A Native American politician in Kansas is tired of her colleagues’ lame excuses for their lack of cultural awareness. In a truly historical moment, Rep. Ponka-We Victors earlier this month became the first Native woman to preside over the Kansas House of Representatives—and now she says that she will not accept a white lawmaker’s apology for doing his best to ruin it.
“I’m tired of accepting these apologies when somebody should know how to act in the Kansas Representative House chambers,” Victors said in an interview with The Daily Beast. “You should know right from wrong and how to conduct yourself.”
On March 23, Victors, a Democrat, made history as the first Native woman to chair the state house. However, the triumphant moment was almost immediately tainted when Rep. John Wheeler, a Republican, told her that he wanted to check to make sure she wasn’t using a tomahawk in place of a gavel.
Wheeler apologized for the offensive joke after an awkward silence filled the chamber.
“I am getting a point that is apparently considered offensive,” Wheeler said, according to The Kansas City Star. “If it is, I certainly do apologize.”
However, Victors didn’t consider that a real apology.
“He didn’t come to me personally. He justified it, made excuses for what he said, and he was trying to be funny,” she told The Daily Beast. “Which is like, don’t use my culture as the butt of your joke.”
She added: “I’m tired of accepting apologies. I want to start seeing some repercussions for people that talk this way.”
It wasn’t the first time someone had talked that way. Victors also brought Randy Wason, the Kansas education commissioner, making a derogatory remark about Natives at a conference earlier this year, joking that they were more dangerous than tornadoes.
“You’ve got to worry about the Indians raiding the town at any time,” he said, according to The Star.
There were calls for Watson to resign, but the state’s board of education voted instead to suspend him for a month without pay.
Victors said politicians try to use their age as an excuse for their demeaning and tone deaf comments.
“They blame their age, they blame this, they blame that,” she said. “You have to be careful and mindful before you speak, and not everybody—whatever you’re going to say—is not going to think it’s a joke or think it’s funny.”
Victors recounted a memory she held from childhood when a white classmate called her a “dirty Indian” in kindergarten.
“From then, it’s like I had to demand respect for my culture, for my name,” she said. “It was crazy when [Wheeler] insulted me, when he talked about my gavel being a tomahawk. It reverted me back to that first day of kindergarten. I felt the same way. …I dealt with this my whole life. I had no choice but to be strong all through school, all through college, and now here at the state house.”
When she first became a state representative, Victors was the only Native American lawmaker. Now, she has Rep. Christina Haswood and Rep. Stephanie Byers working with her. But despite the growing representation, Victors wants lawmakers to do better and take accountability for their ignorance.
“People should know how to conduct themselves,” she said, “and if they don’t, then don’t run for office.”
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