EMILYs List Statement Honoring Native American Heritage Day

For Immediate Release
November 27, 2020

EMILYs List Statement Honoring Native American Heritage Day

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Native American Heritage Day pays tribute to the rich culture and history of Native Americans, and celebrates the contributions made by Native communities in the United States. In recognition, Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, released the following statement:

“Today, we are thrilled to celebrate Native American Heritage Day, a day dedicated to recognizing the contributions that American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians have made to this country, while also reflecting on the losses Native communities have experienced as a result of our government’s broken promises. Native people were the first inhabitants of America, and our country stands as a result of their contributions. We must also recognize the losses that have brought us to this point. Today, and every day, we pay tribute to the impact of Indigenous people, and continue the work to bring Native American leaders to the halls of power. 

Native American women remain vastly underrepresented in elected offices nationwide, and EMILYs List is proud to have helped elect the first two Native American women to Congress, Reps. Deb Haaland (NM-01) and Sharice Davids (KS-03), as well as Minnesota's Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, the second Native American woman to be elected to statewide executive office in U.S. history. EMILYs List is committed to lifting up Native women, and electing even more trailblazers up and down the ballot who are on the frontlines fighting for their communities. Native American women in particular — who have served as leaders of more than 500 tribes in our country for centuries —are desperately needed at decision making tables.”

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $700 million to elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running nearly $50 million in independent expenditures in the last cycle alone, and turning out women voters and voters of color to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 157 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,200 women to state and local office. More than 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. After the 2016 election, more than 60,000 women reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices. In our effort to elect more women in offices across the country, we have created our Run to Win program, expanded our training program, including a Training Center online, and trained thousands of women.