Bernie Rally Goes off the Rails as Woman Dives into 'Fish People' Speech
If you thought that universal health care and a functioning economy under socialism were the only fairy tales coming out of Bernie Sanders rallies, think again.
A Friday rally for the Vermont senator and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate in Council Bluffs, Iowa, went off the rails after an “acknowledgement of the land” turned into a speech about tree spirits and fish people.
Trisha Etringer, an activist with the “indigenous resistance” group Indigenous Iowa, was invited to the stage for a speech that quickly turned into a rant about genocide, colonizers and nature spirits.
“At this time, I’d like to recognize this land,” Etringer began. “Iowa is a place that was highly affected by genocide and colonization due to the rich and fertile soil that lies between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.”
“Before our ancestors were murdered and cleared out of this area, they farmed and lived on this land in a way that humans, the four-legged, the plant and tree people, the fish people and Mother Earth all benefited from.”
Watch Etringer take the stage below:
Not all humans benefited from the presence of these supposedly placid natives, however.
It turns out that the Meskwaki tribe, who Etringer referenced, were no strangers to violence.
According to the Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, the tribe even had a traditional position for a war chief.
The four-legged animals didn’t get off too easy, either.
Some Native American tribes participated in “buffalo jumps,” where entire herds of the creatures were spooked and railroaded toward a cliff edge.
Although solitary buffalo may be stripped of every usable part, these slaughters often led to a startling waste of material.
The shocking scale of the massacre even left an impression on Meriwether Lewis of the legendary Lewis and Clark Expedition.
White Europeans did defeat the Native Americans with great cruelty, though their victory mostly had to do with superior weaponry and the fact that disease had already weakened the natives.
To portray Native Americans as a people ignorant of war and waste before the arrival of Europeans is truly disingenuous, however.
Etringer’s speech at Sanders’ rally appears to be just another version of the blame game seeking to divide and turn Americans against each other over events that happened more than 200 years ago.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
