Liz Warren, 2028 Democrats Snub Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Harvard Law’s ‘first woman of color’ is noticeably less eager to celebrate her Native heritage

Democrats don’t celebrate Columbus Day anymore because of imperialism or whatever, but they’re increasingly reluctant to acknowledge its woke replacement, Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

House Democrats posted a brief message and a photo of a bison on social media, but Senate Democrats haven’t posted anything since Friday. That’s a little odd given that a member of their caucus, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), has honored her Native American heritage by, among other things, contributing recipes to the acclaimed 1984 cookbook, Pow Wow Chow. She was also the “first woman of color” on the Harvard Law School faculty—a defining achievement in the struggle against structural racism and the cruel legacy of colonial genocide.

Warren, who is sometimes referred to as “Pocahontas,” also neglected to formally recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day on her taxpayer-funded social media accounts—even Bluesky, the platform for people who still say “Latinx.” It’s been four years since the senator last mustered the courage to honor her heritage this way. Warren’s latest press release is an attack on data centers. If you can believe it, she doesn’t think the companies building them are paying their “fair share.”

For one reason or another, Warren’s enthusiasm for celebrating her Native ancestry seems to have waned in recent years—even as her support for affirmative action and other identity-based preferences has intensified. She traveled to Michigan over the weekend to campaign with Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate who is trying to make history by becoming one of the shortest male senators in history. They are roughly the same height in photos, although El-Sayed is almost certainly utilizing stature-enhancing footwear. His election to the U.S. Senate would secure greater representation for other traditionally marginalized groups, including Americans who are chronically insecure about their beards, as well as ardent terrorism supporters.

Like most Democrats running in swing states, El-Sayed failed to acknowledge Native sovereignty on Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Almost none of the Democrats likely to run for president in 2028 did either. Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Pete Buttigieg, Jon Ossoff, Josh Shapiro, J.B. Pritzker, Cory Booker, and Jasmine Crockett all declined. For some, it was the first time in years that they’ve failed to promote the made-up holiday, much less denounce Christopher Columbus for his European depravity.

Even dark horse candidates such as Alex Soros, Luigi Mangione, and Hamam al-Hammami, the FlyDubai copilot who attempted to crash a plane full of Israelis into the Tel Aviv airport, stayed silent.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.) was the only prospective 2028 candidate who posted about Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and he was instantly assailed in the comments for disrespecting Columbus and pandering to faculty-lounge liberals. That was the mood on X, anyway. The comments on Bluesky were more appreciative.

It raises some interesting questions about whether Democrats have actually stopped believing in the healing power of performative wokeness, or if they’ve simply agreed to tone it down until they win back the White House. Then all bets are off. A director of “indigenous knowledge” at the Centers for Disease Control. Land acknowledgments in the Situation Room before SEAL Team 6 touches down in Seville, Spain, to forcibly extradite Columbus’s remains to stand trial for war crimes.

And someday, God willing, Liz Warren can stop hiding and get back to living her truth.