{"id":7281,"date":"2021-02-05T11:35:52","date_gmt":"2021-02-05T16:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=7281"},"modified":"2021-02-05T11:51:49","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T16:51:49","slug":"native-women-land-key-leadership-and-policy-roles-in-biden-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/02\/05\/native-women-land-key-leadership-and-policy-roles-in-biden-administration\/","title":{"rendered":"Native women land key leadership and policy roles in Biden administration"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=row><div class=col-8>\r\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1393\" height=\"1934\" data-attachment-id=\"7298\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/02\/05\/native-women-land-key-leadership-and-policy-roles-in-biden-administration\/annmariebledsoedownes-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/05\/annmariebledsoedownes.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1393,1934\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-title=\"annmariebledsoedownes\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/05\/annmariebledsoedownes-738x1024.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/05\/annmariebledsoedownes.jpg\" alt=\"annmariebledsoedownes\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7298\" \/><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"col-4 align-self-end\"><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Ann Marie Bledsoe Downes. Photo courtesy  <a href=https:\/\/hochunkinc.com\/>Ho-Chunk, Inc.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">Native women land key leadership and policy roles in Biden administration<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Friday, February 5, 2021<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By <A href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kevin_Abourezk\">Kevin Abourezk<\/A> <A href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kevin_Abourezk\"><I aria-hidden=true class=\"fab fa-twitter\"><\/I><\/A><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source\">Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nA citizen of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.winnebagotribe.com\/\">Winnebago Tribe<\/a> is taking on a key leadership position in  President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nAnn Marie Bledsoe Downes will serve as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/solicitor\/organization-structure\">Deputy Solicitor for Indian Affairs<\/a> at the   <a href=https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/>U.S. Department of the Interior<\/a>.\r\nIn that role, she  will  lead the Indian Country legal  team for the federal agency with   \r\nthe most trust and treaty responsibilities to tribes and their citizens.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nIn recognition of the department&#8217;s importance,   Biden has nominated  <a href=https:\/\/haaland.house.gov\/>Rep. Deb Haaland<\/a> (D-New Mexico) to <a href=https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/12\/17\/deb-haaland-tapped-for-cabinet-by-president-elect-joe-biden\/>serve as  Secretary of the Interior<\/a>. If confirmed, the Pueblo of Laguna citizen  will  be the first Native person to lead  Interior   and the first Native person in a modern-day presidential cabinet.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cThe significance of her appointment to me personally and to all of Indian Country cannot be overstated,\u201d   Bledsoe Downes said of Haaland.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cI\u2019m honored to be a part of that,\u201d Bledsoe Downes said of joining  a department  that includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Education and the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration,  along with  numerous programs that impact tribes, their homelands and their ancestral territories.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<div class=\" content_cards_card content_cards_domain_www-facebook-com\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content_cards_image\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_image_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hochunkinc\/posts\/4933768220030028\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/05\/140583067_4933761056697411_6340304967497580710_n.jpg\" alt=\"Ho-Chunk, Inc.\">\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_title\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_title_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hochunkinc\/posts\/4933768220030028\">\n\t\t\tHo-Chunk, Inc.\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_description\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_description_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hochunkinc\/posts\/4933768220030028\">\n\t\t\t<p>Please join us to congratulate Ann Marie Bledsoe Downes! She is joining the Biden Administration as the Deputy Solicitor for Indian Affairs. Ann Marie is an enrolled member of the Winnebago&#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_site_name\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.xx.fbcdn.net\/rsrc.php\/y1\/r\/ay1hV6OlegS.ico\" alt=\"www.facebook.com\" class=\"content_cards_favicon\"\/>\t\twww.facebook.com\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nBledsoe Downes most recently served  as \r\nexecutive vice president of community impact and engagement for <a href=https:\/\/hochunkinc.com\/>Ho-Chunk, Inc.