In early 2021, Deb Haaland was sworn in as secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, making her the first Native American cabinet secretary in U.S. history. A member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, she grew up in New Mexico, a state that is home to 35 generations of her family. After becoming the first woman elected to the board of directors of the Laguna Nation Development Corporation, she ran the state’s second-largest tribal gaming company. In 2018, she became one of the first two Indigenous women elected to serve in the United States Congress.
Haaland spoke with HISTORY.com about how the past informs his life and work.
How does the story influence your decision making in your current role?
We never want to repeat the bad parts of history, do we? In fact, it makes sense for the Home Office to correct the bad story where we can and move our agency and our country forward. For example, our federal residential school initiative aims to end the generations of Aboriginal people whose family members have been the victims of this terrible political era in our country: “Kill the Indian, save the man”.
We are now in a new era and we must do all we can to live up to it [the agency’s] mission for the management and conservation of public lands, natural resources and the cultural heritage of the United States; and honor treaty and trust obligations to the 574 federally recognized Indian tribes. I hope future generations will look back on THIS story and say we did some things right.
Could you clarify these treaty obligations?
When Europeans first arrived on this continent in the late 1400s, thousands of Indian tribes had lived here for millennia. Once it became apparent that this was a continent that the Europeans essentially wanted to conquer, they began to take land from the tribes. During this process, many treaties, decrees, acts of Congress were made – between various tribes and the United States – that aim to displace Native Americans from their ancestral lands. Today, the US federal government still has an obligation to abide by all these treaties, decrees, laws of Congress, to ensure that tribal nations can prosper, that their children can be educated, that they have a home where they can live. live and that we work to help them in their economic development.
READ MORE: Native American Heritage Stories
Are there historical events or policies that you look to for inspiration or lessons?
Tribal Chief George Gillette (foreground left), Chairman of the Fort Berthold Indian Tribal Business Council, covered his face to hide his tears as US Home Secretary Julius Krug signed the 1948 Garrison Dam Agreement, whereby the North Dakota-based tribe sold 155,000 acres of their most fertile ancestral lands to be flooded for a government dam project.
Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images
There is a 1948 photo that I look at every now and then of the President [George] Gillette, from the Mandan, Hidatsa & Arikara Nation of North Dakota, and he cries in his hand. In the photo, the Home Secretary [Julius] Krug cedes 150,000 acres of the tribe’s land to build a dam and inundate their most fertile ancestral lands. Our country as a whole can learn from the history this photo represents. President Theodore Roosevelt, who pushed our country to act on conservation and realized the power of the outdoors, is inspiring, but I also understand the shortcomings of his actions. Yes — keep; but also, yes, consult with Indian tribes and stakeholders.
How does your personal history influence you?
Both my parents were civil servants. For my father, the Marine Corps came first, because they put a roof over our heads (says my father). My mother devoted herself to Indian students for 25 years. I am attached to our country and to this democracy because that is how I was brought up. I would say this story influences me every day of my life.
What is your favorite historical moment?
I have visited the Bears Ears National Monument twice. Each time, I imagine what it was like for our ancestors, and I see it – in the clothes, food and tools that my ancestors left behind. My favorite historical moment would be an ordinary day in the life of one of my ancestors. I have to believe their average day was a day of ceremony, hard work and community; also before colonization, where women were equal.
Who are the three historical figures that you would like to invite to dinner, and why?
Jim Thorpe, because he was the greatest athlete who ever lived. I would like to tell him that he has inspired generations of us to run and be proud of our heritage.
Hereditary Chief Edward Moody of the Nuxalk Nation said, “We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and unborn children. We need to protect forests for those who cannot speak for themselves, such as birds, animals, fish and trees. It speaks from a perspective that stands for real equality and real fairness. If we had dinner together I would ask him questions about his upbringing and gain his knowledge of how to have the most respect for nature.
Shirley Chisholm, because she was not afraid and had the wisdom to know her own strength.
