Kimberly Tehee: A voice for Indian Country

Parade Magazine did a quick Q&A with May 30 with Kimberly Teehee, 41. She is a member of the Cherokee Nation and the first White House senior policy adviser for Native American affairs. Why did President Obama create your position? Indian Country suffers from so many socioeconomic challenges: the unemployment rate, infrastructure needs, health care, a high crime rate. Those things were not being addressed adequately. Tribal nations should have a voice at the table whenever policy decisions are made. What are you working on now? Job creation is a huge priority: Unemployment rates on some reservations are as high as 80%. We’re also working to modify and strengthen the criminal-justice system that operates in Indian territory. And we’re working with the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” campaign to address obesity: As many as 50% of American Indians suffer from it. Indian Country has great needs, but our future is far from bleak—more than $3 billion was directed to Indian tribes through the Recovery Act, and the 2011 budget provides a 5% increase over 2010. Do you speak Cherokee? Not fluently. My parents were part of a federal relocation program, so I was born in Chicago. We moved back to Oklahoma when I was young. My family is of modest means, but we have a great love of community—the bond of what it is to be Cherokee.

— Maura Kelly