Here are four things to know.
Interior is a critical agency for tribal governments
The Interior Department oversees about 500 million acres of public land and federal policies affecting the 574 federally recognized tribal governments, including three offices for tribal affairs: the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Education and the Bureau for Trust Funds Administration.
Many of its other offices have overlapping authority on tribal land and on land where tribes have federally recognized rights to fish, hunt, gather and maintain cultural resources. These include the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.
These offices have had a checkered relationship with tribes, contributing to tribal members’ mistrust of the federal government. Since the BIA was established in 1824 within the War Department, the agency’s policies have often undermined tribal governments and dismantled Indigenous cultures. The Bureau of Indian Education was responsible for forced assimilation efforts that many Native Americans view as cultural genocide. Today, the education agency supports 184 elementary and secondary schools, including 24 colleges and universities.
Native American political involvement rose during the past two election cycles
Political scientists’ research has found that the more a representative looks like you — which political scientists call “descriptive representation” — the more likely people like you will get involved in civic life and trust the government.
Perceived attacks on a community can also push its members to mobilize politically. In 2018 and 2020, policies of the Trump administration energized Native American candidates and voters at an unprecedented level.
The power of Native American voters in 2020 was particularly apparent in Arizona, where they helped the Democratic presidential candidate capture the state for the first time since 1996. Many Democratic activists say Native Americans could be a key group in helping to take more Senate seats; Native American electoral organizations such as Four Directions helped mobilize voters in two Senate runoff elections in Georgia
The increasing electoral power of Native American voters may have helped prompt Haaland’s nomination.
What Native American communities will be watching for
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed vast inequalities that have long persisted in Native American communities. Lack of critical infrastructure, including plumbing, adequate housing and health care, have resulted in a Native American mortality rate twice as high as that of White Americans. Native leaders and citizens across the United States will want greater investment in infrastructure, health care, education and housing.
Keep an eye on how energy policy intersects with…
Read More: Four reasons why it matters that Biden nominated Rep. Deb Haaland, a Native