Monday morning, the American Psychological Association is giving a formal apology to First Peoples and Nations of the United States. The apology will be presented by APA leadership, including the APA President: Thema Bryant; APA President Elect: Cynthia de las Fuentes; APA Past President: Frank Worrell; APA CEO & Executive VP: Arthur Evans; APA Chief Diversity Officer: Maysa Akbar; and the Indigenous Apology Work Group.

The APA Indigenous Apology Work Group was seated in 2020 by APA President Sandra L. Shullman. The Work Group includes Rosie Phillips Davis (Co-chair), Linda M. Woolf (Co-chair), Linda Forrest, Sandra L. Shullman, Janet T. Thomas, Debra M. Kawahara (APA Board of Directors Representative), along with consultants Justin Douglas McDonald, Oglala Lakota and Gayle Skawen:nio Morse, Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) Nation.

To learn more about the process, history, and the apology - you can read the report here: https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/indigenous-apology.pdf

The formal apology will be followed with a Wiping of Tears Ceremony facilitated by Bennie Begay & Lyle J. Harvey.

Keynote Presentations

Terry Cross (Ha-ne-ga-noh) will present on the Current Landscape of the ICWA through a Relational Worldview Lens. He is an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation, received his master's degree in social work from Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. He is the founding executive director of NICWA, now serving as senior advisor. He is the author of Positive Indian Parenting and co-authored Towards a Culturally Competent System of Care, published by Georgetown University. He has 50 years of experience in child welfare, including 10 years direct practice.