Deb Haaland Confirmed As First Native American Interior Secretary

Deb Haaland, a member of New Mexico's Laguna Pueblo, has become the first Native American cabinet secretary in U.S. history.

The Senate voted 51-40 Monday to confirm the Democratic Congresswoman to lead the Interior Department, an agency that will play a crucial role in the Biden administration's ambitious efforts to combat climate change and conserve nature.

Her confirmation is as symbolic as it is historic. For much of its history, the Department of the Interior has been used as a tool of oppression against America's indigenous peoples. In addition to managing the country's public lands, endangered species and natural resources, the agency is also responsible for the government-to-government relations between the U.S. and Native American tribes.

"Indian Country has shouted from the valleys, from the mountaintops that it's time. It's overdue," Pueblo tribal member Stephine Poston told NPR after Haaland was nominated.