Then-Rep. Deb Haaland at an event in support of climate action in 2019
Kalita Conley, Moms Clean Air Force, Flickr
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1st Indigenous-descended person in confirmed Cabinet post
More than 700 people have been confirmed to serve at the helm of modern Cabinet-level agencies in U.S. history. But until this week, nobody descended from North Americaâs Indigenous peoples was among them. Â
With bipartisan support, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland was confirmed as the 54th Secretary of the Interior on March 15. In addition to her extensive qualifications as a champion of public lands, climate action and increasing access to the outdoors, Secretary Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo Nation, will bring sorely needed perspective to an agency that has been responsible for exploiting and mistreating Indigenous peoples and their lands.