{"id":6186,"date":"2020-12-28T14:18:19","date_gmt":"2020-12-28T19:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=6186"},"modified":"2020-12-28T14:18:19","modified_gmt":"2020-12-28T19:18:19","slug":"cronkite-news-indian-country-prepares-for-new-era-with-joe-biden-as-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/12\/28\/cronkite-news-indian-country-prepares-for-new-era-with-joe-biden-as-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Indian Country prepares for new era with Joe Biden as president"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\n\t\t\t‘I am honored and ready to serve’: Deb Haaland for Secretary of the Interior\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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Remarks as delivered by President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for Secretary of Interior, Deb Haaland in Wilmington, Delaware, on December 19, 2020Thank you.I\u2019m…<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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Indianz.Com Video: \u2018I am honored and ready to serve\u2019: Deb Haaland and the Joe Biden administration’ – December 19, 2020<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
Tribal leaders optimistic about Biden; Haaland nomination a good start<\/div>\r\n
Monday, December 28, 2020<\/div>\r\n
By Calah Schlabach<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWASHINGTON – The federal government may not have a stellar track record when it comes to keeping promises with Native Americans, but tribal leaders in Arizona said they think President-elect Joe Biden could be the exception.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nTheir hopes were reinforced last week when Biden nominated a Native woman, Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., to be secretary of Interior. If approved, she would be the first \r\nNative American Cabinet secretary.<\/a>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nReaction from Tohono O\u2019odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris Jr., who welcomed “the historic nomination of Congresswoman Haaland,” was typical of tribal responses.

<\/P>\r\n“She will bring a unique and long overdue perspective to the department, as well as a fierce determination to protect our environment and the rights of indigenous people,” Norris said in a statement Friday. “The Nation urges the Senate to quickly hold hearings and approve her nomination so she can get to work right away.”

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National Congress of American Indians President Fawn Sharp, left, posing in February 2020 with Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., who has been nominated by President-elect Joe Biden to be Secretary of the Interior. NCAI, like most tribal organizations, welcomed the nomination of Haaland \u2013 who would be the first Native American to be a Cabinet secretary \u2013 as a good omen for relations with the Biden administration. File photo by McKenzie Sadeghi \/ Cronkite News\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nNative leaders are optimistic because of Biden’s “track record with Indian Country,” from the integral part he played in the Obama administration, to his work with wife, Jill, to help open the \r\nfirst cancer clinic<\/a>\r\non the Navajo Nation, to his campaign pledge to “strengthen the nation-to-nation relationship” with tribes.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“I was a tribal leader during the \u2026 Obama-Biden administration and we had the key to the White House, we had a seat at the table,” said Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez. “Based on that, I see that same approach being done this time.”

<\/P>\r\n\r\nWhatever a \r\nBiden administration<\/a>\r\ndelivers, leaders said it “will be very, very different than what we’ve expected of the current administration.”\r\n

<\/P>\r\nNavajo environmental advocate Carol Davis echoed Nez, saying that she’s optimistic about a Biden administration but that it will be starting in a hole left by the Trump administration.

<\/P>\r\n“I do have confidence in the Biden administration, I just don’t think it will be easy when he’ll have the added challenges of repairing the damages left by this administration,” said Davis, noting that Biden may also have to deal with a Senate still in Republican hands.

<\/P>\r\n\r\n“It will take 500 days to accomplish what previous incoming presidents accomplished in 100 days,” said Davis, executive director of \r\nDin\u00e9 C.A.R.E.<\/a>\r\n(Citizens Against Ruining our Environment).\r\n

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Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., speaks at a 2019 event of the American Federation of Government Employees. Haaland, nominated to be the Biden administration\u2019s Interior secretary, would be the first Native American to run a Cabinet agency if confirmed. Photo by AFGE<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nGila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis said that while tribal leaders try to work with every administration, he looks forward to partnering with an administration where tribal consultation is “not a check-the-box exercise.”

<\/P>\r\nHe and other leaders and advocates cited a number of Biden-Harris policy priorities for tribal nations they said were in step with their own priorities. But their number one reason for hope was the first priority on Biden\u2019s platform: \u201cstrengthen the nation-to-nation relationship.\u201d

<\/P>\r\n“In a nutshell \u2026 that’s what I’m excited about,” Lewis said. “What I look forward to is a true partner in the federal government relationship – that government-to-government relationship – from the White House all the way to Indian Country.”

<\/P>\r\nThe support for a Biden administration is not surprising, considering that Native Americans have long been a reliable Democratic voting bloc.

<\/P>\r\n“Voters on the Tohono O’odham Nation and other Arizona tribes made their voices heard loud and clear in the 2020 presidential election,” Norris said in a statement. “We look forward to a cooperative and respectful relationship with the Biden administration.”

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Soon-to-be first lady Jill Biden, center-right behind rail, with Navajo Nation tribal and health officials in March 2019 at the opening of the House of Hope, the first cancer treatment center in Indian Country. Photo courtesy Navajo Nation\/Office of the President and Vice President\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nNez said he’s “seen a glimpse of how they keep their promises.” Lewis echoed the sentiment.

<\/P>\r\n“What I expect from a Biden-Harris administration is to take those formats that were developed during the Obama administration \u2026 and build on them and improve upon them and strengthen them,” Lewis said.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nAlong with Biden’s work on the \r\nViolence Against Women Act<\/a>\r\n– which includes provisions for tribes to prosecute non-Native domestic violence offenders – Lewis pointed to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ experience enforcing the \r\nIndian Child Welfare<\/a>\r\nAct as attorney general in California, which has a large Native American population.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nBiden has already pledged to reinstate the White House Tribal Nations Conference – a convening of tribal and federal leaders started by President Barack Obama that has not been held since President Donald Trump took office.

<\/P>\r\nDavis welcomed that step, but said it will take more than one meeting a year to understand tribal needs.

<\/P>\r\n\u201cI think they really do need to build a relationship, but not just with the tribal leaders,\u201d she said, adding that tribal consent should extend to the community level and include non-governmental organizations.

<\/P>\r\n“We want BLM (the Bureau of Land Management) to come out into the communities and hold a public hearing,” she said, a type of outreach that “was very lacking in the last four years.”

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With Deb Haaland leading the Department of the Interior, the Congresswoman from New Mexico "will help me strengthen the nation-to-nation relationship" between tribes and United States, President-elect Joe Biden said.@RepDebHaaland<\/a> @RepDebHaaland<\/a> #SkoDeb<\/a>https:\/\/t.co\/zX6zI1nKA1<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/4hzAQoW1AV<\/a><\/p>— indianz.com (@indianz) December 19, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote>