Deb Haaland and Native American Women “Firsts”

Speaker - Deb Haaland

Secretary Deb Haaland made history when she became the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary. She is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna and a 35th generation New Mexican. 

Secretary Haaland grew up in a military family; her father was a 30-year combat Marine who was awarded the Silver Star Medal for saving six lives in Vietnam, and her mother is a Navy veteran who served as a federal employee for 25 years at the Bureau of Indian Affairs. As a military child, she attended 13 public schools before graduating from Highland High School in Albuquerque.  

As a single mother, Secretary Haaland volunteered at her child's pre-school to afford early childhood education. Like many parents, she had to rely on food stamps at times as a single parent, lived paycheck-to-paycheck, and struggled to put herself through college. At the age of 28, Haaland enrolled at the University of New Mexico (UNM) where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in English and later earned her J.D. from UNM Law School. Secretary Haaland and her child, who also graduated from the University of New Mexico, are still paying off student loans. 

Secretary Haaland ran her own small business producing and canning Pueblo Salsa, served as a tribal administrator at San Felipe Pueblo, and became the first woman elected to the Laguna Development Corporation Board of Directors, overseeing business operations of the second largest tribal gaming enterprise in New Mexico. She successfully advocated for the Laguna Development Corporation to create policies and commitments to environmentally friendly business practices. 

Throughout her career in public service, Secretary Haaland has broken barriers and opened the doors of opportunity for future generations.  

After running for New Mexico Lieutenant Governor in 2014, Secretary Haaland became the first Native American woman to be elected to lead a State Party. She is one of the first Native American women to serve in Congress. In Congress, she focused on environmental justice, climate change, missing and murdered indigenous women, and family-friendly policies.  

Speaker - Abby Abinanti

Abby Abinanti, Yurok Chief Judge is an enrolled Yurok Tribal member, she holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of New Mexico School of Law, and was the first California tribal woman to be admitted to the State Bar of California. She was a State Judicial Officer (Commissioner) for the San Francisco Superior Court for over 17 years assigned to the Unified Family Court (Family/Dependency/Delinquency). She retired from the Superior Court in September 2011 and on July 31, 2014 was reappointed as a part-time Commissioner for San Francisco assigned to Dependency, and Duty Judge for that Court where she served until 2015. She has been a Yurok Tribal Court Judge since 1997 and was appointed Chief Tribal Court Judge in 2007, a position she held in conjunction with her Superior Court assignment until 2015. 

Speaker - Kimberly TeeHee

Kim Teehee is director of government relations for Cherokee Nation and senior vice president of government relations for Cherokee Nation Businesses. In 2019, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. named Teehee as the tribe’s first delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. She previously served President Barack Obama as the first-ever senior policy advisor for Native American Affairs in the White House Domestic Policy Council for three years. Teehee also served as senior advisor to the U.S. House of Representatives Native American Caucus co-chair, Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI) for nearly 12 years. As senior advisor, she established an impressive record of accomplishments on a wide array of Native American issues. Teehee received her B.A. in Political Science from NSU and her J.D. from the University Of Iowa College Of Law.

Speaker - Stacy Leeds

Stacy Leeds is the Willard H. Pedrick Dean and Regents Professor of Law at Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. She is a scholar of Indigenous law and policy and an experienced leader in law, higher education, economic development, and conflict resolution. She holds law degrees from the University of Wisconsin (LL.M.) and University of Tulsa (J.D.), a business degree from the University of Tennessee (M.B.A)., and an undergraduate degree in history from Washington University in St. Louis (B.A.).

Leeds was the first Indigenous woman to serve as a law school dean. She was Dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law (2011-2018) and the inaugural Vice Chancellor for Economic Development at the University of Arkansas (2017-2020). In addition, Leeds was an administrator and professor at the University of Kansas and the University of North Dakota and a William H. Hastie Fellow at the University of Wisconsin. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute and a recipient of the American Bar Association’s Spirit of Excellence Award.

Speaker - Valerie Nurr’araluk Davidson

Valerie Nurr’araluk Davidson serves as President/CEO of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) and oversees the Consortium’s governance and strategy for statewide Tribal health services that serve the Alaska Native and American Indian people living in Alaska. Davidson previously served ANTHC as Senior Director of Legal and Intergovernmental Affairs and represented Alaska Native communities and health needs at federal, state and community levels.

Davidson, Yup’ik, is an enrolled Tribal citizen of the Orutsararmiut Traditional Native Council in Bethel.Her previous experience includes serving as Lieutenant Governor of Alaska and Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Health & Social Services.She earned a Bachelor of Education degree with a specialty in Early Childhood Education and a minor in Bilingual Education from the University of Alaska Southeast, and continued her education with a Juris Doctor degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law. She has employed her education and commitment to her Native peoples and Alaska to advance a collective and holistic approach to self-governance and well-being for all Alaskans.

Moderator - Makalika Naholowa'a

Makalika Naholowaʻa is the Executive Director at the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation. For 49 years NHLC has steadfastly served the lāhui as legal advocates, and NHLC is the only law firm in the world dedicated to Native Hawaiian rights.  Makalika is also President of the National Native American Bar Association (NNABA). For 50 years, NNABA has been a home for Native American lawyers to connect, learn, and advocate for inclusion in the legal profession as well as for sovereignty and tribal justice.

Makalika is deeply experienced in intellectual property, unfair competition, and technology law.  Her past work includes several roles at Microsoft Corporation and practice at Perkins Coie LLP in Seattle. Makalika is also a stalwart contributor to the profession and community service. She’s served on numerous boards and committees for bar associations and nonprofits, including the American Bar Association, the Washinton State Bar Association, the Hawaii Access to Justice Commission, the International Trademark Association, and others. Makalika holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School and a B.S. in Mathematics with a Concentration in Computer Science from Arizona State University.

_{The materials contained herein represent the opinions of the participants and should not be construed to be those of the American Bar Association unless adopted pursuant to the bylaws of the Association. Nothing contained herein is to be considered as the rendering of legal advice for specific cases, and the users of this website are responsible for obtaining such advice from their own legal counsel. These materials and any forms and agreements herein are intended for educational and informational purposes only.}