If Vice President Kamala Harris and her working mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are elected this fall, not solely would a lady of shade lead the nation for the primary time, however a Native girl would govern a state for the primary time in U.S. historical past too.
Peggy Flanagan, the lieutenant governor of Minnesota and a citizen of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, is poised to function the state’s subsequent governor ought to Walz step down to simply accept the position of vice chairman of the USA. Her rise to energy has been watched carefully by Indigenous peoples in Minnesota and throughout the nation who see her as a champion of insurance policies that positively have an effect on Native People.
Lately, Minnesota has built-in tribal session into quite a few elements of the state authorities, created one of many nation’s first state places of work for Lacking and Murdered Indigenous Kin and strengthened its legal guidelines defending Native youngsters within the adoption system. Many Indigenous leaders level to Flanagan because the driving power behind these modifications, in addition to a major rise in respect for tribal sovereignty and autonomy in state coverage.
Flanagan has been the highest-ranking Native American statewide official within the U.S. since she was elected as lieutenant governor in 2018. That place is usually carried out behind the scenes, however Walz and Flanagan have mentioned they selected as an alternative to control as companions. Their administration has bolstered government-to-government relationships with tribal nations in Minnesota and plenty of in Indian Nation see Flanagan as a key determine in a brand new period of politics with Native ladies on the forefront.
President Joe Biden made a troublesome determination to step down and let Harris take his place because the Democratic presidential nominee, Flanagan mentioned.
“He created space for a woman of color to lead. And to be really honest with you, quite frankly, that’s what Tim Walz did for me,” she mentioned.
Her rise to the governor’s workplace would solidify her place amongst Indigenous feminine leaders together with Secretary of Inside Deb Haaland, Congresswoman Shaurice Davids and a rising checklist of Native ladies in statehouses. Thirty-six state ladies lawmakers nationwide who determine as Native American had been elected to workplace in 2023, a file, in response to the Middle for American Girls and Politics at Rutgers College.
When Flanagan was first elected to the state Home in 2015, there have been far fewer Native ladies in seats of energy.
“For my daughter, and for so many other young Native people across the country, their reality right now is totally different than how I grew up,” Flanagan mentioned. “Representation matters.”
The variety of Native ladies within the Minnesota Legislature has doubled since she took workplace, from two to 4, and Flanagan mentioned having extra individuals from under-represented populations is the “secret sauce” to raised governing.
“It allowed us to be able to speak on our own behalf on the floor, and to really be in a place where, frankly, decisions had to be made with us at the table in a way that had just never happened,” she mentioned.
Flanagan first met Walz when she labored at a corporation that did grassroots coaching for progressive political candidates. She helped put together Walz, a social research instructor, for his first congressional race and the 2 turned shut associates and political allies. He later selected her as his working mate, supporting her quite a few efforts to strengthen the voices of Indigenous peoples within the state authorities.
Walz was the primary Minnesota governor to make diplomatic journeys to the 11 tribal nations within the state. An govt order he handed in 2019 requires state businesses to seek the advice of with tribal governments, take coaching to enhance these relationships and rent liaisons to work immediately with tribal companions.
Louise Matson, govt director of the Division of Indian Work, a nonprofit that helps Native People residing in city areas, attributes these beneficial properties to the affect of Flanagan.
Flanagan was raised in Minneapolis, an city hub for Indigenous activism together with the American Indian Motion, and people who know her effectively say she has all the time targeted on creating higher outcomes for Native individuals, significantly youngsters.
Matson, additionally a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, labored with Flanagan greater than 20 years in the past when, as a brand new faculty graduate, she acquired her first job advocating for Native households within the public schooling system. Matson recalled she was decided and never afraid to face challenges.
“I don’t know if she always felt that confident, but I loved that she just jumped right into this job having to navigate a system that hasn’t always been friendly to our people,” Matson mentioned.
Only a few years later, Flanagan ran for a place on the Minneapolis Board of Training. That’s the place she met Robert Lilligren, one other member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and the primary Native particular person elected to the Minneapolis Metropolis Council. Lilligren mentioned she reached out to him for marketing campaign recommendation.
“I was like: ‘This woman could be governor someday. Hell, she could be president someday.’ I mean, she was just that impressive,” Lilligren mentioned.
He mentioned the work Flanagan did on Walz’s govt order requiring tribal session inside state departments underscored her political affect and tenacity. The order has elevated Indigenous visibility and respect for tribal sovereignty, he mentioned. “That’s as a result of Peggy’s there.”
Flanagan’s father, the late White Earth activist Marvin Manypenny, spent a few years agitating for Fatherland rights, together with by holding his personal tribe’s authorities to process. He usually mentioned Native individuals have the inherent proper to control themselves, and she or he incorporates that into a lot of the work she does at the moment.
“He was a troublemaker and rabble rouser, and an expert in our tribal constitution,” she mentioned. “He taught me to take up space at the table and to tell the truth, even if it makes people uncomfortable.”
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Graham Lee Brewer is an Oklahoma Metropolis-based member of AP’s Race and Ethnicity staff.
