Our keynote speaker at the Opening Ceremonies for the 2020 National Native American Heritage Month Celebration is Tara Mac Lean Katuk Sweeney (Iñupiat), Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, DOI. Ms. Sweeney is the first Alaska Native and the second woman to be confirmed for the position. Ms. Sweeney, from Utqiaġvik, grew up in rural Alaska. Ms. Sweeney is a tribal member of the Native Village of Barrow Traditional Iñupiat Government and the Iñupiat Community of the Arctic Slope, both federally recognized tribes in Alaska.
She has spent her professional career working to empower Native organizations and communities through advocacy at all levels of government, with a strong focus on the federal process. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Ms. Sweeney is married with two children. The Assistant Secretary is responsible for carrying out the Department of the Interior’s trust responsibilities regarding the management of tribal and individual Indian trust lands and assets and promoting the self-determination and economic self-sufficiency of the nation’s 574 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and their President Trump proclaimed November as National Native American Heritage Month. At the Department of the Interior, we are committed to upholding our trust responsibilities to Native peoples and advancing tribal sovereignty and self-determination, as well as honoring the historic and significant contributions American Indians and Alaska Natives have made to our Nation.