Sharice Davids offers her thanks, honored with Ho-Chunk reception
By Ken Luchterhand
Anticipation filled the air as eager guests waited in expectation of an honored guest about to arrive at the District 1 Community Center.
The crowd had gathered that Saturday morning, Dec. 8, including family, friends, and dignitaries from local, state, and the federal government, in hopes of congratulating an exceptional person for a hard-fought victory.
As the door opened, an applause and cheering erupted with Sharice Davids entering the building.
Davids was given a hero’s welcome for her election victory to become the first Native American woman elected to Congress. She won her seat in District 3 in Kansas, having defeated four-term Republican incumbent Kevin Yoder.
Federal, state, and local officials in attendance at the reception were U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor-elect Mandela Barnes, Wisconsin 31st District Senator-elect Jeff Smith, Wisconsin Assembly District 71 Rep. Katrina Shankland, and Jackson County Sheriff Duane Waldera.
Cary Fay was the organizer of the event.
Sharice said she just finished the third week of orientation for her role as a Congresswoman.
“It’s still surreal to say the Congress-elect from the Kansas 3rd Congressional District,” Sharice said. “If I learned anything during the campaign, it was that just showing up is so huge. So, I appreciate you taking time out of your day to be here.”
Her mother, Crystal Heritage, played a big role in her victory, she said.
“Certainly I would not be doing what I’m doing, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to be doing what I’m doing if it weren’t for women like my mother,” Sharice said. “But also generations and generations of strong women and strong native men who have made sure that we still have the opportunity to exist, to spread our ideas, our voices, our hearts, because, if it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t be here.”
It was certainly a hard-fought battle to accomplish what she had, but it also it was not likely that it would happen, she said.
“Raised by a single parent, I’m a first-generation college student. I worked the entire time I was in school. It took me eight years to get a bachelor’s degree, four years to get my associates degree and four more years for my bachelor’s degree,” she said. “This is the kind of thing that is not uncommon at all. It is not uncommon to be raised by a single parent. It is not uncommon for a person to work really, really hard for every single thing you have in your life.
“But, what is uncommon, is to see that in our leadership positions in the federal government, in our state government, and that’s what made it that much more important. Every time someone said, ‘I don’t think this is a good idea. I don’t think you should run for Congress’ or ‘Are you going to be able to raise the money’ or ‘Are you going to be able to get people to vote for you?’ Every time someone said that I realized it was exactly for that reason I had to do this,” Sharice said.
“Now that we’re here, and we’ve won not just the majority in Congress as Democrats, but that we elected the most diverse class of new congressional members. We brought the average age of the House down by 10 years,” she said.
“It’s not just that we should have young voices in Congress. It’s that we should have young voices, we need to have elders in Congress, we need women and men, and people from different backgrounds because that is the only way we have a rich dialogue to make sure we have every single person has an experience that is heard and seen in Congress and we haven’t had that,” Sharice said.
“What we’ve had is leaders, decision makers, who are more interested in telling us what we need than listening to communities say what they need than listening to people who are affected by their policies. If I heard one more time from someone who said they wanted to be a voice for women, a voice for people who are living in poverty, a voice for people who are struggling, a voice for people who don’t have health insurance,” she said.
“Every single person has their voice already. What we need is people who want to listen to those voices instead of telling them what they need. That is the difference we are seeing in this new class of people who ran for office this year. I don’t just mean in Congress, I mean the state and local level candidates,” she said.
“This is really the beginning of what I think is a resetting of expectations in our country. And a resetting of expectations of who we want to see elected into office, who we support to get into office, the ways we show up to events, and we show up to vote and we show up to make sure this country’s decision-makers and leadership looks more like we do,” Sharice said.
“It has been too long that we have not been heard. It’s been too long that people have made decisions that affect us and that have no impact on their lives. So we started to do that. We’re changing that and that is really, really exciting,” she said.
She thanked the Ho-Chunk Nation, the Legislature, and the many tribal members who came to help her, who called her, who encouraged her the entire time, and who were sending her messages of support.
“It really made a huge difference. It’s hard work to run for office and it is a very isolating thing. To have so many people supporting the campaign, showing up day in day out - that meant the world to me,” Sharice said.
After the speakers took their turns to praise Sharice and offer presents, each of the elected offices also received gifts. Sharice was given a Pendleton blanket.
A meal was served and members of the public assembled in the gym for songs and presentations. Traditional Chief Clayton Winneshiek offered his words of encouragement.
One of the highlights of the assembly was a presentation of an eagle feather to Sharice by Lance Rave.
Rave served the United States Marine Corps on confidential operations in the Philippines. He told the story of how he was forced with the decision to kill someone in combat. Rave also was shot.
In the Ho-Chunk traditional way of life, Rave had the right to bestow an eagle feather, as he took lives as a warrior.
He told Sharice, as he presented her with the feather, that she has the right to wear it because of his gift to her. Following the presentation, an honor song was sung for the occasion, with Sharice and everyone dancing.
At the end of the ceremony, Sharice spoke privately with the Ho-Chunk youth, offering her advice to pursue their dreams.
Cari Fay was appreciative for everyone who helped cook, decorate, and attend the celebration.
“Our family is sincerely grateful for everyone that helped and all who attended the family honoring Sharice Davids at District 1 Community Center. We are truly blessed with family, friends and the Ho-Chunk community,” Cari Fay said.
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