Outgoing Interior Secretary Deb Haaland hands off closer ties with Indian Country

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NPR

January 19, 2025 1:03 AM ET


At a farewell speech in Washington D.C. this week, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland reflected on President Biden's formal apology last October for the U.S. government's historic assimilation policies and its Indian boarding school system. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, children were separated from families, with no full accounting of those who went missing or died.

"I believe we are in an era of healing," she told the crowd. "That healing has been among the most important things I have done as secretary." Haaland went on to reflect on traveling with Biden to one of the most notorious boarding schools in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, now a national monument. "As I stood next to the president, I felt the power of our ancestors who persevered through unthinkable odds so that we could all be there that day," she said.

Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna of New Mexico, says her grandparents and her mother were sent away, a trauma she brought up in an interview with NPR just before the November election. Haaland says her twelve-stop "road to healing" tour across Indian Country – which included listening sessions and reports meant to better account for the missing – was a turning point.

"It's an important piece of our history that every single American should know about. It's a painful part of our history," she told NPR.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/01/19/g-s1-43171/outgoing-interior-secretary-deb-haaland-native-americans

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. She leaves a wonderful legacy. What will become of it, now? nt

[GusBob]

2. The Tribes I work with are doing fine

Financially at least

There are other problems tho. A lot

One of them is Tribal politics. Hoo-boy is it ever messy. The money makes that worse.

I had a chance to meet Ms Haaland when she visited our clinic.

I had turned our department from the lower rungs to one of the top revenue generators in the clinic and the tops for our specialty in the state of Montana

Unfortunately Tribal politics interfered due to me being Non Native. And our department was the only one in the clinic she did not tour

I understood stuff like that happens all the time. My Native co-workers were disappointed tho.
I blamed myself and we had a laugh about the color of my skin

[duhneece]

3. She'll be one of the nation's Democratic leaders

That’s my hope and my prediction.

[Fla Dem]

4. I hope she continues to play an influential role in the Democratic Party.

A shame she and other Biden appointees had only the 4 years to work for good.

[LisaM]

8. Yes, among the many underreported items about the Biden administration

was the quality of the appointees.

Of course, they don't get as much airtime when they are not out there sowing constant chaos and trying to overturn or disrupt the agencies they were appointed to serve.

[Escape]

5. I have heard..

that she might be considering running for governor here in New Mexico.

Hope so. Our great governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, is restricted from running for a third term.

[Comrade Citizen]

6. She is amazing!

Secretary Haaland is a national treasure. She represents our optimistic future.

[Clouds Passing]

7. I admire Deb Haaland immensely. She is a compassionate, courageous, wise and strong woman. The work she has done

is generational healing. I would be honored if she would be our Governor.