First indigenous Secretary of the Interior in the United States

Deb Haaland has been appointed as the first indigenous federal minister of the United States. The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) welcomes this historic moment: "As Secretary of the Interior, Haaland will be responsible for many issues that are particularly important for the indigenous communities – including the administration of public lands and the establishment of conservation areas, including decisions on resource extraction. Further, she will be responsible for overseeing the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education," stated Yvonne Bangert, STP expert on indigenous peoples. "Thus, her appointment is not only of symbolic importance. It also raises hopes for substantial improvements in the situation of Native Americans."

Haaland's nomination as a candidate for the Department of the Interior had been met with both praise and criticism, as she – a member of the Laguna Pueblo – had immediately announced plans to be much more restrictive regarding concessions for natural resource extraction compared to the Trump administration. "Some states are very dependent on fossil fuels, and there are also people in the United States who believe that climate change is not man-made," Bangert added. "Against this backdrop, her appointment was in question until the very end – and, even now, some of the senators were against her appointment. Thus, it is all the more gratifying that prejudice and environmental irrationality didn't prevail."

Sixty-year-old Debra Anne Haaland is a native of New Mexico and a member of the indigenous Laguna Pueblo. In 2015, the lawyer was elected chair of the Democratic Party in the state of New Mexico. After the mid-term elections in November 2018, she joined the US House of Representatives as one of the first two indigenous representatives.