Tim Giago. Photo by Talli Nauman

The Tea Party took its name based on an act of deception
Notes from Indian Country
By Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji)

In the past few primary elections the Tea Party has won some and lost some. Lately it’s been more “lost some” than “won some.”

Several months ago I wrote that the Tea Party was founded on an act of impersonation based on an act of deception. They named themselves and patterned themselves after a bunch of so-called Boston Patriots who decided to rebel over a tax on tea by sneaking aboard a vessel that had received a shipment of tea and dumping the tea into the Boston Harbor. In order to conceal this criminal act from the authorities they dressed themselves up as Mohawk Indians hoping to transfer the blame to the Indian people.

The so-called Patriots who committed this criminal action were too cowardly to stand up and be counted as the heroes they envisioned themselves to be, but instead sought to deceive the authorities by shifting the blame upon the Mohawk and if believed, this act of cowardice could have been deadly to the local Indians.

When a group of Republicans decided they would shake up the Republican Party by forming themselves into the Tea Party, an ultra-conservative wing of the Republican Party, they decided to take a page from the history books and breathe new life into it by taking an extreme stance against federal spending and taxes. The Tea Party brought out its share of wing nuts as supporters and candidates with Sara Palin of Alaska grabbing the brass ring.

Since they were new and fresh-faced they did manage to get some of their candidates elected and this set the traditional Republican Party back on its heels. They didn’t know what to do with the newcomers who were vocal, rude and uncompromising. They also proved to be extreme obstructionists who blocked any legislation introduced by President Obama and the Democrats. This Congress of 2014 has introduced and passed fewer bills than any Congress in history.

The old Republican Party is fighting back against the neo-conservatives as witnessed by the victory of Thad Cochran’s primary win over Tea Party candidate Chris McDaniel in Mississippi on Tuesday.

When the patriots dumped the tea into Boston Harbor and attempted to place the blame on the Mohawk Indians they knew that if their actions did indeed implicate the Indians, the consequences of their impersonation could have been deadly and disastrous to the Indians living in New England. The colonists at that time were looking for any excuse to slaughter the remaining Indians in New England and this act of deception could well have set off a slaughter of the Indians.

By assuming the name of a group of cowardly white men who tried to place the blame of their criminal actions on the Indian people the Tea Party has proven that they have a one-sided view of American history. The Tea Party was not made up of heroes then and it is not made up of heroes now.

Their political actions present a clear and present danger to the Native Americans of today just as they did in 1773. To endanger the lives of innocent Indians to protest a political point was not only cowardly, but an action constructed around a lie. And this is how the Tea Party adopted its name and the Tea Party of 2014 would cut the funds to tribal governments, Indian health, and Indian education.

It seems that the Boston Patriotic chickens are looking for another place to roost.

Tim Giago, Nanwica Kciji, is editor and publisher of Native Sun News and can be reached at editor@nsweekly.com