President-elect Joe Biden is in the process of naming several key cabinet positions, which includes the Secretary of the Interior. There's been a big push for him to name Deb Haaland, one of the first Native American women elected to Congress, to the post.
The position of U.S. Secretary of the Interior has never been held by a Native American, and many people think that needs to change, especially since the Department oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
The BIA manages millions of acres of land held in trust for American Indians and Alaska Natives and makes decisions for disaster relief, Indian child welfare and tribal government.
After the 2020 election, a record number of six Native Americans will head to Congress. Two of the six are from Oklahoma — Markwayne Mullin and Tom Cole. Native Americans are also credited with helping Biden flip two states blue, Arizona and Wisconsin. Polling data in Arizona, Wisconsin and Minnesota show that Native American voters were key to Biden's win in certain counties.
Terri Parton, the first elected female President of the Wichita Affiliated Tribes in Oklahoma, says it's time the Department elected a Native person to lead an agency that makes key decisions for Indian Country.
"For tribes, it is very important for it to be a Native American that leads that agency," Parton said. "I think you have to understand Native American issues and have a heart for it."
Wichita Affiliated Tribes is headquartered in Anadarko, Okla. and has a little over 3,300 citizens. Their ancestral home base is in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, so they were not forcibly relocated to Oklahoma like many other Tribes.
Parton says the main issue Wichita Affiliated Tribes will face in the next administration is putting land into trust for economic development. Their main source of revenue is the Sugar Creek Casino in western Oklahoma, which opened its doors in 2008. Parton says it took a while before it started to generate revenue enabling the Tribes to buy land and put into trust.
"We need more businesses and economic development here so that we can help our tribal people," said Parton.
Parton said she's met Deb Haaland and thinks she would be a good choice for the job.
"Putting her in there and giving her a chance, and giving her the support that she needs to help get things through...I think she would be a fighter," said Parton.
Though the pandemic has affected the Wichita Affiliated Tribes just like all the other Tribes, Parton says they didn't have to lay anyone off and have been able to take care of citizens since the beginning.
In January 2021, they hope to have some other economic development projects well underway in Hydro, Okla. She says that Haaland, being an Indigenous woman, and knowing personally how important the federal trust responsibility is would make her the best pick for the job.
"This was Indigenous land before anything or anybody else was here, and to have an Indigenous person in there, you know, this is a long time coming, I think," Parton said.
Haaland and Senator Tom Udall, also from New Mexico, are reportedly on Biden's short list to lead the agency.
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