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Biden Names Deb Haaland as First Native American to Head Interior

VOA News

   President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate New Mexico Congresswoman
   Deb Haaland to be secretary of the interior. She would be the first
   Native American to lead the agency.

   Haaland, 60, is a member of the Laguna Pueblo. The Interior Department
   has a large influence over the country's nearly 600 federally
   recognized tribes, in addition to overseeing federal lands, including
   wildlife, national parks and mineral wealth.

   Native American groups were pleased. Navajo Nation President Jonathan
   Nez said he was overjoyed, according to The Associated Press.

   "It is truly a historic and unprecedented day for all Indigenous
   people," he said.

   Environmental groups also praised the choice.

   "Representative Haaland's historic appointment means a new era of
   protection for our wildlife, public lands and waters from the rapacious
   extractive industries that have ruled the day under the Trump
   administration," said Kierán Suckling, executive director of the
   Center for Biological Diversity. "It's critical for Native American
   leaders to be part of all decision-making about public lands, and
   Haaland's appointment will ensure that."