Native American leader asks when US will come to its ‘senses’ after Trump’s ‘racist’ attack against Warren

A leader of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe on Wednesday denounced President Trump for citing the Wounded Knee massacre and the Battle of the Little Bighorn “in an attempt to denigrate” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

“I ask you America, when are you going to come to your senses regarding this president?” Harold Fraizer, the chairman of the tribe, wrote in a guest commentary for NativeNewsOnline.Net. 

Fraizer adds that saying Trump’s “tweet is thoughtless would be giving him too much credit.”

“I do believe he put some thought into his tweet, which is obvious as he has once again taken a racist jab, and in doing so, brought up Pocahontas.”{mosads}

The critical comments come just days after Trump mocked Warren for an Instagram Live video she posted shortly after she announced her 2020 White House bid against him. 

“If Elizabeth Warren, often referred to by me as Pocahontas, did this commercial from Bighorn or Wounded Knee instead of her kitchen, with her husband dressed in full Indian garb, it would have been a smash!” Trump tweeted, referring to a video in which Warren casually drinks a beer and introduces her husband. 

If Elizabeth Warren, often referred to by me as Pocahontas, did this commercial from Bighorn or Wounded Knee instead of her kitchen, with her husband dressed in full Indian garb, it would have been a smash! pic.twitter.com/D5KWr8EPan

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2019

Fraizer also argues that using Pocahontas as a tool to attack political opponents “is disgusting and reflective of the president of the United States’ ignorance.”

“Pocahontas was only a child when she became a victim of rape, kidnapping, imprisonment, and her forced conversion to Christianity,” he says. “What happened to Pocahontas is still happening today to our women.”

He goes on to detail both the Wounded Knee massacre and the Battle of the Little Bighorn and how they impacted native populations. 

The Battle of the Little Bighorn was an 1876 clash between U.S. cavalry units and Native American tribes that resulted in hundreds of deaths on both sides.

The Wounded Knee massacre occurred in 1890, when U.S. troops slaughtered hundreds of Lakota Sioux men, women and children.

“The president of the United States has once again utilized racism and ignorance to attack the natives of this land,” Fraizer concludes. “I will not remain silent when the Lakota people and our accomplishments are used in this manner.”

Multiple Native American leaders and tribes have condemned Trump in the days since his tweet about Warren. Standing Rock Sioux said on Twitter on Monday that it had reported Trump’s tweet as “abusive and harmful.”