AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File
President-elect Joe Biden has officially selected Rep. Deb Haaland as his nominee to serve as Secretary of the Interior, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.
Haaland would the first Native American to serve in a presidential Cabinet, and is poised to play a key role in repairing the historically fraught relationship between Native tribes and the federal government.
Two Native activists told Insider they are optimistic and hopeful about the selection.
"We all get very excited just thinking about the opportunity to really finally start to reset that relationship that the federal government has with tribes," Crystal Echo Hawk, executive director of nonprofit Illumi