New US Congresswomen carry hopes of Native Americans
Come January, indigenous people in the US will have two new seats at the table in Congress: Deb Haaland (D-NM) and Sharice Davids (D-KS) made history when they became the first two Native American women elected, as part of what became known as the "pink wave" — the record number of women who won races during the 2018 midterm elections.
"The US has been around for 200-plus years, and Native people were here before that, and we finally just got our first two women," said Samantha Nephew, a 29-year-old Native American activist and teacher from Buffalo, New York. Nephew is a member of the Seneca Nation, and has said that running for office herself one day "isn't off the table."
"To know that it's taken this long, and to know that there are women who look more like me, or my sisters, it's actually enlightening," said Nephew of Halaand's and Davids's election wins.
"Tribes have learned to work within the system," said Mark Carter, a staff attorney at the ACLU's racial justice program, and himself a member of the Potawatomi Nation of Oklahoma. "I think the tribes are more on the side of being able to use the law, and influence the government in a way that benefits the tribes."
https://www.dw.com/en/new-us-congresswomen-carry-hopes-of-native-americans/a-46824000
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