Indian Country will find a friend in Sally Jewell if she is confirmed as the next Secretary of the Interior Department, tribal leaders were told this week.

Jewell, the top executive at Recreational Equipment Inc., doesn't have much direct experience with tribes. But her very first meeting at DOI was with Kevin Washburn, the leader of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

"She wants to understand what we have done and what more we can do," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who will be stepping down later this month, told the National Congress of American Indians on Tuesday.

"We are certain that Sally Jewell is going to be terrific," Washburn said today as he addressed NCAI's 2013 executive council winter session in Washington, D.C.

Rep. Danny Heck (D-Washington) is a new member of Congress but has been working on tribal issues in Washington, where Jewell hails, for decades. He too offered praise for the nominee.

"I know Sally Jewell very well," Heck told tribal leaders on Tuesday. "We are sending you a good one. She is going to be a good friend of Indian Country."

Jewell goes before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee tomorrow for her confirmation hearing. She is the only witness.

Committee Notice:
FULL COMMITTEE HEARING: To consider the nomination of Sally Jewell to be the Secretary of the Interior (March 7, 2013)

Related Stories:
Senate committee to hold hearing on Interior Secretary pick (2/26)
Native Sun News: Obama taps Sally Jewell for Interior position (2/14)
Opinion: Sally Jewell shares passions of Interior Department (02/11)
Tribes hail nomination of Sally Jewell for Interior Department (02/07)