Right Back at You: Tribes Fight Back Against the Rightwing Assaults on Deb Haaland [View all]

Responding to Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) publicly stated commitment to block the confirmation of the first Indigenous nominee for Secretary of the Interior, tribal organizations are launching a high-profile campaign to rally support for Congresswoman Deb Haaland (D-NM), President Biden’s pick to lead the Interior Department.

Beginning in Daines’ home state of Montana, the Global Indigenous Council (GIC) and Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council (RMTLC) have billboards highlighting Haaland’s historic nomination being raised in two of the state’s main population centers, Billings and Great Falls.

Under the headline “The First People of this land. The last to receive the vote” the billboards proclaim “Our first Secretary of Interior” with a striking image of Haaland shot by nationally renowned photographer, Joseph Kayne.

“With his condescending and cynical remarks, Senator Daines may succeed in ginning up the MAGA base, but he also evokes the ‘Great White Father’ in his paternalistic attitude toward not only Representative Haaland but his Indigenous constituents. His buzzword of choice to undermine her is ‘radical’ and so we’ve given it right back to him,” said Rain Bear Stands Last, executive director of the Global Indigenous Council, in reference to print and digital ads that will also begin running in Montana this week before appearing in other states.


https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/02/19/right-back-at-you-tribes-fight-back-against-the-rightwing-assaults-on-deb-haaland/