Among the new members of the House of Representatives are two women unlike any others. Yet, they have a stronger right to be there than anyone else. These women are both high achievers, but that is not what makes them special.
Congresswoman Deb Haaland (D-NM) is a member of the Laguna Pueblo people, and she posted photos of herself and her family arriving for her swearing in ceremony on Twitter. She was wearing traditional Pueblo dress. Both Haaland and Sharice Davids (D-KS) are Native American women — the first to ever be elected to Congress.
Haaland’s tweet read:
‘New Mexicans are in the house, the US House that is. #116thCongress.’
Both Haaland and Davids are attorneys, and both of them had important positions during President Barack Obama’s campaign and administration. Both women’s mothers served in the military.
Haaland has a law degree in Indian Law. She served as the tribal administrator for the San Felipe Pueblo before holding the position of Chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico. She was also vote director for Native Americans in Obama’s 2012 presidential reelection campaign.
Davids is a member of the Ho-Chunk nation. She has a law degree from Cornell Law School. She is also a mixed martial artist. She worked with communities on Native American reservations’ economic and community development programs. She served as a White House Fellow during the transition between the Obama and Trump administrations in the Department of Transportation.
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
