By Mordecai Specktor
A Native woman governor
Minnesota is one of 28 states that has never had a woman governor. That could change in 2025, if Gov. Tim Walz becomes vice president of the United States. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, would ascend to the governorship — and become the first Native woman governor in U.S. history.
So, if you want Peggy Flanagan in the governor’s office, vote for Harris-Walz on Nov. 5.
Flanagan, 44, is “the highest-ranking Indigenous woman elected to an executive office in the nation,” according to an Aug. 23 report by Dana Ferguson, of Minnesota Public Radio. “She grew up in St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis, and attended the University of Minnesota graduating with degrees in American Indian studies and child psychology.”
Her résumé also includes service on the Minneapolis Board of Education (2005-2009) and as executive director of the Children’s Defense Fund.
Flanagan met Walz while she was working at Wellstone Action, the organization founded to carry on the work of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone. “As one of the original trainers of Wellstone Action’s signature program Camp Wellstone, she trained thousands of organizers, elected officials, and candidates — including Governor Walz,” according to her official biography. Walz was a high school geography teacher at that time, and was looking to get more involved in politics.
In 2015, Flanagan was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives, representing her home district of St. Louis Park. In the House, Flanagan helped found the People of Color and Indigenous Caucus (POCI).
“Political allies credit Flanagan with driving efforts to bring tribal nations to the table in state conversations about government policies,” according to MPR. “They also say she’s had an important role in advancing laws that focus on children and families.”
“It’s hard to make predictions, especially about the future,” as Yogi Berra, philosopher and catcher, once said. However, if Flanagan becomes Minnesota governor, she could run for the office in 2026. That scenario is “getting way over my skis,” Flanagan told Esme Murphy of WCCO-TV on Sept. 1, during an interview at the Minnesota State Fair. At the same time, she left the door open to running.
Flanagan lives in St. Louis Park, with her husband, Tom, and daughter, Siobhan.
The 2024 elections will be consequential in many areas of public policy. On the state level, the Walz-Flanagan administration, with the DFL-controlled House and Senate, enacted a number of measures to benefit working people and protect the natural environment. Minnesota, so far, has pushed back on plans to introduce copper-nickel mining in the Arrowhead Region of the state. The schemes for hard rock mining pose the threat of polluting groundwater, rivers and lakes around Lake Superior and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The sulfide pollution from this type of mining could destroy wild rice beds, and Ojibwe bands that retain hunting, fishing and gathering rights under 19th-century treaties with the U.S. government have been intervening in the environmental reviews of these proposed extraction projects.
On the national level, Trump and his MAGA faction are supported by Christian nationalists that seek to impose their benighted religious/political ideology on everyone. World leaders regard Trump, an ignoramus in every area of public policy, as an unserious person. A second Trump presidential term would pose a significant danger to the U.S., as the former president adores authoritarians and dictators — leaders of democratic allies, not so much.
And Trump hates Indians, going back to the days when he was an Atlantic City casino proprietor and decried the tribal casinos that he saw as competitors. “I think I might have more Indian blood than a lot of the so-called Indians that are trying to open up the reservations,” Trump told radio shock jock Don Imus, in 1993.
I’m going to vote blue.
At the old ballgame
In my April column, I wondered aloud, so to speak, about whether there would be public protests when the Atlanta Braves came to Target Field in late August. As far as I know (and I covered the Aug. 26 game), no one was on the plaza protesting the appropriation of Native names and symbols for sport. I was in touch with the communications staff of Atlanta’s Major League Baseball franchise and asked if they had any plans for rebranding. I pointed out that the Cleveland franchise, long known as the Indians, is now the Guardians; and in the NFL, the Washington franchise, which employed the “R”-word, a racist slur, is now the Commanders. I’ve received no answer from the Atlanta Braves.
On the upside, Aug. 31, a beautiful warm Saturday evening at Target Field, was Native American Heritage Night. There was a small pregame powwow down the third base line, and 5,000 custom baseball gloves were given out to fans, courtesy of Treasure Island Casino and the Prairie Island Indian Community. The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Twins, 15-0.
