On March 15, New Mexico Rep. Debra Haaland made history with her confirmation as secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior, the first Native American in U.S. history to join a White House Cabinet. On Thursday, March 19, as she was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris, Haaland wore a traditional ribbon skirt, an homage to her indigenous heritage.
“Rep. Haaland’s confirmation represents a gigantic step forward in creating a government that represents the full richness and diversity of this country, because Native Americans were, for far too long, neglected at the Cabinet level and in so many other places,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, said on the Senate floor before the 51-40 vote.
The new secretary will oversee some 500 million acres of land: almost one-fifth the collective mass of the United States, spanning 1.7 billion acres of coastlines and including national parks, wildlife refuges and natural resources such as gas, oil and water. She will also manage the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education and lead a workforce of 70,000 employees.
According to Indian Country Today, Haaland is only the third woman to serve as interior secretary and stands eighth in line to the presidency. Yet her origins are modest. Born in 1960 in Winslow, Arizona to a 30-year combat Marine Veteran and his wife, a Navy veteran, Haaland is an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo of New Mexico. As a young single mother, she used food stamps to feed her family, and struggled to put herself through college. After earning degrees from the University of New Mexico and the UNM Law School, she started a small business producing and canning salsa.
Her career in politics began when she volunteered to boost voter turnout among Native Americans. In 2012, she joined the Obama campaign, and in 2014, ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor of New Mexico.
Haaland was the also first chairwoman of the Laguna Development Corp., where she was in charge of business operations for the second largest tribal gaming enterprise in New Mexico. According to the Laguna Pueblo website, the organization now operates two casinos and a satellite facility: the Dancing Eagle Casino near Grants, New Mexico, the Route 66 Casino in Albuquerque, and the Casino Xpress, built as a temporary facility next to the Route 66 property, but kept in operation due to high demand.
She was the U.S. representative for New Mexico’s 1st congressional district from 2019 to 2021; reelected in November, she has vacated that seat to assume the new role at Interior.
News of Haaland’s confirmation brought congratulations from across the Native American community. Carmen and Gary Davis, publishers of Native Business magazine hailed the appointment, saying they hope it will foster “regular and meaningful nation-to-nation consultation” among tribal, state and federal, and reaffirm “the United States’ important trust responsibility to Indigenous Nations.”
“The confirmation of Deb Haaland as the United States’ first Native American Secretary of Interior represents a remarkable moment for our nation,” agreed Ray Halbritter, CEO of Oneida Nation Enterprises, the business arm of the Oneida Indian Nation, with casinos in New York State. “Secretary Haaland has proven herself to be highly effective in uniting people of all backgrounds around shared purposes, and now, as Interior Secretary—her leadership will make an even more meaningful impact.”
Halbritter said Haaland’s ascent “marks a historical and significant triumph for Native people and Native children in particular to see a Native person represented at the highest level of U.S. government.”
In California, home of 109 federally recognized tribes and the site of hundreds of Indian casinos, legislative leaders applauded Haaland’s confirmation, calling it “a bridge to a new era.” Assemblyman James C. Ramos, chairman of the California Native American Legislative Caucus, said, “The appointment of a Native American as Interior secretary is a milestone I wasn’t sure would happen in my lifetime. Indian Country wishes her every success as we cheer her achievement with pride and hope.”
Ernie Stevens, chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, cheered Biden’s nomination of Haaland when it was announced in December, saying Haaland is “a fierce advocate for Indian Country” and “a trailblazer during her career in public office.”
“It is time that one of our own from Indian Country is at the head of the Department of Interior, and as the stewards of this land from time immemorial, we are more than confident that she will lead the Department into a future that protects our land and treaty rights as Native peoples,” Stevens wrote.
Tribal Chairman Jeff Grubbe of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, one of California’s most prominent and successful gaming tribes, told the Los Angeles Times, “It’s good to have one of us in a position that represents the administration and the federal government, but also represents us. She’s the bridge.
“She understands how diverse tribes are,” Grubbe said. “Gaming is important to one, fishing is important to another, and then you have oil. Renewable energy is something she wants to push, and we look forward to working with her and seeing what opportunities there are. Tribes are starting to think that not everything should just be gaming—we need to diversify.”
Tribal Chairwoman Sara Dutschke of the Ione Band of Miwok Indian added, “Outside of the gaming context, it would be really nice to see some emphasis on economic development as well.”
As Haaland said during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy Committee, “If an indigenous woman from humble beginnings can be confirmed as Secretary of the Interior, our country and its promise still holds true for everyone.”
