During the past week, President Biden announced his choice for U.S. Treasurer! Here are highlights featuring her many accomplishments!

Chief Mutáwi Mutáhash (Many Hearts) Marilynn “Lynn” Malerba

• Became the 18th Chief of the Mohegan Tribe in 2010, a lifetime position.
• Follows in footsteps of many strong female role models in the Mohegan Tribe, including her mother, Loretta Roberge, who holds the position of Tribal Nonner (elder female of respect) as well as her great-grandfather Chief Matagha.
• Prior to becoming Chief, Malerba served as Chairwoman of the Tribal Council, and performed in Tribal Government as Executive Director of Health and Human Services. 
• Questioned why federal policy continues to severely underfund Indian Health resulting in diminished health status and quality of life with a life expectancy below that of mainstream America for our first peoples in her DNP project at Yale
• Authored “The Effects of Sequestration on Indian Health Funding” in the Hastings Center Report in 2013, providing background for in American Indian Health and Nursing (edited by Margaret P. Moss, Springer Publishing Company) in 2016.
• A leader in the return of hundreds of sacred objects to the Mohegan Tribe and Tantaquidgeon Museum in Uncasville, Connecticut In 2018, restoring wholeness to the Mohegan people.
• Testified in 2020 before the Connecticut Senate in favor of teaching children the history from the perspective of the first peoples of Connecticut who were harmed by colonization, instead of “Manifest Destiny” perspective.
• Chaired the Tribal Self-Governance Advisory Committee of the Indian Health Service Secretary for the United South and Eastern Tribes board, is a member of the Justice Department’s Tribal Nations Leadership Council, NIH and Treasury Tribal Advisory Committees.
• Named in 2022 the first Native American U.S Treasurer and first overseer of the Office of Tribal and Native Affairs at the Treasury Department.
• The first in Tribal leader and Native woman in history whose signature [will be] penned on U.S Currency, along with Janet Yellen’s signature.

Obama accepted the “Rhythm of the Land” blanket as Chief Lynn Malerba helped drape President Barack Obama in a blanket at the White House Tribal Nations Conference in 2016 During a moving ceremony that showcased the diversity of Indian Country. Photo credit: Pete Souza.

“The blanket continues as a standard of exchange; and as a gift, the blanket is an important acknowledgement of friendship, gratitude, and respect.” (Source) Also see Kapoun R.W. with Lohrmann, C.J. (1992). Language of the Robe. Peregrine Smith Books, p. 19.

More Information

Malerba, M. (2013). The Effects of Sequestration on Indian Health. Hastings Center Report, 43: 17-21.     https://doi.org/10.1002/hast.229

Malerba, Marilynn (2015).  “Indian Health Funding: Time For Change” Yale School of Nursing Digital        Theses. 1037. https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysndt/1037

Malerba, Marilynn (2016).  Northeastern Woodlands .In Moss, M.P. American Indian health and nursing (Moss, Ed.). Springer Publishing Company.  

Education Committee of the State of Connecticut Public Hearing Friday, March 6, 2020. Testimony of      Chief Mutáwi Mutáhash (Many Hearts) Marilynn “Lynn” Malerba Chief of the Mohegan Tribe, In Support of S.B. No. 314 An Act Concerning the Inclusion of Native American Studies In The Social Studies Curriculum. https://www.cga.ct.gov/2020/eddata/tmy/2020SB-00314-R000306-Malerba,%20Marilynn,%20Chief-The%20Mohegan%20Tribe-Support-TMY.PDF

Indian Health Service (IHS) Tribal Self-Governance Advisory Committee (Tsgac) Quarterly Meeting
March 28-29, 2017 https://www.tribalselfgov.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/TSGAC_Combined_Packet_March2017.pdf

The Mohegan Tribe: Our Current Chief Marilynn “Lynn” Malerba, Lifetime Chief.

Yale Peabody Museum (ND). The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.             https://peabody.yale.edu/explore/collections/anthropology/native-american-graves-protection-repatriation-act

Yale School of Nursing (ND). Yale Nursing’s Malerba ’15 DNP Will Make History as First Native American US Treasurer https://nursing.yale.edu/news/yale-nursings-malerba-15-dnp-will-make-history-first-native-american-us-treasurer