<\/a>, the economic development corporation for the Winnebago Tribe.  She has worked there for four years.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cWe appreciate your dedication to serving Native communities, including Winnebago,\u201d  the <a href=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hochunkinc\/posts\/4933768220030028>corporation said in a social media post<\/a> announcing her departure. \u201cWe&#8217;ll miss working with you, but excited for the future!\u201d\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nBefore joining her tribe&#8217;s corporation, Bledsoe Downes   served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Economic Development    at Interior during the Barack Obama administration. \r\nThe position is located within the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nBesides her work at Ho-Chunk, Inc., Bledsoe Downes has been Professor of Practice and director of the Indian gaming and tribal self-governance programs at the Sandra Day O\u2019Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.  She grew up in Winnebago  and graduated from Wayne State College before becoming president of Little Priest Tribal College on the reservation in northeast Nebraska.\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<div class=\"mt-1 mb-1\"><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8411603009680747\" data-ad-slot=\"6394965691\"><\/ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/div><P><\/p>\r\nBledsoe Downes is among a growing number of Native women who have taken leadership  and policy positions in the Biden administration. The cohort  includes:\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=mx-4>\r\n&#8226; <a href=https:\/\/www.ihs.gov\/sites\/aboutihs\/themes\/responsive2017\/display_objects\/documents\/bios\/CarrElizabeth.pdf>Elizabeth Carr<\/a>, a citizen  of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians who  is the Senior Advisor to the Director of the Indian Health Service.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n&#8226; <a href=https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/newsreleases\/epa-announces-additional-biden-harris-appointees-0>JoAnn Chase<\/a>,  a citizen of the  Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation who serves as the Director of the  American Indian Environmental Office  at the Environmental Protection Agency.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n&#8226; <a href=https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/pressreleases\/interior-department-announces-additional-members-leadership-team>Danna Jackson<\/a>, a citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes who serves as Counselor to the Director for the Bureau of Land Management at the Department of the Interior.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n&#8226; <a href=https:\/\/twitter.com\/wahleah>Wahleah Johns<\/a>, a citizen of the Navajo Nation who is serving as Director of the Office of Indian Energy at the   Department of Energy.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n&#8226; <a href=https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/pressreleases\/interior-department-announces-additional-members-leadership-team>Natalie Landreth<\/a>, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation who serves as the Deputy Solicitor for Land Resources at  the Department of the Interior.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n&#8226; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usda.gov\/media\/press-releases\/2021\/01\/25\/us-department-agriculture-announces-heather-dawn-thompson-director\">Heather Dawn Thompson<\/a>, a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe who is serving as the Director of the Office of Tribal Relations at the Department of Agriculture.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n&#8226;  Elizabeth (Libby) Rodke Washburn, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation who is serving as a Special Assistant to President Biden as part of the Domestic Policy Council at the White House.\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<strong>Note: Ho-Chunk, Inc. owns Indianz.Com. The website operates independently and is not involved in the corporation&#8217;s activities.<\/strong>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A citizen of the Winnebago Tribe will be leading the Indian Country legal team at the Department of the Interior and is among a growing number of Native women in the Biden administration.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10,20,13,1,14],"tags":[1110,391,1113,117,156,962,600,427,430,1114,88,118,71,360,121,559,70,875,210,966,53,1116,963,1115,24,69,591,165,556,1117,1112,68,44],"class_list":["post-7281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-indian-trust","category-law","category-national","category-politics","tag-ann-marie-bledsoe-downs","tag-barack-obama","tag-bbie","tag-bia","tag-blm","tag-btfa","tag-cheyenne-river-sioux","tag-chickasaw","tag-cskt","tag-danna-jackson","tag-deb-haaland","tag-doi","tag-economic-development","tag-elizabeth-carr","tag-employment","tag-epa","tag-hci","tag-heather-dawn-thompson","tag-ihs","tag-joann-chase","tag-joe-biden","tag-libby-washburn","tag-mha-nation","tag-natalie-landreth","tag-navajo","tag-nebraska","tag-soo-tribe","tag-tribal-colleges","tag-usda","tag-wahleah-johns","tag-white-house","tag-winnebago","tag-women","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-1Tr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/05\/annmariebledsoedownes.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}