Tribal Leaders Push for Apology Following Racially Charged Comments by Sheehy
The Republican Senate candidate described Montana’s Crow Tribe as “drunk” in a campaign appearance last fall
By Denali Sagner
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy made disparaging comments about the Crow Tribe during two campaign events last year, the Pablo-based Char-Koosta News reported last week.
According to two audio clips, Sheehy at a Shelby fundraiser on Nov. 6 said he ropes and brands with members of the Crow Tribe every year, which he describes as “a great way to bond with all the Indians while they’re drunk at 8 a.m. and you’re roping together.”
During a Hamilton event on Nov. 10, Sheehy described riding in the Crow Fair parade. He said, “They’ll let you know when they like you or not, there’s Coors Light cans flying by your head … They respect that.”
The Crow Indian Reservation is located in southern Montana in parts of Big Horn, Yellowstone and Treasure counties.
The comments by Sheehy have made national headlines, reflecting the latest development in the candidate’s rocky campaign to unseat longtime Democratic Sen. Jon Tester. The Washington Post in April reported that Sheehy lied to a ranger at Glacier National Park about the origin of a gunshot wound in his arm. The campaign has faced criticisms over the financial failures of Sheehy’s company, Bridger Aerospace; questions over Sheehy’s alleged “rural” upbringing; and the candidate’s perpetuation of debunked claims about abortion. Despite the developments, Sheehy is leading Tester in the majority of recent polls.
The Sheehy campaign did not respond to a request for comment about the Crow Tribe remarks.
In a Tuesday letter to Sheehy, Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council Chairman Bryce Kirk urged Sheehy to issue a formal apology and said that if meaningful action is not taken by the candidate, his comments “will become an inexcusable setback in trust-building and forward progress.”
“We find your recorded remarks to be a betrayal of the good faith of Montana’s Native Americans. You come into our homes, and you ask for our votes and then you go to your fundraiser … and you insult us with a stereotype that only seeks to severely diminish and dishonor our people,” the letter stated.
“I was surprised, not because someone said hurtful comments, but surprised that a Senate hopeful would jest and use Native people as part of a joke for their stump speech,” Shane Morigeau, Missoula Democratic state legislator and member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT), told the Beacon. “You would think people would have situational awareness with the racist comments that they make.”
Morigeau said an apology “shows you have empathy and you have the ability to acknowledge right and wrong,” but expressed concerns that politicians “don’t own their mistakes anymore.” He said Sheehy’s comments reinforce “old, racist stereotypes” that Native people are “violent, unruly alcoholics.”
The state legislator added, “I’ve been through the Crow Parade and no one threw a beer can at me.”
Sheila Hogan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party, said in a statement on Wednesday, “It is inexcusable that a candidate for U.S. Senate would make such disparaging, offensive remarks about a community he claims to want to represent. Tim Sheehy’s comments, which play into racist and harmful stereotypes about Native Americans, show just how unfit Sheehy is to represent Montanans and how little he cares about our state. We condemn Sheehy’s comments in the strongest possible terms.”
Montana’s Native communities have historically stood out as Democratic strongholds in an increasingly red state. Tester in 2018 narrowly won reelection to the Senate, carrying 13 counties with seven overlapping Native reservations. Tester has stated he believes the U.S. government “must uphold its treaty and trust responsibilities to Indian Country” and has lauded his work to expand tribal services and address the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people in native communities. Tester is a senior member and former chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
While Crow Tribe Chairman Alvin “A.J.” Not Afraid endorsed Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale in the 2018 Senate race, Tester won Big Horn County, where the majority of the Crow Reservation is located, with 65% of the vote.
Though Montana’s tribes have shown support for Tester in the past, Montana Democrats this year have poured millions into an effort to boost Native voter turnout given the tight margins expected in November. The voter turnout effort, which has included the hiring of full-time organizers and targeted communications in tribal communities, is “the most robust voter outreach program in Indian Country that Montana has ever seen,” according to the Montana Democratic Party.