Opinion

Cole DeLaune: New members of Congress ignore Indian needs





Cole R. DeLaune takes on three new member of Congress -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-North Dakota) and Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma):
To paraphrase one of the trite banalities she compulsively invoked throughout 2012, the spiritual godmother of the Occupy movement has telegraphed a definitive message to indigenous men and women since she swore the oath of her new position in January: "you are on your own."

Despite insisting that an invented heritage constituted a fundamental element of "who I am" when questions about her ancestry threatened to derail her personal interests, the former Harvard Law professor suddenly decided professional statistics no longer functioned as an appropriate expression of gossamer-thin racial fantasies once she ousted Scott Brown from the Massachusetts Congressional delegation. Surprising absolutely no one familiar with Warren's demonstrated hostility to Indian news organizations — including the one you're reading right now—not to mention DNC delegates, the left-wing firebrand balked at the opportunity to identify herself as a person of color to the Senate Historical Office despite associate historian Betty Koed's assurance that, if the Warren team "wants to call and have her listed [in the formal directory], we'd be happy to do so."

Get the Story:
Cole R. DeLaune: Elizabeth Warren, Heidi Heitkamp, Markwayne Mullin and Us (Indian Country Today 4/20)

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