Gizhiiwewidamoonkwe Flanagan declares for Senate — hooray!
In her announcement, Flanagan touted her Native American ancestry, writing, “in Ojibwe, my name means ‘speaks in a loud and clear voice woman.'” Flanagan similarly shared her Native American name while speaking at the Democratic National Convention in 2024.
“My name in the Ojibwe language is Gizhiiwewidamoonkwe, or in English, ‘speaks with a clear and loud voice woman,’” she told the audience in August. “I’m a member of the White Earth Nation and my family is the Wolf Clan.”
In July 2020, Flanagan claimed that Minnesota’s government was “created” to “eliminate” indigenous people.
“When I walk in the door of the state capitol, I take two breaths … the second breath is a breath of protection, because I know that I am walking into a building that was not created by us, for us or with us. But in too many instances, [it] was created to eliminate, erase and silence us. And by ‘us,’ I mean people of color and indigenous folks,” Flanagan said in 2020.
“At the center of all her work is making progress for children, working families, communities of color and indigenous communities, and Minnesotans who have historically been underserved and underrepresented,” according to Flanagan’s website.