Interior secretary hires Native American as legal counsel

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An attorney who oversaw New Mexico’s Indian Affairs Department has been tapped to serve as a top legal adviser to U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. The department announced the appointment of Lynn Trujillo as senior counsel to the secretary Friday. Trujillo is a tribal member of Sandia Pueblo on the outskirts of Albuquerque and has ties to Acoma and Taos pueblos. She worked as a state Cabinet secretary for nearly four years under New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham as a crucial liaison with Native American communities during the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic.