Tag Archive for: Deb Haaland

History Made! Deb is Confirmed!

On the eve of Deb Haaland’s confirmation hearings Native Organizers Alliance projected this image onto The Department of the Interior building in Washington, D.C. to show our support for the appointment of a Native American woman as the head of the DOI.

“For the first time, we will have a person who looks like us and who, like us, shares a deep understanding of our ancestral responsibilities to care for the sacred lands and waters of this country.” – Judith LeBlanc Director of Native Organizers Alliance

March 15, 2021 —The United States Congress confirmed the appointment of Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) for the U.S. Secretary for the Department of the Interior, making her the first Native American to serve in the U.S. cabinet.

The following is a statement from Judith Le Blanc (Caddo), director of Native Organizers Alliance:

“The impact of Deb Haaland’s confirmation as Secretary of the Interior can’t be understated. For the first time, we will have a person who looks like us and who, like us, shares a deep understanding of our ancestral responsibilities to care for the sacred lands and waters of this country.

For thousands of years before settlers arrived, our Native ancestors protected and cultivated our lands, a commitment which must be shared by all who live on this land. We pray for the earth as a living being, and understand we must work together to maintain balance with the natural world. This isn’t something we have to explain to Secretary Haaland. Our shared experiences connect us.

Given her vast experience in natural resources and tribal sovereignty, we hope that Secretary Haaland will help shape a new era where tribes are informed long before decisions are made, and give consent at all phases of the project.

For too long, pipelines, large-scale infrastructure projects like dams, mining, and more, have been pushed through without proper consultation with, and the consent of, tribal nations. Many times, this is in direct violation of the treaties and the U.S. Constitution. The end result of this flawed process is degraded and destroyed sacred lands, waters, fish, and wildlife. When our natural resources are carefully managed and protected, we all benefit.

As an organization dedicated to uplifting the voices and supporting the rights of Native nations across the U.S., we call on the Department of Interior to protect our sacred places, especially Bears Ears, the Grand Canyon, Chaco Canyon, the Arctic, Mauna Kea, Missouri River and Oak Flat.

The work ahead to protect our sacred places is the work our ancestors began long before us. It is an historic moment to have a Laguna Pueblo woman in this leadership position who shares our understanding of the sanctity of our natural resources. We look forward to the department forging new and stronger relationships with sovereign tribal nations.”

In celebration, of Deb Haaland being appointed as the Secretary of the Interior, the digital gender justice organization UltraViolet partnered with Protect the Sacred, ACLU of South Dakota, IllumiNative, Center for Native American Youth, Native Organizers Alliance, Advance Native Political Leadership, and Indigenous Life Ways, to create a mobile billboard in DC, broadcasting a congratulatory message to Secretary Haaland as well as the hopes and dreams of seven Indigenous women leaders who helped make this moment possible.

Leading up to this historic confirmation and appointment Native Organizers Alliance launched a campaign along with IllumiNative, 350.org, Sierra Club, Friends Committee on Legislation, the Women’s March and Advance Native Political Leadership Action Fund, for constituents to contact their senators to show support for the confirmation of Deb Haaland for Secretary of the Interior. This resulted in 16,578 letters sent to U.S. Senators.

During Deb Haaland’s confirmation hearing Native Organizers Alliance hosted a watch party and celebration with hundreds of Native leaders from all over the United States, and VIP guests Mark Ruffalo, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Sharice Davids and even – Secretary Deb Haaland herself, along with her sisters and partner Skip.

See our Watch Party and Celebration here

Help Make History

Congresswoman Deb Haaland is the right choice for the Secretary of Interior. As an enrolled citizen of the Pueblo of Laguna, and one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress, she has spent her life standing up for Native people and tribal sovereignty.

Contact your Senators to confirm Haaland’s appointment today!

The Department of Interior is responsible for upholding the treaty and trust responsibilities to the 574 federally recognized tribes in the United States. These tribal nations together comprise more than 5.2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives whose forebears made incalculable sacrifices in the history of our nation. The daily decisions and actions of the Department of Interior directly impact tribal communities, more so than any other in the United States. The scope of these decisions range from economic development, education, law enforcement, self-governance, and tribal trust lands. But, in its 171-year history, the Department of Interior has never been led by a person who represents the people most affected by the decisions of the Department.

