A woman introducing Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders at a campaign rally honored the “tree people” and “fish people” who lived in the United States before the “genocide” of the Native American people.
Trisha Etringer spoke before the Vermont senator took the stage for his campaign event in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Sunday. Etringer called on the crowd to pay respect to the land where the event was being held.
“At this time, I’d like to recognize this land. Iowa is a place that was highly effected by genocide and colonization due to the rich and fertile soil that lies between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers,” Etringer said.
Native American at Bernie rally: “Humans, the four legged, the plant and tree people, fish people, and Mother Earth” lived in harmony before arrival of Americans pic.twitter.com/5TOIwj4xw2
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) November 9, 2019
She continued, “Before our ancestors were murdered and cleared out of this area, they farmed and lived on this land in a way that humans, the four-legged, the plant and tree people, the fish people, and Mother Earth all benefited from.”
Sanders, 78, has been trying to pull ahead in the Democratic presidential primary, although he trails Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden in most polls.
Warren has struggled to regain the trust of Native Americans after claiming she was “American Indian” on her Texas Bar registration card despite not having tribal membership.
