Yankton Sioux Tribe Shocked and Appalled by Trump Tweet – Urge Trump to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Published January 18, 2019

WAGNER, S.D. — Donald Trump’s January 13 tweet regarding Senator Elizabeth Warren sent shockwaves through Indian Country, and the Yankton Sioux Tribe was no exception. Tribal members reacted with disbelief and astonishment upon reading the tweet, which was viewed as racist, bigoted, ignorant, and disrespectful.

Trump’s repeated references to Senator Warren as “Pocahontas” make clear that he has an unusual fixation on the Senator and disrespect for both Senator Warren and Indigenous People. This is not, in the Tribe’s opinion, an appropriate way for the President to garner the attention that he seeks.

This time, Trump took his attempt to berate Warren through name-calling a step further, with references to Greasy Grass (also known as Little Bighorn, the site of the infamous battle where Northern Plains tribes defeated Custer and the United States 7th Cavalry) and Wounded Knee (the site of a horrific massacre of primarily Hunkpapa and Mniconjou Lakota women and children). The Tribe questions Trump’s knowledge of these events and their significance. Those sites are hallowed ground and must not be used for mockery.

A more productive use of federal government resources would be for Trump to redirect his attention to solving actual problems that plague this country – the federal government shutdown and the incidents of missing and murdered indigenous women. According to the Tribe, Trump would be better served to learn about and take steps to address the missing and murdered indigenous women crisis, rather than issuing racist tweets, perpetuating stereotypes, trivializing historic trauma, and mocking elected officials.