This past Saturday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (R-N.Y.) claimed that she was able to get in touch with her “indigenous heritage” as she protested the emplacement of an oil pipeline that is opposed by Native Americans. She made this claim via her Instagram and sparked a large wave of mockery over the subject. AOC is a woman of Puerto Rican descent that spent her childhood in the extremely wealthy parts of the New York City suburbs, more accurately Westchester County.
“One of the things that first started awakening and connecting me in a deep to my indigenous heritage was connecting to the Lakota Sioux at Standing Rock,” stated AOC in her post.
She seemed to be referencing her being a part of the protests that took place against the Dakota Access pipeline at Standing Rock Indian Reservation. That particular pipeline project was not shut down despite the fact that President Joe Biden used his first stint of time in office to cancel the entire Keystone XL pipeline.
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 🇺🇸 (@The_FJC) June 5, 2022
Proponents for the pipeline have stated that the moving of oil through tubes is far safer and much better for the environment than attempting to use railroads or tanker trucks. They also throw the blame on the extreme-left environmentalists for the horribly record-setting fuel prices currently afflicting the U.S.
The grouped Native American tribes were heavily against any pipeline passing over their ancestral land and, as stated by AOC herself, heartily welcomed her and her support. She claimed she is a descendant of the Taino people, who were originally from the Caribbean, and that fact made her fit right in with the other Indians gathered at Standing Rock.
“It really just clicked that this is nuts, like, the grace that they extended to say ‘no, you are a relative,’ was really formative for me,” stated AOC. “While we may not be and come from the same exact lineage, there is a commonality to that ancestry. And it’s important for us to recognize that we were raised and we were told growing up that we were extinct, that Tainos don’t exist, and it’s really important for Puerto Ricans to understand that that narrative is being challenged right now.”
This most recent apparent appropriation of heritage threw Twitter for a loop who have been comparing her to Elizabeth Warren, a fellow Democrat. Recently, the senator hailing from Massachusetts claimed that she was of Cherokee Indian descent and that her Aunt Bee would quite often talk about the fact that her grandfather has “high cheek bones like all of the Indians do.” These statements even go as far back as April 1986 when Wrren made a claim of American Indian ancestry as part of her application for the State Bar of Texas.
“AOC has indigenous in her just like Liz Warren is Native American,” stated a tweet from Joey Joe. “These people r liars and r very sick individuals that’s what they have in them.”