Tag Archives: Native Americans

The Associated Press reports: Republican Sen. Keith Regier is proposing asking Congress to study alternatives to reservations. The measure, submitted this week and riddled with racial stereotypes, is unlikely to pass and would have no practical effect if it did. But it’s causing tensions to surface at the Republican-controlled Montana Legislature that kicked off this week. Regier said the language …

The Frontier reports: Five of Oklahoma’s largest tribes will publicly endorse Democrat Joy Hofmeister for governor at a press conference in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, a source with knowledge of the plans confirmed to The Frontier. The endorsement will mark the first time the state’s five largest tribes have coordinated a collective endorsement of a gubernatorial candidate, Cherokee Nation Principal …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Sacheen Littlefeather, the Native American actress and activist who took to the stage at the 1973 Academy Awards to reveal that Marlon Brando would not accept his Oscar for The Godfather, has died. She was 75. Littlefeather died at noon Sunday at her home in the Northern California city of Novato surrounded by her loved ones, …

The New York Times reports: The American Civil Liberties Union and the Native American Rights Fund filed a lawsuit on Monday challenging two new election laws in Montana as unconstitutional infringements on Native Americans’ right to vote. Montana legislators enacted the laws — H.B. 176, which eliminated same-day voter registration, and H.B. 530, which restricted ballot collection — this spring, …

The Hill reports: Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) in an interview late Monday said he “misspoke” during recent remarks dismissing the influence of Native American culture on the U.S. Santorum, a senior political commentator at CNN, appeared on the network to discuss the comments, which sparked criticism late last month. “This seemed like you were trying to erase diversity,” host …

USA Today reports: CNN political commentator Rick Santorum is in hot water after making comments about Native American culture and the lack of it in America. Last week, Santorum gave a speech about “birthing a nation from nothing” at the Standing Up For Faith & Freedom Conference for the Young America’s Foundation, a conservative youth organization. A video clip from …

Phoenix’s ABC News reports: The Navajo Nation has begun a three-week lockdown for its citizens to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. “This virus takes off like wildfire,” said Navajo Nation President Johnathan Nez regarding a recent spike of COVID-19 cases across his constituents. “I think we just let down. There’s COVID fatigue here on Navajo as well.” The lockdown …

ESPN reports: They have been known as the Cleveland Indians since 1915. But those days could be over. Amid new pressure sparked by a national movement to correct racial wrongdoings, the Indians said Friday night that they will review their long-debated nickname, which has been in place for 105 years. “We are committed to making a positive impact in our …

CNN reports: The governor of South Dakota has given an ultimatum to two Sioux tribes: Remove checkpoints on state and US highways within 48 hours or risk legal action. Gov. Kristi Noem sent letters Friday to the leaders of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe demanding that checkpoints designed to prevent the spread of coronavirus on …

The Arizona Republic reports: The contractor that is building President Donald Trump’s border wall in southwestern Arizona began blasting this week through a site that the Native American O’odham people consider sacred to make way for newer, taller barriers. U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed the contractor started blasting through the site called Monument Hill at Organ Pipe Cactus National …

USA Today reports: Sen. Elizabeth Warren formally announced her candidacy for the White House on Saturday, and hours later President Donald Trump weighed in on his newest campaign opponent, appearing to make a joke with reference to the Trail of Tears. The president’s use of the word trail in all caps is a potential reference to the Trail of Tears, …

The Washington Post reports: One hundred years after U.S. soldiers killed and maimed hundreds of Sioux men, women and children at the Wounded Knee massacre, Congress formally apologized in 1990 by expressing its “deep regret on behalf of the United States.” On Sunday night, President Trump used that same massacre as a punch line in his latest broadside against Sen. …

The Washington Post reports: At a July 5 rally in Montana, President Trump went on a lengthy rant about one of his favorite targets: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and her claim to Native American ancestry. “I’m going to get one of those little [DNA testing] kits and in the middle of the debate, when she proclaims she’s of Indian heritage…,” …

CNN reports: Sen. Elizabeth Warren has released the results of a DNA analysis showing she has distant Native American ancestry, which could preempt further questions and attacks should she run for president in 2020.  President Donald Trump has revived and amplified the controversy as he eyes Warren as a possible rival, frequently mocking her with the nickname “Pocahontas.” But Warren …

Via press release from the White House: Columbus’s spirit of determination and adventure has provided inspiration to generations of Americans. On Columbus Day, we honor his remarkable accomplishments as a navigator, and celebrate his voyage into the unknown expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. His expedition formed the initial bond between Europe and the Americas, and changed the world forever. Today, …

Politico reports: The leader of the Navajo Nation said Tuesday that President Donald Trump used an ethnic slur when he called Sen. Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” during a White House event honoring Native American veterans. Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye told CNN that the president’s injection of a political attack during a ceremony honoring Navajo code talkers was “uncalled for.” “This …

Trump just attacked Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas” at a White House event honoring the elderly surviving members of the Navajo Code Talkers, who were recruited by the Marine Corps during World War II to deliver messages that the Japanese were unable to translate. “You were here long before any of us were here. Although we have a representative in Congress …

Yesterday Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire drew gasps on social media when it posted a Columbus Day video which depicted Native Americans as literal bloodthirsty cannibals who were saved from their own savagery by kindly Christopher Columbus, who bestowed literacy, science, and “not-scalping” upon them. Shapiro at first defended the clip as merely clumsy satire, but this afternoon he has reversed. …

Mediaite reports: To celebrate Columbus Day this year, right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro’s website posted a video apparently excusing ethnic genocide by depicting Native Americans as cannibals and savages who weren’t tamed until white Europeans came to America and took their land. The Daily Wire’s animated video begins with a caption that sarcastically reads, “The North American indigenous people are a …

Fortune reports: Columbus Day has become a fraught holiday in the United States, but you wouldn’t know it from President Trump’s official proclamation. Published on the official White House website, the statement heralds Christopher Columbus for “setting the stage for the development of our great Nation” and “inspiring countless others to pursue their dreams and convictions—even in the face of …