Haaland
As the new presidential administration prepares to take office, with it will come the first Native American to ever serve on a Presidential Cabinet.
In December, President-Elect Joe Biden, D-Delaware, announced that he had nominated Rep. Deb Haaland, D-New Mexico, to serve as Secretary of the Interior on his cabinet. If confirmed, she will be both the first Native American to serve on a Presidential Cabinet and the first Native American to serve as Secretary of the Interior, overseeing the agency that is responsible for Native American reservations and public lands in the U.S.
Haaland is an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo Tribe in New Mexico and has represented the state’s 1st Congressional District since 2018.
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Snowbird and Cherokee County Council Member Bucky Brown was optimistic about the prospect of Haaland leading the U.S Department of the Interior.
“I’m proud of her and I support her, and I think she’ll do a good job,” Brown said.” I think she’ll be a good help in Indian Country.”
He said he had briefly met Haaland at a convention in Washington D.C., and that she had left a positive impression.
“She’ll work for the people,” Brown said. “Any Indian issue, I think she supports it, and as for an ally of the Eastern Band, I think she’ll be a good one.”
He said he hoped Haaland would take a closer look at the Catawba Tribe’s plans to build a casino near Charlotte. Ground was broken on the $273 million facility in July. However, the band is pursuing a court decision to block the casino, due to competition with the tribe’s two Harrah’s properties in Murphy and Cherokee.