“I will be fierce for all of us, our planet and all our protected lands”. Deb Haaland belongs to the Laguna Pueblo community in New Mexico. The 60-year-old woman was chosen by Joe Biden to head the Department of the Interior. A historic victory. Since she is the first Native American woman to obtain a key position in the government. She will have to manage natural resources and “Indian affairs”, among other things.

Daughter of soldiers, Deb Haaland is marked by the customs of her community. She spends her summers with her pueblos maternal grandparents, who pass on to her Amerindian values and traditions.

After attending no less than thirteen schools, Deb Haaland began studying law. However, she could not complete her studies due to lack of money and had to rely on food stamps to support herself.

But this single mother, who overcame alcoholism in her youth, is ambitious and wants to make the voice of indigenous people heard in the country. In 2004, she became involved in politics as a volunteer in Democrat John Kerry’s presidential election campaign. Then, in 2015, she became leader of the Democratic Party of New Mexico. Two years later, thanks to her aplomb, she became one of the first two indigenous people to enter Congress.

On January 20, Deb Haaland will take office as a cabinet minister at the inauguration of Joe Biden. And she considers it “an honour to advance the Biden-Harris climate agenda and to help repair the government’s relationship with the (Native American) tribes, which the Trump administration ruined”.

It then becomes the hope for a revival for the indigenous peoples of the United States, especially against the extractivist policies being pursued in the country. “I think it’s time for our world – not just our country but the whole world – to start listening to indigenous peoples when it comes to climate change and the environment.

Committed to the environment, Deb Haaland was already demonstrating in 2016 against the construction of a pipeline in Sioux territory. At Standing Rock, in July 2020, Sioux insurgents won the temporary closure of the Dakota access pipeline project. In September, members of Congress, tribal organizations, and the state government joined the call for its permanent shutdown.

Thanks to Deb Haaland, the Native American voice should finally be heard in the United States.

Credit: NewMexicoMercury