This Land Is Her Land

 On another day of accelerating carnage, consternation and confusion, a brilliant moment of light, of more than historic impact.  I can't begin to explore the possible dimensions of it, which in any case will become clearer in time, for I can't remember when I've been so emotional about a cabinet appointment.  Probably never.  So I cede the floor to the admirable compression of the New York Times lead to begin the explanation, and the celebration.

"In a historic decision, President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. has chosen Deb Haaland, a congressional representative from New Mexico and a Native American, to lead the Interior Department, an agency that for much of the nation’s history played a central role in the dislocation and abuse of Indigenous communities from coast to coast.

 Mr. Biden’s transition team announced the decision Thursday. If confirmed by the Senate, Ms. Haaland would be the first Native American to lead a cabinet-level agency. She would oversee a sprawling department responsible for some 500 million acres of public lands, including national parks, oil and gas drilling sites and endangered species habitat.

 

Ms. Haaland would play a major role in implementing Mr. Biden’s promised climate change agenda. She would further be responsible for working to strengthen federal protections for vast swaths of territory that the Trump administration has opened up to drilling, mining, logging and construction. Historians and tribal leaders said that her selection represented a watershed moment in the United States’ scarred history with its Native people.

 “It’s momentous to see an Indian promoted out of the shadows of American history to a seat at the table in the White House,” said Elizabeth Kronk Warner, dean and professor of law at the University of Utah, and a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie tribe of Chippewa Indians. “Tribes and the federal government have a relationship that goes back to the 18th century — but despite that relationship, we have never had an American Indian at this level of government.”

Ms. Haaland, a citizen of Laguna Pueblo, one of the country’s 574 federally recognized tribes, would helm the federal agency most responsible for the well-being of the nation’s 1.9 million Indigenous people."

The Times story also noted that her nomination was supported by more than 120 tribal leaders.  Rep. Haaland is politically skilled as past leader of the New Mexico Democratic Party, where she helped turn the state blue.  She was elected to the House in 2018, one of the first two American Indian women in Congress.  She became a forceful opponent of Trump policies to open public land to destructive fossil fuel exploitation.

  With a compelling personal story, she describes herself as a 35th generation American.  Now she will be the cabinet officer overseeing American lands and waters, and their public voice.