Why The Nation’s Largest Native American Advocacy Group Walked Away From America’s 250th Celebration

The nation's oldest and largest Native American advocacy organization will not be participating in America's 250th birthday celebration, despite representing a history and people who existed thousands of years before there was an America to commemorate. Its leadership isn't subtle about why.

When America prepared to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Larry Wright Jr., executive director for the National Congress of American Indians, was initially optimistic. 

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The NCAI had signed on as an official America250 Natural Resource Partner in 2024, hoping to help shape how the country told the story of the nation's founding and ensure it was inclusive of Indigenous people's history.

Then a new administration came in.

The NCAI quietly withdrew from the partnership in July 2025 after what NCAI leadership described to HuffPost as fundamental disagreements over representation and historical narrative — differences that deepened as the Trump administration increasingly steered the commemoration away from the bipartisan vision the organization originally agreed to join.

"We started out as a partner with America250 and then it morphed, and some things were being presented that we didn't agree with, and we ultimately stepped down as a national partner," Wright, a member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, said.

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The organization's exit is a quiet but broader example of how President Donald Trump's partisan takeover has sidelined some communities from a celebration intended for all Americans, including the roughly 9.7 million Native Americans, according to the 2020 Census, whose ancestors pre-dated, shaped and survived in the nation now marking 250 years since America's founding year. 

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"Initially there was outreach. This was several years ago about intent on trying to bring in the native voice into American 250 celebrations and recognitions," Wright told HuffPost. "We were careful not to call it a celebration, but a recognition. Then with the new administration, the rhetoric changed." 

America250, the official nonpartisan organization established by Congress in 2016 to plan the semiquincentennial and related civic and educational events, has largely been hijacked by Freedom 250, a Trump-aligned organization established by the president in December 2025 that has benefited him and his allies financially and politically. Signature Freedom 250 events have imbued conservative programming to portray the nation's milestone through a narrow lens, such as Trump campaign-style rallies and events centered on MAGA policy priorities.

NCAI Policy Director Meghan Bishop told HuffPost the exit was the culmination of decisions that began when their partnership contract with America250 was canceled as the Trump administration took over in early 2025. Despite the termination of the agreement, Bishop said the organization continued to use their logo on materials for several months after.

HuffPost reached out to America250 for comment and did not receive an immediate response.

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Changes on the historical perspective also discouraged the organization from continuing engagement. Last July, Hillsdale College was announced as America250′s official education provider, with conservative nonprofit PragerU brought on as a partner to develop educational materials. Bishop pointed to PragerU's programming for children, such as videos on Thanksgiving and the founding of America, as a sanitized version of history.

"It's a very, very white-centered view of colonization," Bishop, a member of the Sugpiat/Native Village of Afognak, said.

Wright said those political revisions eventually reached a tipping point for leaders and members of the NCAI, an organization that has spent over 80 years fighting for accurate historical representation, tribal sovereignty, and other issues affecting Indian Country and its 575 federally recognized tribes. 

"Indian Country is not 'D' for Democrat or 'R' for Republican, we're 'I' for Indian," he said. 

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Despite the fractured national efforts around the 250th anniversary, Wright said the organization hopes to emphasize the deep historical ties of Native Americans to the nation and their significant contributions, such as their military service — which is higher than any other racial or ethnic group — or as a major employer across rural regions in the U.S.

"You can look at the successes, but you also have to look at those things that aren't successful or continuing to be attacked," Wright said. "I think as the dust settles on this celebration, Indian Country is still here, Indian Country's growing, and we'll continue to advocate and defend our tribal sovereignty."

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