It’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day, so I want to take a moment to honor some of the fierce Indigenous women who made me who I am.
From my great-grandmother, mother and many before them, I’ve been blessed to come from generations of resilient and fierce Pueblo women.
The fierce women who raised me – plus me in my Garth Brooks tee!
My mother, Mary Toya, was born and raised in a boxcar, where the Laguna people created a community far from their home. She proudly served in the U.S. Navy, raised four kids as a military wife, and devoted 25 years to Indian education at the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Mom served in the Navy, and played the snare drum in the Santa Fe Indian Band.
Standing on the shoulders of the Indigenous women who came before me, I summoned the courage to run for office. When I became one of the first Native American women elected to Congress, I swore to leave the ladder down behind me so our youth would know they can be anything they want to be.
Credit: CNN
But here’s what I’m reminded of this Indigenous Peoples’ Day: History doesn’t just happen. We have to make it together.
Be fierce,
Deb
