The Department of the Interior swore in a new assistant secretary of Indian Affairs Sept. 8.
Bryan Newland is a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community (Ojibwe), in Brimley, Michigan. In a statement regarding his nomination, Newland told the assembled committee a little about his background.
Newland attended Michigan State University and the Michigan State University College of Law where he was the first Native student enrolled in an Indigenous Law and Policy Program. After graduating from law school in 2007, he served in President Barrack Obama's administration at the DOI at the office of the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs.
"There I was lucky to have mentors like Larry Echo Hawk and Del Laverdure," Newland said. "We reformed leasing on Indian lands, putting timelines in place so that other families wouldn’t have the same delays my parents faced. Working with this committee, we saw the bipartisan enactment and implementation of the HEARTH Act, putting Tribes back in control of leasing and home mortgages on tribal lands."
Newland has also been an educator, teaching Indian law to those hoping to be Native attorneys and to be an advocate for tribes. He was elected as Chief Judge of the Bay Mills Tribal Court in 2013. In 2017, he was elected to serve as Tribal President for his tribe.
“I am honored to be back at the Department of the Interior working on behalf of Tribal communities and alongside a historic Secretary,” Assistant Secretary Newland said. “The Biden-Harris administration has made clear its priorities to respect Tribal sovereignty and self-governance, fulfill federal trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations, and make regular, meaningful and robust consultation with Tribal Nations cornerstones of federal Indian policy. I am committed to engaging with Tribes every step of the way and ensuring they have the support and resources they need to fully thrive."
On April 22, the National Congress of American Indians cheered Newland’s nomination.
“Today, on Earth Day, I’m heartened by President Biden’s nomination of Bryan Newland for Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs," NCAI President Fawn Sharp said. "As the former President of the Bay Mills Indian Community and a former employee of Interior, his record and experience in Indian country are well-known and respected."
Indian country is poised for investment and new opportunities for economic growth and the time is right for new leadership, Sharp added.
"We are ready to engage in initiatives that create a sustainable, inclusive, and strategic agenda for Indian country," she said. "With Bryan Newland as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, along with the first Native American Secretary of Interior, we will have that critical voice for our traditional cultures, our tribal economies, and the healing of our broken relationship with the federal government."
