Editor’s note: This post originally ran on Tuesday, November 12, 2019
“One of the biggest issues with Native Americans today is that we're essentially invisible,” Rep. Deb Haaland, a Democrat from New Mexico, told Daily Kos behind the scenes at Netroots Nation, the nation’s largest conference for progressives. “If you Google Native Americans and click on images, the images that come up are from the 1800s, the 1700s, old photographs that have been in museums for a long time.”
And that issue, to be clear, is the long-term result of colonialism and genocide, as the U.S. has a long, long history of eradicating and erasing Native American identity and culture from public discourse. In fact, it’s even worked to erase Native American culture from its own communities—for example, in the form of forced-assimilation boarding schools. In addition to (obviously) being traumatic emotionally and rife with reports of sexual and physical abuse, these practices resulted in disconnects with language, spirituality, and cultural practices.
How can non-Native people be useful allies today? “We have the same issues; we want our children to have a quality public education, we want jobs, we wanna be able to succeed in this country and in this economy,” Haaland, who in addition to serving in Congress is an attorney and a single mother, explains in a video interview below. “Helping to make sure that we're included in all of the issues that we're fighting for is actually one of the best ways that everyone helps Indian tribes.”
Rep. Haaland was one of the first Native American women elected to serve in Congress, making history this past January along with Rep. Sharice Davids. The congresswoman is 35th generation New Mexican and an enrolled member of the Pueblo of Laguna, with Jemez Pueblo heritage.
Check out her interview with Daily Kos, where she talks about the needs of Native American communities, student loan debt, and activists she admires—and why.
Question 1: What can non-Native Americans do more of to show that they are allies of the Native American community?
DH: One of the biggest issues with Native Americans today is that we're essentially invisible. If you Google Native Americans and click on images, the images that come up are from the 1800s, the 1700s, old photographs that have been in museums for a long time. We're not invisible. We have the same issues; we want our children to have a quality public education, we want jobs, we wanna be able to succeed in this country and in this economy. Helping to make sure that we're included in all of the issues that we're fighting for is actually one of the best ways that everyone helps Indian tribes.
Question 2: How has the experience of paying student loans while your daughter is also paying student loans changed your perspective on student debt? How do you think we should tackle the issue of student debt as a nation?
DH: My perspective hasn't actually changed because I've been paying all my student loans for quite a while. It is definitely a burden. I've had, being a single mom, I've had to essentially stop paying my student loans. What do they call that, forbearance? I've had to go into forbearance several times just to pay the interest and not pay the actual student loans while I was looking for a job, or while I was in law school, or whatever the case was.
Look, there's enough money in this country to make sure that everybody has an opportunity. One of the things I think we can do is make sure that we have student repayment programs. We need doctors in rural communities, we need lawyers in Indian country, we need nurses in community health centers. So why… We really should be looking at ways to help students pay off their loans if that's the case, giving them opportunities to work in underserved communities so that they can have an easier way of moving that debt out of that column and making sure that they can succeed. I think there are a lot of ways we can make sure that student loans are forgiven and we should work toward that.
Question 3: Who is a current activist you admire, and why?
DH: One of the activists I admire is Colleen Flanagan. She runs an organization called Disability Rights for America, and we really feel like this administration has worked overtime to take away the rights that help folks with disabilities to be on an even keel with everyone else. I trust her and the work that she's doing to make sure that she can move, help folks who are disabled and using wheelchairs and other methods to have opportunities just like everybody else.
Bonus Question: If you could give advice to your teenage self, what would it be?
DH: Advice to my teenage self... I would absolutely tell myself to read more. And I think everybody needs to read more. If I would've done that when I was a teenager, I'm sure that I would've benefited from it greatly.
Don’t miss our Making Progress interview with Prairie Rose Seminole on how to be a better ally to Native American communities, or how to support a progressive cause when you’re not a fan of its tactics. It’s also a great move to spend some time learning about Native leaders who don’t always get the mainstream media attention they absolutely deserve.
You can check out all of the Making Progress videos so far on the Daily Kos YouTube page as well.