Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) stated on Saturday that while rallying against an oil pipeline which Native Americans opposed, she reconnected with her “indigenous heritage.”
AOC, who is of Puerto Rican origin, was ridiculed for her claim on Instagram.
Indigenous Heritage
Ocasio-Cortez stated connecting with the Lakota Sioux at Standing Rock was one of the first things that awakened and deeply connected her to her Indigenous heritage.
AOC says she's 'awakening' to her 'indigenous heritage' https://t.co/HCKIRbwEeR
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) June 5, 2022
Ocasio-Cortez referred to her participation in demonstrations at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation against the Dakota Access pipeline.
This new pipeline has not been terminated; although shortly after assuming office, President Joe Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline.
Pipeline advocates assert that transporting oil through pipes is safer and more environmentally friendly than oil tankers or railroads.
They also criticize environmentalists on the far left for the record gasoline prices plaguing the United States.
According to AOC, the Native American tribes rejected pipelines traversing their ancestral lands and appreciated her support.
She stated she is a descendant of the Taino folks, who were native to the Caribbean, and she fits in perfectly with the Indians residing at Standing Rock.
“It finally dawned on me that this is ludicrous, and the grace they stretched to say ‘no, you are a relative’ was incredibly formative for me,” AOC said.
“Although we may not share the same ancestry, there is a similarity in our ancestry.”
“We need to acknowledge we were taught as children that we were extinct and Tainos did not exist. Puerto Ricans must realize this narrative is currently being challenged.”
Elizabeth Warren
Some Twitter users compared AOC’s most recent act of cultural appropriation to that of fellow Democrat Elizabeth Warren.
The senator from Massachusetts asserted, in the past, that she is part Cherokee Indian. She also said her Aunt Bee frequently remarked that her grandfather had “sharp features like all Indians.”
Warren tried to claim American Indian origins on her application to the State Bar of Texas as early as April 1986.
Is that the same tribe that Senator Elizabeth Warren 'gits her a beer' from?
AOC recalls being awakened to her 'indigenous heritage'https://t.co/JzZYuA3km9
— 🇺🇸 The FJC 🇺🇸 (Same on Truth!) (@The_FJC) June 5, 2022
Joey Joe stated that AOC is Indigenous, just as Liz Warren is Native American. This makes these individuals liars and extremely ill.
The Daily Wire reported in February 2019 that Warren issued an apology to the Cherokee Nation after releasing a DNA test from October 2018 that indicated she was even less than 1/1,024 Native American.
A year afterward, more than 200 representatives of the Cherokee Nation and other Native American tribes criticized Warren’s “number of previous claims to American Indian identity” in a letter to her presidential election campaign.
“When you continue to defend yourself by claiming you believed what you heard as a child, you set a dangerous example for these white people who are stealing Native identity and assets with stories very comparable to your own,” the letter stated.
