Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland came to Juneau last weekend as a stop on a tour of her new memoir “A Voice Like Mine.” Haaland was the first Indigenous person to be appointed a cabinet secretary.
The name of the book comes from a campaign slogan she used when she successfully ran for Congress in 2018, Haaland recounted. Her media consultant told her that Congress had never heard a voice like hers. And the phrase “A Voice Like Mine” felt apt to her.
“We’d never had a native woman in Congress,” Haaland said at a reading at the Sealaska Heritage Institute clan house Shuká Hít “We had to wait 233 years to be represented in the U.S. House of Representatives.”
Haaland is Laguna Pueblo from New Mexico. The memoir includes many recipes, based on traditional Puebloan foods. Haaland said that food has always been a part of her political organizing work.
“When I started organizing in Indian Country, trying to get people registered and out to vote, I would ply them with green chili stew and bread, so they would come to our events,” she said. “And then we’d all, you know, go early vote, or something like that.”
She said the way Alaskans share traditional food makes her feel at home when she visits.
“So many people have given me — in my travels — given me jars of salmon,” Haaland said. “One trip, someone gave me this whole dry fish, and we, oh my god, it was so beautiful. I cried when she gave it to me.”
Haaland is currently running for Governor of New Mexico. She said she was inspired by Indigenous advocates who came before her and she hopes there are more to follow.
“This book I dedicated for those who have never given up. We can’t ever give up,” she said. “You can’t get tired and say, ‘Oh my god, we’ve been fighting this for 10 years. I’m done. I’m just gonna, you know, do something else. I’m gonna go watch TV.’ We can’t ever give up, because I don’t think our ancestors ever gave up.”
“A Voice Like Mine” came out in June, and is now available at local bookstores.
