Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) gave a surprise speech at the National Congress of American Indians in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, and she started by taking a whack at the elephant (not) in the room. "I've noticed that every time my name comes up, President Trump likes to talk about Pocahontas," Warren said. "So I figured, let's talk about Pocahontas." And she did.
Accusations that Warren misled people by claiming Cherokee heritage, based on family lore and not other evidence, did not prevent Warren from being elected to the Senate in 2012, but they are a cloud over her possible presidential run. Trump didn't start "our country's disrespect of Native people," she said:
But now we have a president who can't make it through a ceremony honoring Native American war heroes without reducing Native history, Native culture, Native people to the butt of a joke. The joke, I guess, is supposed to be on me. I get why some people think there's hay to be made here. You won't find my family members on any rolls, and I'm not enrolled in a tribe. ... I understand that tribal membership is determined by tribes — and only by tribes. I never used my family tree to get a break or get ahead. I never used it to advance my career. [Elizabeth Warren]
Warren affirmed her belief that she has Native American heritage, a common notion in her native Oklahoma. "My mother's family was part Native American, and my daddy's parents were bitterly opposed to their relationship, so in 1932, when Mother was 19 and Daddy had just turned 20, they eloped," she said. "The story they lived will always be a part of me. And no one — not even the president of the United States — will ever take that part of me away." She got a standing ovation. The Republican National Committee, which had criticized "Fauxcanhontas" for not being scheduled to speak, also criticized her for speaking.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What India’s World Cup win means for women’s cricketIn The Spotlight The landmark victory could change women’s cricket ‘as we know it’
-
Can Nigel Farage and Reform balance the books?Today's Big Question Nigel Farage has, for the first time, ‘articulated something resembling a fiscal rule’ that he hopes will win over voters and the markets
-
The best quality chocolateThe Week Recommends The milk and dark chocolate bars that win on depth and flavour
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
