A Minnesota state lawmaker allegedly said in an online post that white Christians adopting Native American babies were contributing to “genocide.”
“I’m sick of white Christians adopting our babies and rejoicing,” Minnesota State Rep. Heather Keeler said in a post to Facebook, according to an Alpha News report. “It’s a really sad day when that happens. It means the genocide continues.”
The Democrat lawmaker continued by saying people who care about Native American babies should advocate against “the genocide.” Keeler urged concerned people to solve issues impacting Indigenous parents. She further demanded an end to “stealing our babies and changing their names under the impression you are helping.”
“White saviors are the worst,” Keeler exclaimed. “I said what I said.”
The Minnesota Democrat sponsored legislation to include parts of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act into state law. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected this term to rule on a challenge to the ICWA’s constitutionality.
The ICWA grants Indian tribes jurisdiction over decisions for their Indian children in state child-custody proceedings. It also establishes “minimum federal standards for the removal of Indian children from their families.”
Keeler made a similarly pejorative comment in a February press release about her Indian Family Preservation Act.
“Raising our next generation and keeping them in our Indigenous families is essential to preserving our culture, language, traditions, and way of life,” Keeler said. “We need to protect our Indigenous families and the integrity of our relatives. Our next seven generations are sacred to our community, and taking them away and stripping them of their identity is a form of genocide.”
Keeler, who is an Indian, said action must be taken to ensure the next generation of Indians stay within the tribal community.
“We must protect our family lineage and the existence of our tribal nations,” Keeler added.
Minnesota Republican Party Chairman David Hann condemned her message in a statement.
“There is no place in our political discourse for attacks on Minnesotans’ race or religions,” Hann said in his statement. “We condemn this hateful and extremist rhetoric in the strongest possible terms and call on all Democrats to do the same.”
Hann demanded Democrats such as Gov. Tim Walz, state House Speaker Melissa Hortman and party chairman Ken Martin unequivocally denounce Keeler’s hateful speech immediately.
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