Former President Donald Trump’s decision to choose U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate has raised immediate concerns among Indigenous leaders regarding his views towards Indian Country.
Vance referred to Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a “fake holiday” and lauded Columbus shortly after questioning the term “two-spirit” in separate social media posts in 2021. Additionally, he has resisted name changes requested by tribal leaders for historical sites.
These social media comments were made before Vance, a native of Middletown, Ohio, took office as one of Ohio’s U.S. senators in 2023.
“‘Indigenous Peoples’ Day” is a fake holiday created to sow division,” Vance wrote on Oct. 11, 2021, on the social media site now known as X. “Of course, Joe Biden is the first president to pay it any attention.”
On Oct. 11, 2021, Vance also wrote, “A half a millennium ago Columbus used technology developed in Europe to sail across a giant ocean and discover a new continent. Today we celebrate that daring and ingenuity. Happy Columbus Day!”
People are also reading…
A month prior, in a post dated September 8, 2021, Vance questioned a reference made by Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York to “trans, two-spirit and non-binary people.”
“I’m sorry but what the hell is two-spirit?” Vance asked on the platform then known as Twitter. “Would love if progressives would just stop inventing words.”
Following the announcement of Vance as Trump’s vice presidential candidate, leaders at the Urban Native Collective expressed concerns about his remarks.
“These comments undermine the inherent rights and self-determination of Indigenous Peoples and perpetuate historical inaccuracies,” the collective, a nonprofit based in Cincinnati advocating for Indigenous peoples, stated on July 17.
‘Resilience and strength’
President Biden issued a proclamation recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2021, marking a significant step towards refocusing the federal holiday celebrating Christopher Columbus towards an appreciation of Native peoples.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day is observed annually on October 11, alongside Columbus Day, established by Congress.
“For generations, federal policies systematically sought to assimilate and displace Native people and eradicate Native cultures,” Biden stated in the proclamation. “Today, we recognize Indigenous peoples’ resilience and strength as well as the immeasurable positive impact that they have made on every aspect of American society.”
In a separate proclamation on Columbus Day, Biden acknowledged the role of Italian-Americans in U.S. society while also referencing the violence and harm brought by Columbus and other explorers to Native populations.
Landing in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492, Columbus, an Italian explorer, led a wave of European explorers who devastated Native populations in the Americas in search of wealth, including enslavement of individuals.
Regarding Native Americans or Indian policy, Vance has not said much during his time in office, as per Indianz.com.
Opposing tribal requests
Vance has opposed renaming several sites requested by tribal leaders.
In August 2023, as a U.S. Senator, Vance wrote a public letter urging the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture to reject changing Ohio’s Wayne National Forest to the Buckeye National Forest.
The agriculture department had proposed the name change in response to requests from tribes and local community members, as per a press release by the agency. The change is still pending.
“The forest is currently named after General Anthony Wayne, whose complicated legacy includes leading a violent campaign against the Indigenous peoples of Ohio that resulted in their removal from their homelands,” as stated in the letter.
In his letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Forest Service Chief Randy Moore, Vance expressed his disapproval of the designation of Wayne’s legacy as ‘complicated’.
He further added, “Labeling the life and times of Wayne in such a way is beneath the dignity of the U.S. government.”
A 2019 article by Sabrina Eaton of Cleveland.com described Wayne as a general in the Revolutionary War, nicknamed Mad Anthony Wayne for his bold military tactics or hot temper.
In 2019, George Ironstrack, assistant director of education for the Myaammia Center at Miami University, provided insights on Wayne’s history with Native peoples in Ohio to ICT.
“As part of his campaign, Wayne’s forces systematically burned Miami villages, food stores, and crops,” Ironstrack explained. These actions culminated in the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers, forcing the Miami tribe to negotiate and resulting in the 1795 Treaty of Greenville where the Miami and other tribes ceded most of their lands in Ohio.
Vance, author of the memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” often highlights his humble upbringing and aversion to political elitism as connections to the populist wing of the Republican Party. While initially critical of Trump, Vance later shifted his rhetoric to support the former president.
However, a recent article by Wired details Vance’s connections with elite conservative figures and financiers whom he had previously criticized.
Among Vance’s contacts is Amalia Halikias from the controversial Project 2025 created by conservative think-tank Heritage Foundation. Project 2025 proposes actions such as dismissing public servants, expanding presidential powers, abolishing the Department of Education, and halting the sale of the abortion pill, aligning with far-right ideologies. While Trump has denied knowledge of Project 2025, Vance has expressed approval of some of its ideas.
‘We demand respect’
Vance’s nomination as the GOP’s candidate for vice president came during the Republican National Convention held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Indianz.com highlighted the absence of Native events at the convention in a state with 11 federally recognized tribes. However, ICT reported a federal Indian policy roundtable organized by Cherokee Senator Markwayne Mullin during the convention.
A few Native delegates from Oklahoma participated in the convention, and tribal leaders from Wisconsin, including Forest County Potawatomi Chairman James Crawford, made appearances. Former Navajo Nation Vice President Myron Lizer, who spoke at the 2020 convention, was expected to attend the roundtable discussion.
However, the announcement of Vance as the vice presidential candidate came last-minute as the convention commenced.
“Our rights and history as Indigenous peoples are not up for debate; we demand respect from someone in such a potentially powerful position like the vice president,” stated Briana Mazzolini-Blanchard, executive director of the Urban Native Collective and a citizen of the CHamoru Nation of Guam.
“It’s saddening that political leaders continue to stand by these colonized names that hold such deep pain for Indigenous peoples.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
