Ivanka Trump was in Bloomington yesterday, at the ribbon cutting ceremony of one of the seven new offices dedicated to solving cold cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous women.
There are at least 36 such cases in Minnesota, and 1,400 across the country.
The visit drew some criticism because some that have been highly involved behind raising awareness around the issues were not invited to the opening ceremony, such as Mary Kunesh-Podein, a DFL representative in the Minnesota House and a descendant of the Standing Rock Lakota tribe.
“We, in Minnesota, had worked so hard for a genuine, community-led task force to address our missing and murdered Indigenous women,” Rep. Kunesh-Podein said in a statement.
“This sudden interest and visit by Ivanka Trump feels disingenuous and smacks of manipulated political showcasing.”
Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, a White Earth band member, said in a statement that ,“Donald Trump made a career demonstrating and celebrating violence against Native women and girls.”
Red Lake Tribal Chairman Darrel Seki canceled his attendance, due in large part to the rising numbers of COVID-19 on the reservation.
During the presentation, Ivanka Trump said, “In Minnesota, Native American women make up less than one percent of the state’s population, but their homicide rates were seven times higher than those of white women between 1990 and 2016.”
Photo from Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, Twitter.
