Indianz.Com > In The Hoop > Republican candidate keeps Cherokee on the down-low

September 7, 2012

Republican candidate keeps Cherokee on the down-low

Being a Cherokee is hard. First everyone claims to have slept with your grandmother, who was a princess. Then there's that whole slavery thing. And don't even get In The Hoop started about Elizabeth Warren!

So it's understandable why Markwayne Mullin, an alleged citizen of the Cherokee Nation, doesn't want anyone in the 2nd Congressional District to know about his alleged ancestry. He wants voters to know he's a "rancher" and a "businessman."

But an Indian? No way! You won't find that information on his campaign biography. He doesn't really talk about it on the campaign trail either.

It's not like anyone in the district cares -- after all, it's got the highest percentage of Native Americans than any other in the U.S.

It took an article from The Oklahoman to out the rancher/businessman as a Cherokee on the down-low. Yet even the leader of his tribe won't claim him -- Chief Bill John Baker is going to to "stay out of it" because Mullin is a Republican. That's even worse than being Cherokee!

Oh, and then there's that $2,500 donation that the Cherokee Nation gave to Democrat Rob Wallace, the Associated Press reported. Oops.

Even the AP doesn't mention Mullin's alleged citizenship. But it turns out he benefited from his tribe's Indian preference policy when his business received contracts worth $335,000 from the tribe under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- you know, the law that he said was a "horrible waste of tax dollars."

So In The Hoop is proud to salute you, Markwayne Mullin, for keepin it real! Native Vote 2012!