Sen. Elizabeth Warren — the subject of “Pocahontas” taunts from President Trump due to her once-claimed Native American ancestry — is looking to turn a weakness into a strength. As part of a prospective 2020 presidential run, she hopes to present herself to the American electorate as a champion of Native Americans and the unique issues affecting them.
In a speech earlier this year, Warren talked about “fight[ing] to empower tribal governments and native communities so you can take your rightful seat at the table when it comes to determining your own future.” She also noted that “banking and credit are the lifeblood of economic development.”
But if Warren wants to be an advocate for Native Americans, she’s going to need to differentiate herself from her own party’s paternalistic approach toward them.
[Also read: Pocahontas descendent wants Elizabeth Warren to take DNA test]
The ugly history of how the various tribes were pushed back and cheated out of ancestral lands cannot be rewritten, but we can at least afford Native Americans some basic respect. For example, they could use proper recognition of tribal sovereignty — and not just when what happens on tribal lands accords with our ideological whims. This includes the basic dignity of economic opportunity that is so often missing on the reservation.
Even where opportunity exists, Democrats have often kept Native Americans from it out of purely ideological considerations. The Obama administration, which Warren strongly supported on policy, blocked efforts to let Native Americans control energy exploration on their own lands. And this wasn’t just about coal mining (although some tribes have been blocked from doing that). Under former President Barack Obama, the Bureau of Indian Affairs even blocked tribes from developing renewable energy projects.
The Government Accountability Office conducted a study on this and concluded that under Obama, “shortcomings” on the part of the BIA led to multiple lost economic opportunities for tribes. In just one instance, BIA caused one tribe to lose more than $95 million in revenues.
Earlier this year, Trump generated some controversy when he urged tribal leaders to proceed with energy exploration on their lands, should they wish to do so. That’s the pro-tribal sovereignty, pro-economic development position. The question is, is it Warren’s? As of now, it sure doesn’t appear to be.
On the financial services front, Warren has a tougher task to sell herself to Native Americans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — her own brainchild, until recently run by her protege Richard Cordray — pursued multiple cases against tribal lenders, a favorite target for liberals because of the interest rates attached to the short-term loans they offer. There is a generally accepted view in the online lending world that the Obama Justice Department’s Operation Choke Point aggressively targeted tribal lenders, endangering Native American access to credit. Warren has never been among the members of Congress trying to prevent similar future operations.
Warren never took a stand on the Obama BIA’s decision to bar Washington state’s Chehalis from distilling alcohol on their land. She does not appear to be a co-sponsor of Republican South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds’ legislation repealing “outdated” provisions of law dealing with Native Americans and booze, which is being carried in the House by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash.
Warren has also been a defender of Obama’s decision to designate Bears Ears as a national monument — a controversial decision that Democrats love, but some tribes in the area oppose.
In short, Warren currently lacks credibility on Native American issues in the minds of many people who think she’s lied about her heritage to get ahead.
The Democratic Party has, in the era of Trump especially, tried to position itself as the sole defender of racial and other minorities in America. But their record on Native American issues is one of subordinating the needs on the reservation to ideological considerations.
If Warren intends to turn “Pocahontas” from a punchline into a “Yankee Doodle”-type rallying cry, she’s going to need to differentiate herself from her party, or else risk looking like her real concern is to keep white, Eastern liberals feeling good about themselves while putting tribal needs on the back burner.
Liz Mair is a political consultant who works on numerous policy issues affecting Native Americans, including some mentioned in this piece. She grew up in Washington state, and much of her family hails from the Mountain West.
