Leach Campaign "Tradition" an Insult 

The following is a Letter to the Editor of the Daily Iowan published on August 22, 2006.

by Jacki Rand (Oklahoma Choctaw)

The 2006 political season is upon us, impelling me to write yet another petition to Rep. James Leach, R-Iowa, to cease his campaign "tradition" of handing out faux Indian headdresses. Four years ago, I wrote to the papers about this and was pleasantly surprised to note the absence of headdresses at Iowa City and Coralville parades. While biking through the Iowa countryside, however, I came across a parade in Lone Tree. There, the Leach cadets were passing out the paper feathers, all in the spirit of "having a good time."

Leach has enjoyed a long political career, in part because Iowa Democrats want to see him as a moderate Republican who will do no harm. But what about the American Indian constituents of Iowa? What about the citizens of the Meskwakie settlement whose children could be destined for the UI, if not for the wretched climate for Native Americans at the university, and in liberal (no, moderately Republican) Johnson County. I can assure Leach that his ego-centered attachment to paper headdresses and the unmitigated gall to refer to it as a tradition does not create an inviting environment for real American Indians.

One of the best Native students at the university wrote a graduate paper on the meaning and historical significance of headdresses. They, like the material culture of many tribes, are not traditional commodities. Rather, they are goods integrated with tribal religious, political, and social significance.

If respect for neighbors, desire for peaceful relations, or just personal dignity will not stop Leach, perhaps this will: Faux headdresses, gyrating mascots, iconic toothy braves emblazoned on sports caps, and dime-store wooden Indians make a mockery of (or willfully ignore) the genocide carried out against American Indians and theft of their resources.

If we accept the middle-of-the-road scholarly estimate of a Native population that began in 1492 with 8 million to 10 million people, even the most cynical of us might be ashamed of the history that resulted in that population bottoming out in 1900 at 250,000, perhaps even ashamed enough to appreciate the insult behind Leach's childish political practices.

Knowledge of an inclusive, honest U.S. history might make some pause over such persistently arrogant practices as those perpetuated by Leach. Is he merely pandering to perceived Johnson County liberals or a political coward who fears to show his real self to his constituents?

see this photo at www.jimleach.com

link to letter:

http://www.dailyiowan.com/media/storage/paper599/news/2006/08/22/Opinions/Letters.To.The.Editor-2236733.shtml?norewrite200608230830&sourcedomain=www.dailyiowan.com

Contact info. for the Daily Iowan:  daily-iowan@uiowa.edu

Sign the petition asking Rep. Leach to stop this practice: 

http://www.petitiononline.com/jalpet1/petition.html