The U.S. Department of the Interior has a unique responsibility to Native people. DOI is the primary federal agency charged with carrying out the United States’ trust responsibility to American Indian and Alaska Native people, maintaining the government-to-government relationship with the federally recognized tribes, and promoting and supporting tribal self-determination.

DOI oversees programs that affect virtually every part of daily life for Native people and tribal communities. DOI oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education, the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration, which holds billions of dollars generated from tribal lands in trust, 55 million acres of tribal land, tribal law enforcement, housing improvement, disaster relief, administration of tribal courts and more.

The Department of Interior should be led by someone who represents the communities and people whose lives it impacts most. In it’s 171 year history, the DOI has never been led by a representative of the people it most affects. Since inception, DOI has been led by 53 different secretaries of the interior, all of whom were white people.

Congresswoman Haaland is a champion for Indigenous communities everywhere. As an enrolled citizen of the Pueblo of Laguna, and one of the first two Native American Women elected to Congress, Deb Haaland has spent her life standing up for Native people and Tribal Sovereignty.

The appointment of Congresswoman Haaland as Secretary of Interior has bipartisan support. Congresswoman Haaland cares deeply about rural and western communities and comes from a family of hunters, farmers, and ranchers. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle see this and believe she will have a balanced approach to Interior decisions; ones that will represent all Americans including rural communities, reservation communities, working class communities and communities of color whose perspectives and experiences have too often been ignored.

Congresswoman Haaland represents all Americans. Congresswoman Haaland understands the economic struggles that so many Americans are experiencing, because she has lived those struggles. She grew up in a military family and attended 13 different public schools. After graduating high school, she worked at a New Mexico bakery for 13 years then, at the age of 28, enrolled at the University of New Mexico, living paycheck-to-paycheck, relying on food stamps, and occasionally dealing with homelessness as a single mother. She owned a small company called Pueblo Salsa that she ultimately sold in 2005 to attend University of New Mexico Law School.

Congresswoman Haaland is ready to lead the Department of Interior. Through her many leadership roles in the House of Representatives, Haaland is the architect of a vision for how America can conserve at least 30 percent of America’s land and water by the end of the decade – a landmark commitment reflected in the Biden-Harris climate plan. With her experience helping lead the House Natural Resources Committee, Haaland is well-prepared to accelerate renewable energy production on America’s public lands and ocean, and to create jobs by restoring and protecting our parks and wildlife for future generations.

Nominating Congresswoman Deb Haaland would be a historic nomination and illustrate America’s commitment to righting the injustices of the past. Congresswoman Deb Haaland would be the first Native American Cabinet Secretary. This historic nomination reflects President-elect Biden’s determination to confront long-running injustices toward Indigenous peoples in America and to finally and fully uphold our country’s trust and treaty obligations to tribal nations.

Deb Haaland Nominated for Secretary of the DOI

At Native Organizers Alliance we launched a campaign to advocate for Congresswoman Deb Haaland to be nominated for this important position in President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet. With your help and that of our grassroots organizers we delivered a list of 18,000 people’s names endorsing Deb Haaland for Secretary of the Interior to Biden’s transition team showing widespread support for her nomination.

“Rep. Haaland’s nomination to lead the Department of the Interior is a historic moment for tribes and the representation of Native peoples in our federal government. Her nomination validates the impact Native people had in this year’s presidential election. For the first time, we will have a person who looks like us and understands the complexities of treaties and tribal governments in the process of overseeing public lands.

Rep. Haaland brings deep experience in natural resources and tribal sovereignty, and an understanding of our Indigenous ways of protecting our lands, waters, fish, and wildlife. Native peoples have always been stewards of this land but we have not always been in the political positions to make the key policy decisions that shape our natural resources.

We praise President-elect Joe Biden for his decision to nominate a Native woman for a position that has tremendous impact on tribal governments and our cultures and traditions. This decision will have a lasting impact on Indian Country, and we can only hope it is the first step in reversing a long history of the federal government’s failure to uphold our treaties and a signal that the Biden administration will make good on its trust responsibilities.” – Judith LeBlanc (Caddo) Director of Native Organizers Alliance