{"id":22255,"date":"2022-03-17T17:22:29","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T21:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=22255"},"modified":"2022-03-17T17:30:45","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T21:30:45","slug":"auntie-deb-discusses-representation-at-sxsw-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/03\/17\/auntie-deb-discusses-representation-at-sxsw-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Auntie Deb’ discusses representation at SXSW conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, explains how to take representation and diversity to the next level at #SXSW 2022.<\/p>Posted by SXSW<\/a> on Wednesday, March 16, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote><\/div>\r\n

‘Auntie Deb\u2019s Guide\u202fto Equity and Inclusion’<\/div>\r\n
Secretary Deb Haaland delivers address at SXSW conference in Texas<\/div>\r\n
Thursday, March 17, 2022<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nSecretary Deb Haaland<\/a>, the first Native person to lead the Department of the Interior<\/a>, addressed the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas, on March 16, 2022. The text of her remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow.<\/em>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nHello, everyone! I\u2019m Deb Haaland, and I am happy to be here with all of you. It\u2019s great to be in Austin, Texas.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nI serve as the 54th Secretary of the Interior. I\u2019m a proud member of the Pueblo of Laguna in New Mexico. I was raised a military kid. I raised an amazing child as a single mom. I\u2019m a wife, a sister, an auntie, and a public servant.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nAnd… I\u2019m not supposed to be here. What I mean by that is this country was built on principles and systems that were meant to either assimilate or exterminate people like me \u2013 to either make me blend into the background of America or get rid of me altogether.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nBut, against all odds, I am still here.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n \"Deb<\/a>

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland is seen at the Medgar & Myrlie Evers Home National Monument in Jackson, Mississippi, on February 15, 2022. Photo: U.S. Department of the Interior<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe reality \u2014 that I am standing here as a figure of success in spite of my history of tragedy and loss \u2013 is shared by many people in our country. We cannot deny that laws and policies in our not-too-distant past here in the United States were built on doctrines of enslavement, land grabbing, and discrimination.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nIn fact, in many states today including right here in Texas, there are still efforts to strip people of their dignity, discriminate against them because of their identities, and marginalize them. Quite frankly, it\u2019s disgusting.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThis is why I believe representation matters. And why I think every single one of us has a role to play in taking the power of that representation to the next level.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThink about this: the United States Department of the Interior was once the federal agency tasked with the forced assimilation of Indigenous people. In fact, a leader in this country described that process as a way to, and I quote, \u201ckill the Indian, save the man.\u201d\r\n

<\/P>\r\nIt\u2019s not lost on me that I lead a department with that history, and that, now, Indigenous people everywhere have representation at the presidential cabinet level. Today, we are in the room, at the table, and on the world stage.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nBut this should be the norm, right? Every person in this country deserves to see themselves in leadership.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

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