Deb Haaland

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Biden Making an Apology He Says Is Long Overdue

President to apologize to Indian nations for boarding school policy Friday in Arizona

(Newser) - President Biden will formally apologize on Friday for the country's role in forcing Indigenous children for over 150 years into boarding schools, where many were physically, emotionally, and sexually abused, and more than 950 died. "I'm doing something I should have done a long time ago: To...

Biden Yanks Alaska Oil Leases
Biden Yanks Alaska Oil Leases
Sep 7, 2023 7:25 AM CDT

Biden Yanks Alaska Oil Leases

'We have a responsibility,' president says of Interior Dept. move in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

(Newser) - As then-President Trump's days in the White House came to a close, an Alaskan state development agency was granted a slew of oil and gas leases that ended decades of a drilling moratorium in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This week, President Biden's Department of the Interior nixed...

At 643 Federal Sites, a Slur Is Gone

Interior Department removes 'squaw' in deference to Native Americans

(Newser) - The place long known as Squaw Canyon in Arizona is now Red Rock Canyon. In California, Squaw Valley Spring is now Oso Kum Spring. And on and on across the US—the Interior Department this week released a list of 643 federal lands that have been renamed to remove the...

Deb Haaland Breaks a Leg in National Park

Interior secretary plans to work remotely after sustaining injury hiking

(Newser) - Interior Secretary Deb Haaland broke her left leg while hiking Sunday, the department announced. The break to the fibula, sustained in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, was confirmed Monday, the Hill reports. Haaland planned to work remotely Monday afternoon, the department said, while releasing no information on the injury's...

Tribal Elders Testify to Boarding School Horrors

Haaland hears Native Americans' accounts of mistreatment in government-backed program

(Newser) - Native American tribal elders who were once students at government-backed Indian boarding schools testified Saturday in Oklahoma about the hardships they endured, including beatings, whippings, sexual assaults, forced haircuts, and painful nicknames. They came from different states and different tribes, but they shared the common experience of having attended the...

In a First, US Assesses Grim Toll at Native American Schools

At least 500, and probably thousands, of children taken from their families died, report says

(Newser) - For the first time, the federal government has assessed and acknowledged the harm done to Native American children at boarding schools it backed or ran throughout most of the 19th and 20th centuries. A report released Wednesday by the Interior Department said the children were subjected to sexual abuse, whippings,...

Feds Take Big Step Toward Ditching 'Squaw' Names

They're inviting public comment on replacements for derogatory term

(Newser) - Federal officials have come up with a list of potential replacement names for hundreds of geographic features in three dozen states that include the word "squaw," kicking off a public comment period that will run through late April. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in November formally declared the term...

Interior Secretary to Wipe 'Squaw' From Government Use

Deb Haaland rules the term derogatory

(Newser) - Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Friday formally declared "squaw" a derogatory term and said she is taking steps to remove it from federal government use and to replace other derogatory place names. Haaland is ordering a federal panel tasked with naming geographic places to implement procedures to eliminate what...

First Major Offshore Wind Farm Has OK

Administration approves 62 turbines off Martha's Vineyard, with many more likely

(Newser) - The Biden administration took a significant step toward expanding the use of wind power on Tuesday, approving the nation's first major offshore wind farm. The project will place 62 turbines, which can generate enough electricity to power 400,000 homes, off Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, the Washington Post...

US Bald Eagle Population Quadrupled in a Decade
Very Good News
for America's Symbol
Mar 25, 2021 11:15 AM CDT

Very Good News for America's Symbol

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland touts the 'importance of the Endangered Species Act'

(Newser) - The number of American bald eagles has quadrupled since 2009, with more than 300,000 birds soaring over the lower 48 states, government scientists said in a report Wednesday, according to the AP . The US Fish and Wildlife Service said bald eagles, the national symbol that once teetered on the...

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