Indigenous leader Deb Haaland is attempting to restore native communities wronged by U.S. history’s past, according to a new profile in the New Yorker.
As the first Native American woman to serve as cabinet secretary for the U.S Department of the Interior, Haaland broke barriers in the same federal institution that displaced and abused her people. Yet, under her leadership, she’s streamlining efforts to revitalize Indigenous communities living in the aftermath.
Haaland’s ancestry links to Pueblo Laguna, a Native American tribe that lives on 500,000 acres of reservation land in New Mexico. The tribe was one of many whose children were forced into religious, federal-run boarding schools rife with sexual abuse and violence, that were designed to strip individuals of their Native American identity. Haaland’s mother and grandmother were sent to one of the boarding schools, St. Catherine’s Industrial Indian School, as children.
Just months after assuming her secretary position in March 2021, Haaland aimed to bring justice to her community by launching the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, which works on providing historical records of Indian boarding school sites across the country. And through its “Road to Healing” effort, boarding school survivors have the chance to share their stories and help preserve their oral history. As a member of Congress, Haaland had previously sponsored a bill to implement an inquiry into boarding schools.
During her time as secretary, Haaland has also been a strong supporter of environmental justice. Aside from backing President Biden’s “30 by 30” plan, which aims to conserve at least 30% of the nation’s oceans by 2030, she advocated against an oil pipeline project in North Dakota’s Standing Rock Indian Reservation by persuading New Mexico officials to divest funding from Wells Fargo.
Haaland also speaks up for the working class of Indigenous women. During her undergraduate college years at the University of New Mexico, Haaland advocated for tribal members to be included as resident students. And while on political campaign runs years later, she shared vulnerable stories about single motherhood and experiencing financial instability, according to the New Yorker.
As for the future, Haaland plans to continue her work as Interior secretary through the election in November, but is “circumspect” after that, even if Biden is re-elected, according to the New Yorker. Now 63, she has said that she hopes to one day complete her master’s degree.
Most importantly, her efforts will continue to thrive, reflected in a statement she was once quoted in: “I’ll be fierce for all of us, our planet, and all of our protected land.”
