Heidi Todacheene
Legislative Assistant, Rep. Deb Haaland (NM-01)
My Bio
I am an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and from Farmington, New Mexico and graduate of the University of New Mexico and earned a J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Law. Previously, I worked for the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department in Santa Fe and practiced civil litigation before moving to D.C. to work on government and legislative affairs for the Navajo Nation prior to being hired by Rep. Deb Haaland. Currently, I am licensed to practice law in both New Mexico and the District of Columbia and plan to eventually move back home to New Mexico where my family resides.
Get CAPASA’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
What inspired you to get involved in public service?
I didn’t have a lot of political or financial resources growing up and I understand what it is like to need help but not know where to go to find solutions. I have been very fortunate to have the opportunity to earn a law degree and see that many poor communities and people need representation where social environments have not provided them with avenues for success. My upbringing and professional experience led me to a career where I can identify the needs of people that might not know how to articulate a problem or navigate a complex system but I can help find solutions for those without a voice.
Name one person you look up to and explain why.
My boss — Rep. Deb Haaland. The first time I saw her speak was at a TedxABQ event in 2016 and I had never seen a politically active Native American woman speak to a mainstream audience about Native female political leadership at a state-level. Fast forward to 2019 and she has fought her way to become one of the first Native American Congressional leaders and I am lucky enough to work for her. As a person from a class of people that have never had a political voice before, especially at a federal level, it is impossible not to see her as someone that I look up to and I am very honored to help shape her message for Indian Country.
What is one hope that you have for the future? Or what is one piece of advice that you would like to share?
More Native Americans will run for office and have more representation at both the state and federal level. I hope that more Native American women will have the opportunity to hold leadership positions within their Tribes and Pueblos and that our current (predominately male) Tribal leaders will go back to our traditional matrilineal governance opposed to the adopted patrilineal model that was adopted from the assimilation/removal eras from the Europeans and Spanish.
