Haaland

While the House majority is extremely slim and I can see why Pelosi and Hoyer would not want any more appointees out of the House, the appointment of Deb Haaland, who represents Albuquerque in Congress, to be the first Native to the Cabinet is a huge milestone. Moreover, the Department of Interior is the agency in charge of Indian Affairs. So this has the potential to really change up that agency. Traditionally, it served the interest of oil, gas, cattle, and forestry. In recent years, under Democrats it’s taken on a more environmental focus, though under Republicans it’s the same old deal. But no Secretary of the Interior has really centered Native issues as the most important part of their agenda. So this is really titanic. It’s also a very strong sign that among the first things Biden does is restore the original boundaries of both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah. The tribes have been big proponents of these, especially the former. In fact, the Obama administration worked closely with the tribes when creating Bears Ears. The Trump administration, being racists, simply ignored their protests in destroying these monuments. The tribes are very happy right now.

Over the past several weeks, a wide range of environmental and liberal groups joined 130 tribal leaders in pressuring the Biden administration to tap Haaland, an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo, to lead the department. Interior oversees the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management, as well as the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education.

“The appointment of Deb Haaland is not only historic,” Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said in a statement, “but it also sends a clear message to all tribes and people across America that the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to addressing the wrongs of the past and clearing a path for real change and opportunity for tribal nations.”

Biden campaigned on a promise to restore the 1.3-million acre Bears Ears National Monument in southeast Utah, which was created by President Barack Obama in 2016 and reduced to 15% of its original size the following year by Trump. The president also shrunk Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.If confirmed, Haaland would likely play a key role in any negotiations to reverse cuts to the monuments, which was created at the request of five Native American tribes with ancestral ties to the culturally rich region.“I feel very confident in [Haaland],” said Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk, a member of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe who served on the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition in the lead up to the monument’s creation. “I feel like she can bring a nice, strong sense of leadership in advocating for Native Americans in general.”

Lopez-Whiteskunk said Haaland’s appointment could be instrumental in helping reshape the Native American advisory committees set up to direct monument decisions that were altered at the time of the reductions.

“She has a good eye over the bigger picture in an Indian country,” Lopez-Whiteskunk continued. “That’s always something important because sometimes people get installed in these positions, but don’t always have a clear view of what the job entails in terms of the trust responsibility to Native American tribes.”

Because it is based largely in the rural West, Interior doesn’t get a ton of attention from the liberal internet or media, which is made up primarily of east coast elites (seriously, let’s look at the colleges that, say, Vox writers, attended). But this stuff is of critical importance, both in terms of Native rights and in terms of our environmental agenda. Haaland is a great choice and I am excited to see what she does. It’s well worth the temporary loss of a House seat, which I am sure will be replaced by another Democrat.