Posted on 09/26/2012 10:24:33 AM PDT by billorites
A top Cherokee official demanded today that U.S. Sen. Scott Brown apologize for his campaign staff’s “uneducated, unenlightened and racist portrayal” of Native Americans in an online video shot at a campaign event in Dorchester over the weekend.
“The Cherokee Nation is disappointed in and denounces the disrespectful actions of staffers and supporters of Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown,” Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker said in a statement. “The conduct of these individuals goes far beyond what is appropriate and proper in political discourse. The use of stereotypical ‘war whoop chants’ and ‘tomahawk chops’ are offensive and downright racist. It is those types of actions that perpetuate negative stereotypes and continue to minimize and degrade all native peoples.”
At least one Brown campaign staffer and one GOP operative have been identified in the video, which was shot by the Massachusetts Democratic Party.
“A campaign that would allow and condone such offensive and racist behavior must be called to task for their actions,” Baker said.
Democrat Elizabeth Warren yesterday said she was “appalled” by the video and that if her staff members had done such a thing, there would be “serious consequences.”
Brown said yesterday morning he hadn’t yet seen the video but added that things like that had no place in the campaign. He added that the real insult to Native Americans was when Warren checked a box claiming minority status as a law professor despite not having any documentation to back up her claims of Cherokee ancestry.
The Brown campaign could not immediately be reached for comment.
Baker, the Cherokee chief, was also unavailable for an interview. But in the statement, he said he has an obligation to condemn acts that show disrespect to his people.
“The Cherokee Nation is a modern, productive society, and I am blessed to be their chief,” Baker said. “I will not be silent when individuals mock and insult our people and our great nation.”
The statement did not mention Warren or her Cherokee ancestry claims.
“We need individuals in the United States Senate who respect Native Americans and have an understanding of tribal issues,” Baker said. “For that reason, I call upon Sen. Brown to apologize for the offensive actions of his staff and their uneducated, unenlightened and racist portrayal of native peoples.”
Yeah, it's the Talequah Cherokees.
I've worked for and with a number of Cherokees. They are fine people.
Obviously he has never been to an Atlanta Braves game..................
I’m half Cherokee. I say that it’s ok.
Move along.
:)
:: The Cherokee Nation is disappointed in and denounces the disrespectful actions of staffers and supporters of Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown ::
The Brown Campaign should simply respond:
“The gestures are not and were not intended to mimic or diminish any activity the Cherokee Nation considers its heritage.
To our knowledge, the simulated “tomahawk chop” and “war whoops” are not a remanant or current symbol of the Cherokee Nation. We await to be corrected that these activities WERE?ARE part of the Cherokee Nation heritage, at which point we will release a statement.”
I remember when I was just a wee tad, going to the Reservation up in North Carolina with my dad and enjoying a wonderful evening under the stars watching "Unto These Hills".
Well they used to, but nowadays they use One Arm Bandits to scalp the white man.
I think it has more to do with the fact that they didn't consent to the contest in the first place. I have lived on the Navajo reservation for an extended period of time and gotten to know a great many natives there. We might not like to admit it, but they have a strong case. Most of their population killed in wars they did not start, their land stolen in the name of manifest destiny, marched to internment camps like Fort Sumner, and finally herded into worthless pieces of land we call reservations. They absolutely have the right to be bitter.
That's a big Nerp!
Looks like they've evolved into nothing more than a bunch of crybaby whiners who are dependent on government handouts.
Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo, woo.....
Here we go again...where’s Jane Fonda and Ted Turner on this? (Remember the Atlanta Braves’ fiasco with ‘Tomahawk Chops’?)
Here we go again...where’s Jane Fonda and Ted Turner on this? (Remember the Atlanta Braves’ fiasco with ‘Tomahawk Chops’?)
Oh no!!! I Guess Scott Brown has lost Massachussets MASSIVE Cherokee vote!
“That has to be the Oklahoma branch of Cherokees. The Eastern bunch has pride of self and a sense of humor.”
Well gee, consider how they GOT to Oklahoma in the first place (Trail of Tears). That sure would have cut into anybody’s sense of humor.
Miserable climate
Do. Not. Apologize.
Continue to rag on Lieawatha. She is the one denigrating NAs and she is the one who stole from them.
Actually they weren’t conquered until 1865 with the end of the civil war. just another bunch of souvrn’rs ya know.
The nation’s going to hell in a handbasket, and this loon wants us to appologize for a tomahawk chop.
My great great grandmother was scalped by the Commanches, leaving my great grandmother to be raised without a mother.
I don’t hold any grudge about it, that was the times.
Suck it up, NAs. If you can’t handle tomahawk chops and war whoops, go protest the Kansas City Chiefs and the Washington Racist Nicknames.
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