Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Vote 2024. There he goes again.
Montana Republican Tim Sheehy, who is running to replace three-term U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), has already gotten in trouble with Native American tribes in Montana for his racist and derogatory remarks about members of the Crow Nation. He was caught on tape making a false comparison between native Afghans and Montana natives.
Speaking before the Fort Peck Tribal Council last month, Sheehy said, “You know, I lived there among the Native people who had been colonized, living in mud huts for months and years, eating their food, learning their culture, learning their language.”
Sheehy, a former Navy Seal, apparently spent time with the war-torn country’s indigenous people during his service in Afghanistan.
Perhaps Sheehy believes his time with the Afghans prepared him for his work with the eight tribes in Montana.
His previous comments do not reflect his ability to maintain a relationship of trust with the tribes in Montana.
In an audio clip recorded at a fundraiser on November 6, 2023, Sheehy brags about roping and branding with members of the Crow Nation, saying, “It’s a great way to bond with the Native Americans while they’re drunk at 8:00 in the morning.”
Four days later, speaking at a campaign event in Hamilton, Sheehy told the crowd that he had ridden in the Crow Fair parade. “They let you know if they like you or not when Coors Light cans fly past your head… They respect that,” he could be heard saying in another audio clip.
On September 5, the National Congress of Americans (NCAI) condemned the Republican candidate’s racist comments in a statement:
“The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) strongly condemns comments made by Montana GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, in which he used offensive language to stereotype Native people. Such harmful rhetoric has no place in public discourse, especially from those seeking elected office. These derogatory comments are a stark reminder of the ongoing racism that Native communities continue to face.”
Crow Nation Chairman Frank Whiteclay said in a Sept. 8 letter that Sheehy’s comments reflect a discriminatory and racially biased belief about all Native Americans. Whiteclay called Sheehy’s comments “highly unprofessional.”
Last Friday, September 20, Sheehy appeared on FOX News and was given the opportunity to clarify those comments, but instead told the host that they were old recordings and suggested that they had been edited to make him sound bad. He did not apologize to the leaders of the Montana tribe or to the citizens of the tribe.
“As you know, they take recordings from years ago, chop them up and make them sound like they’re, you know, bad,” Sheehy said.
The recordings from November last year are of course not from years ago.
In a Neapolitan News poll published Tuesday, Sept. 24, Sheehy leads incumbent Tester 50 percent to 43 percent, conducted by RMG Research among 491 potential voters. This is a reversal of a Neapolitan poll conducted in August that showed Tester with a five-point lead.
It was not clear whether the survey included Native Americans in the state.
About the Author: “Levi “Calm Before the Storm” Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded the 2021 Native Media Award for Best Column in the print/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net.”
Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net
