A Northern Arapaho Tribal Member Reflects on Nathan Phillips & the Covington High School Students' Confrontation Opinion

I am a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe and a veteran of the United States Army. I’d like to address the incident with the elder from the Omaha Nation, Mr. Nathan Phillips, and the high school boys in Washington, D.C. I’ve seen the videos from start to finish and I think there are a lot of guilty parties involved. But my initial opinion that the boys showed complete disrespect to Nathan Phillips remains the same. 

Coming from a Catholic school, of course the boys should have known better, but their arrogant privilege was painfully apparent by the MAGA hats they wore and the tomahawk chop they displayed. The tomahawk chop is as racist as calling a black person the N-word or giving a Nazi salute to a Jewish person. Why a Catholic school, which is tax exempt, would be getting involved in a political protest is beyond me. If they want to protest, fine, but they should not be representing the school they attend while doing it. 

In my opinion, Mr. Phillips is a true warrior whose purpose is to defend, police and fight. Mr. Phillips policed the situation by standing between the two groups and put himself in harm’s way for the safety of all. Warriors defend their people and fight only when necessary. Those functions are honorable and I’m proud to be part of that society.

Photo: Omaha World Herald