ICT’s Aliyah Chavez has this exclusive interview, in partnership with our partners at Arizona PBS, with Vice President Kamala Harris.
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In early July, the vice president visited the Gila RIver Indian Community in southern Arizona, where she met with Chavez for the following conversation.
Aliyah Chavez: Madam vice president, welcome to the ICT Newscast.
Kamala Harris: It’s good to be with you. Thank you.
ICT: We’re visiting today on the homelands of the Akimel O’otham and Pee Posh in Gila River. And this is the first time that a sitting vice president or a president has ever visited this tribal nation. Why is it a personal priority for you to be here today?
VP: Well, at the invitation of the governor, I am here, but this is part of a longstanding commitment I’ve had in my career, which is to work with Indian Country to do what is necessary to strengthen the partnership and address the needs, right. And so being here is an extension of that long standing work. And in particular because the governor, and what is happening here on this land in particular, is some really extraordinary example of how the partnership can look to address global challenges like the climate crisis. So, in fact, I’ll be, I don’t think you’re gonna be able to go, but I think there’s gonna be a group coming to see when we go to see the infrastructure project. Well, president Biden and I have been very proud that we have dedicated $7 billion to Indian Country to address water infrastructure. The work that we are doing to, again, deal with disparities also includes acknowledging that for so many people, Indigenous people, who don’t have access to high speed internet. And so the president and I feel very strongly about that, and we’ve dedicated $2 billion to what we need to do for Indian Country to support the installation of high speed internet. So these are some of the examples of the partnership. And I do believe it’s just important to be present to acknowledge the importance of the relationship.
ICT: Under President Biden’s tenure, we’ve seen a very high number of Indigenous people who have been appointed to the highest levels of federal government, namely Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. Do you believe that the Biden Harris administration is setting the bar for these kinds of appointments? And how do you ensure that that momentum moves forward into the future regardless of who the next president is?
VP: Well, the president and I feel very strongly that we should not be burdened by things the way they’ve always been. We should be looking to what should be. And so the fact that Secretary Haaland is the first Native secretary in a president’s cabinet is because we believe that that representation should occur. It should happen. And so that’s the work that we are doing, the work that we are doing in partnership with Indian Country. Not being about handouts, but about partnership. Not about, well, let’s consult with tribal leaders after we do something, but let’s ask tribes to be part of the leadership of an initiative and an innovative initiative. And we feel very strongly that that is the appropriate way to do our work. And I do believe that we are setting a new model for what the interaction and what the partnership should be, always grounded in full appreciation and respect for tribal sovereignty. Always grounded in full appreciation and respect for the need to ensure and keep intact trust and treaties and to do the work in a collaborative way.
ICT: One of the areas of growth is that of judicial appointments. There are not many Native Americans who are federal judges. There’s never been a Native American on the U.S. Supreme Court. What can we expect from the Biden administration in terms of judicial appointments?
VP: Well, I cannot speak about any names in particular, but I can tell you that the president and I have been closely monitoring what must happen to ensure that the federal bench reflects the faces and the names and the numbers of all people in our country. And we are very proud of what we have done to accelerate representation on the federal courts. And we’ll continue to do that.
ICT: I wanna talk about a crisis and that’s missing and murdered Indigenous relatives. And you saw this firsthand, both as a U.S. senator, but also as California attorney general. What are your thoughts on bringing the much needed relief to indigenous families that they deserve?
VP: You know, as a former prosecutor, this issue is something that I care deeply about. I have worked on it, to your point, in my past work in California, and I will continue to prioritize it. It is absolutely tragic that we have so many people who have gone missing or have been murdered and that there has not been a response that is nationwide to understand what is happening and why. We must all stand up and say that this is not right and let’s put the resources into it. The president signed an executive order, presidential executive order, on this very issue shortly after we came in office to do just that, to elevate the issue and to elevate the kind of response and resources. Secretary Haaland has created a whole division within the Department of Interior that did not exist before to specifically address this issue. So we are going to continue to work on it. But for the families and for those individuals, it shouldn’t be happening. And of course, our prayers are with the families, but we also are putting in the resources to do something about it.
ICT: I want to end on, of course, the historic bipartisan infrastructure law that brought record amounts of funding to Indian Country. What are you most proud of from that legislation?
VP: Well, the water infrastructure work that we’re doing, the climate work we’re doing as a general matter. You know, I have traveled around the world as vice president. I have met with over a hundred world leaders, be they presidents, prime ministers, kings, including presidents and the chair people who are here during this visit. And when I look at the global impact of this issue and the need for us to take it seriously, what I’m most excited about is the partnership that the president and I have developed and strengthened with tribal leaders to work on this. As I said earlier, our Indigenous people have been the stewards of this issue for millennia. Of the need to protect and honor the natural resources of this beautiful earth. And so I’m excited that through the infrastructure law, we’re able to actually put resources into that. Like the $7 billion going to the water infrastructure, going specifically to Indian Country to uplift and, to praise the longstanding generational leadership on this issue.
ICT: Well, Vice President Harris in my community, we say Nira, which means thank you so much. Thank you. Please join us again.
VP: Thank you. I look forward to it. Thank you. Thank you.
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