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Washington (dpa) - According to media reports, the elected US President Joe Biden wants to appoint a native American woman as a cabinet minister for the first time in US history.
Biden wants to nominate Congressman Deb Haaland (60) from the state of New Mexico as Minister of the Interior, reported the Washington Post, the New York Times and the CNN broadcaster.
In the USA, the Department of the Interior is primarily responsible for the administration of the federally owned land.
The ministry decides, for example, whether nature reserves are designated or whether energy generation such as fracking is permitted.
The area of responsibility also includes matters relating to the approximately 1.9 million indigenous people.
Internal security - which in Europe is the responsibility of the Home Office - is the responsibility of the Home Security Department in the USA.
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The Washington Post wrote of Biden's historic decision, “which marked a turning point in the relationship of the US government with the nation's indigenous peoples”.
Haaland - who belongs to the Pueblo of Laguna tribe - was one of the first two women to be elected as indigenous people in the US Congress in 2018.
There she sits on the Natural Resources Committee, which oversees the Ministry of the Interior.
The Democrat Biden has promised to set up a cabinet with ministers from diverse backgrounds.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 201218-99-736931 / 2