of land managed by the federal agency, is titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”
“From a tribal perspective, could say, ‘Great, we’re overdue for a little truth and sanity in American history,’” said Valerie Grussing, executive director of the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers. “But of course, they mean the opposite.”
The government is reviewing all monuments and other markers that have been removed, renamed or altered since 2020 for what it calls a “false reconstruction of American history.”
But Grussing worries this mandate simply means “whitewashing the unjust parts of our shared past,” adding “it will only serve to deepen the division” between the U.S. and the nation’s 574 federally recognized tribes.
In a statement, the Interior Department told KJZZ this initiative isn’t about erasing history but meant to “free narratives from ideological distortion,” stressing the agency is “committed to presenting a truthful and comprehensive account” — one in which “all Americans are represented fairly and truthfully.”
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