President-elect Joe Biden’s selection of Rep. Deb Haaland, DN.M., to lead the Department of the Interior – possibly the first Native American to do so and serve as cabinet secretary – is celebrated by Native American groups and seen as a new start for tribal relations with the federal government.
The Interior Department is “a huge battleship. It’s not going to turn a dime, but this is the signal of a new chapter,” said Crystal Echo Hawk, executive director of IllumiNative, a Native American advocacy group. “This is a profound reset of the federal government’s relationship with the indigenous peoples, one built on stolen land and broken promises.”
Biden’s choice of Haaland had raised concerns among some Democrats about the threat of losing a new seat and diminishing the party’s limited hold in the US House. But she tweeted on Thursday that the historical nature of her nomination has come at the right time.
“A voice like mine has never been a cabinet secretary or the head of the Department of the Interior,” said Haaland, 60, a tribesman from New Mexico’s Laguna Pueblo. Growing up in my mom’s Pueblo household made me furious. I will be fierce for all of us, our planet and all our protected land. ‘
Haaland’s supporters say her experience in Congress and personal understanding of Native American issues qualify her for a major federal position that encompasses the conservation and management of the country’s 500 million acres of federal land and natural resources and includes a wide patchwork of agencies. such as the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
“It is truly a historic and unprecedented day for all indigenous peoples,” said Jonathan Nez, president of the Navajo Nation, the tribe with the largest reservation in the United States.
Under the Trump administration, the Home Affairs department has criticized loyalty concerns among the 70,000-employee department and President Donald Trump’s 2019 selection of former oil and gas lobbyist David Bernhardt as secretary. Bernhardt replaced Ryan Zinke, who resigned after a series of scandals.
The government’s move in 2017 to shrink the land area of two Utah national landmarks – Bears Ears and Grand Staircase – sparked a battle with conservation groups and Native American tribes that characterized the indigenous people’s frustrations with the federal government, Echo Said Hawk.
“The Interior Ministry has felt like a daunting task in recent years,” she added. “So imagine the first day, Deb in the cabinet and in this new government is really working to protect these holy places.”
Ken Salazar, who was Secretary of the Interior under the Obama administration from 2009 to 2013, said Haaland is a “great choice” for the position and reached out to congratulate her.
He added that the “Senate must do its job” and confirm it quickly. Salazar was confirmed in the Senate unanimously, although how easily Biden will look forward to his nominations will depend in part on which side wins Senate races in Georgia.
“This is a tough job,” Salazar said, adding that Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye once told him that of all cabinet positions, “the Interior is the most important because you are the custodian of America’s natural resources and the custodian of the US. heritage. “
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., Who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, urged House Democratic leadership to endorse Haaland’s nomination and set aside concerns about the potential loss of a new House seat after Biden previously reps. . Marcia Fudge of Ohio had tapped to the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Representative Cedric Richmond of Louisiana will become a senior adviser to the White House.
He said he hopes Republican senators will give Haaland a chance during the nomination process.
“The fact that she’s not in the Zinke or Bernhardt agenda, that gives her a very different and more inclusive perspective on how that agency functions, I think that’s going to be an area of opposition,” Grijalva said.
He added that the list of problems that Haaland must address is long and includes indigenous and urban indigenous communities accessing federal funding, especially as the coronavirus pandemic is afflicting the Native American population at a disproportionate pace; protection of nature reserves from oil and gas drilling; and to investigate the growing number of missing and murdered indigenous women.
Haaland at the helm would be “substantive,” said Grijalva, after “the history of the Interior was one that was anti-Indian in every sense of the word.” The agency has a record of dislocation of indigenous peoples in the United States.
Lynn Scarlett, a former acting Secretary of the Interior appointed by President George W. Bush, said Indian Country has more than 570 federally recognized tribes, and Haaland’s personal experience of the tribal system means she can prioritize without training wheels.
“Those relationships are very complex and a lot of people just don’t know them,” said Scarlett.
“The way this new government emphasizes justice, inclusion and diversity can make a difference,” she added.
Haaland previously made history in 2018 as one of the first two Native American women to be elected to Congress, along with Rep. Sarah Davids, D-Kan.
Haaland, the daughter of military parents, first ran to a senior position in 2014 as lieutenant governor on the Democratic ticket. Although she didn’t win, she became chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico before successfully running for Congress in her Blue Ward, standing up for issues such as renewable energy and the environment.
Haaland has attributed her mother and grandmother to her work ethic. Before her political career took off, she said, she supported her daughter herself by starting a salsa company, Pueblo Salsa, in 1995 from her kitchen. She also earned a degree in Native American Law from the University of New Mexico in 2006. taking her daughter to all of her classes.
Other people might have given up under all the pressure, but Echo Hawk said she had long admired Haaland’s ability to “remain humble and unfazed”.
In February, at a meeting of the National Congress of Native Americans in Washington, DC, Echo Hawk said that Haaland was being harassed by people, a reception she often gets for her high-profile status among Native Americans.
“As indigenous people, we grow up and are constantly erased, minimized and dehumanized. To be successful, you have to leave your indigenous identity behind,” said Echo Hawk. But when young indigenous people flock to Deb, that’s not the case. They feel hope. ‘