The Democratic candidate for South Dakota Attorney General, Tatewin Means, is breaking new ground, by airing a political ad in the Native American language of Lakota. (There is an English version as well.)
The ad opens with a panoramic shot of a South Dakota lake, and Means reciting a quote from Chief Sitting Bull: "Let us put our minds together, and see what life we can make for our children."
As images depict slices of South Dakota life, both urban and rural, Means offers a message of unity, "The challenges we face don't care what mountain, field, city, town or tribal nation we come from, what color or what party. The challenges affect us all."
Mark Trahant of the news site Indian Country Today says her decision to produce a Native American language ad "must be a first." He concludes that ads like Means' will help South Dakotans, "reimagine their own place in the world because they see a professional Native woman who is clearly qualified for the state’s top legal job. In fact, you could argue she’s more qualified because of life experiences and challenges that another South Dakotan could never have even imagined. Mind. Blown."
Daughter of Russell Means Breaks New Ground
Means is the daughter of legendary Native American activist Russell Means, and the former Attorney General for the Oglala Sioux Tribe.The ad opens with a panoramic shot of a South Dakota lake, and Means reciting a quote from Chief Sitting Bull: "Let us put our minds together, and see what life we can make for our children."
As images depict slices of South Dakota life, both urban and rural, Means offers a message of unity, "The challenges we face don't care what mountain, field, city, town or tribal nation we come from, what color or what party. The challenges affect us all."
South Dakotans Seeing Native Americans In New Light
We see Means walk with a white family of four and chat with an older white man with a thick white mustache and a trucker hat, as she promises to "ensure that the law is applied fairly. Sounding just a bit Trump-like, she promises to "hold those in power accountable" and to "put South Dakota first." Showing strength, she stands majestically over the Badlands, with a hint of wind blowing through her hair in slow motion.Mark Trahant of the news site Indian Country Today says her decision to produce a Native American language ad "must be a first." He concludes that ads like Means' will help South Dakotans, "reimagine their own place in the world because they see a professional Native woman who is clearly qualified for the state’s top legal job. In fact, you could argue she’s more qualified because of life experiences and challenges that another South Dakotan could never have even imagined. Mind. Blown."