Secretary of the Interior visits Tribe
Choctaw Tribal Chief Cyrus Ben hosted Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland as she toured the homelands of the Mississippi Choctaws last week.
Members of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education were also in attendance. The leadership delegates visited the Chahta Immi Cultural Center, Choctaw Central High School campus, surveyed the future site of the new Choctaw Central school campus, the newly constructed MBCI Boys and Girls Club Teen Center, and other sites. Secretary Haaland, BIA Eastern Regional Director Kimberly Bouchard, BIE Director Tony Dearman, and BIE Education Program Administrator Dr. Connie Albert made the visit to meet with Tribal representatives and discuss current Indian education reform initiatives.
“Having Secretary Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary, visit us here in Choctaw is a proud moment for our Tribe,” said Tribal Chief Cyrus Ben. “During my visits to the Nation’s capital, my topmost priority is for our Tribe to have a true working relationship with our federal government. Maintaining a true government-to-government relationship between the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and our Nation’s leaders means they know who we are and that our needs are on their radar. Secretary Haaland’s visit is a testament to this relationship, and we are very appreciative for her and her staff as well as members with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education to take time out of their busy schedules to visit us here in Choctaw.”
This is the third time the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, a member of the President’s cabinet, has visited the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
Chief Ben and Secretary Haaland spent the afternoon participating in hands on cultural presentations conducted by the Chahta Immi Cultural Center where Secretary Haaland participated in cultural presentations conducted by CICC staff. Tribal Chief Ben and Secretary Haaland met with the BIA and BIE delegation to visit the current Choctaw Central campus to see firsthand the need for a new school campus followed by a tour of the future site of the new school campus; the group also visited the newly constructed MBCI Boys and Girls Club Teen Center and observed Choctaw Tribal School students partaking in projects with the Youth Entrepreneurship Class, Robotics team practice and witnessed a scrimmage between two Choctaw Recreation basketball teams. The day concluded with Chief Ben leading a driving tour of Tribal lands.