WATCH LIVE: Biden visits Indian Country, apologizes for 150-year-old boarding school policy

Watch Biden’s speech live in the video player above. His performance is scheduled for 12:30 PM ET.

PHOENIX (AP) — President Joe Biden is using his long-promised first presidential visit to Indian country officially apologize to Native Americans on Friday over the state’s residential school system, which has forcibly separated Native American children from their parents for decades.

Democrats are hoping Biden’s visit to the land of the Gila River Indian Community on the outskirts of metro Phoenix in Arizona will also provide a boost. Vice President Kamala Harris turnout in key condition on the battlefield.

Biden, whose presidency is ending, promised tribal leaders almost two years ago that he would visit Indian country.

The president, speaking to reporters Thursday before leaving for Arizona, said an apology for the U.S. government’s role in the abuse and neglect of indigenous children was “something that should have been done a long time ago.” Federal for decades boarding schools according to the White House, were used to assimilate children into white society.

The moment will also give Biden an opportunity to highlight his and Harris’ support for tribal nations, a group that has historically favored Democrats, in a state he won by just 10,000 votes in 2020.

The race between Harris and former President Donald Trump is expected to be just as close, and both campaigns are doing everything they can to boost turnout among foundation supporters.

“The turnout is in the race right now,” said Mike O’Neill, a nonpartisan Arizona pollster. “The trend lines were surprisingly stable. The question is which candidate will be able to win over voters in what appears to be a close race.”

Harris and other Democrats used Biden sparingly on the campaign trail after he ended his campaign in July.

But analysts say Biden could help Harris in her appeal to Native American voters, a group that lags behind others in turnout.

In 2020, there was a sharp increase in voter turnout on some tribal lands in Arizona when Biden defeated Trump to become the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state since Bill Clinton in 1996.

Biden is making the visit in his official capacity, and a formal apology — something the tribes have long sought — seems certain to draw the attention of Native Americans across the country.

At least 973 Native American children died in the US government brutal system of boarding schools over a 150-year period ending in 1969, according to an Interior Department investigation that demanded an apology from the US government.

At least 18,000 children, some as young as 4, were taken from their parents and forced to attend schools that sought to assimilate them.

“President Biden is to be commended for finally addressing this issue and other issues affecting society,” said Ramona Charette Klein, 77, a boarding school survivor and charter member of the Turtle Mountain Orchestra in Chippewa. “I think it will reflect well on Vice President Harris, and I hope that momentum continues.”

She added that whoever becomes the next president should take concrete action and begin to compensate for the damage done to the tribes by residential schools.

Democrats intensified work with Indian communities.

Both Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz, met with tribal leaders in Arizona and Nevada this month. And Clinton, who served as a surrogate for Harris, met last week in North Carolina with the chief of the Lambie tribe.

The Democratic National Committee recently launched six-figure ad campaign targeting Native American voters in Arizona, North Carolina, Montana and Alaska through digital, print and radio ads.

Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is running against Republican Kari Lake for the open Arizona Senate seat, has visited all 22 federally recognized tribes in Arizona.

Harris opened a recent campaign rally in Chandler, near the Gila River Reservation, by shouting out the tribal chief.

She also reminded the crowd that she was the first vice president to visit the reservation. She and husband Doug Emhoff visited the community last year.

“I strongly believe that the relationship between tribal nations and the United States is sacred … and that we must respect tribal sovereignty, accept our trust in treaty obligations and ensure tribal self-determination,” Harris said.

The White House says that over the past four years, Biden and Harris have gained significant experience working with Native Americans.

He appointed the sacred Avi Kwa Ame, desert mountain in Nevada and Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon in Arizona as national monuments and restored boundaries for Bear’s Ears National Monument. in Utah.

In addition, the administration directed nearly $46 billion in federal spending to tribal nations. The money helped electrify a reservation that never had electricity, expand access to high-speed Internet, improve sanitation, build roads, and more.

Biden selected former New Mexico state representative Deb Haaland as his interior secretary, the first Native American appointed to a cabinet position. Haaland is a member of Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico.

She, in turn, in June 2021 ordered a comprehensive review of the problematic legacy of the federal government’s residential school policies, prompting Biden to issue a formal apology.

“He made commitments to Indian Country, and he fulfilled every one of those commitments,” Haaland said.

Tom Reilly, co-director of the Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy at Arizona State University, said the Harris and Trump campaigns — and their allies — have made significant efforts to microtarget Arizona.

Harris, Reilly noted, also focused on reducing Trump’s advantage among Mormon voters in the state, a group that has historically favored Republicans. Meanwhile, Trump has focused on young men as the campaign tries to narrow the Democratic lead at the expense of young voters.

“They’re pulling out all the stops to see if they can wring a few more votes here and there,” Reilly said. “The Indian community is one of those groups that Harris hopes will step up and help make a difference.”