WASHINGTON, D.C. — Chinook Indian Nation citizen Roger Nyhus was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Nov. 15 to be ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.

His appointment by President Joe Biden and Senate confirmation make him the second Chinook and at least the third Indigenous person to serve as a U.S. ambassador.

“I’m incredibly honored to represent the United States and the American people in seven dynamic, independent democratic nations in the Caribbean,” Nyhus said in a statement posted on social media.

“I will be a strong and unwavering advocate for all Americans, American business and innovation, and our important diplomatic relationships,” he said. “I am eager to serve the American people and do some good.”

In addition to Barbados, Nyhus will be ambassador to St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The island nations are grappling with rising sea levels and increasingly ferocious storm events because of climate change and are sure to deal with climate-related economic and environmental changes as well in coming years, according to earlier reporting by Indian Country Today. The nations are also working to adequately address the generational trauma felt by Indigenous peoples and those whose African ancestors were brought there by force.

Nyhus grew up in Westport, where he ran the town’s summer fishing derby to help pay for college. His father was a commercial fisherman and his Chinook mother was a clerk in the municipal court.

Nyhus earned a communications degree at Washington State University and then worked as a reporter for the Associated Press.

John Christopher Stevens, also Chinook, served as the U.S. ambassador to Libya and was killed in the attack in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012.