Portrait overshadows honour for code talkers
UNITED STATES: The prominent placement of a portrait of former US president Andrew Jackson during an event honouring a group of Native Americans at the Oval Office has raised questions about the White House’s message.
Jackson is known for his harsh treatment of Native Americans as president, famously signing the Indian Removal Act, which led to thousands of deaths as tens of thousands of Native Americans were forced to relocate.
Some observers thought the juxtaposition of his portrait during the event on Tuesday, with the stated purpose of honouring three Navajo World War II code talkers, was strange.
‘‘We noticed,’’ said Jacqueline Pata, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians. ‘‘Andrew Jackson wasn’t necessarily a president who was respectful of tribal governments and Native Americans.‘‘
As president from 1829 to 1837, Jackson is perhaps most famous for his pivotal role in Native Americans’ painful and violent history in the US.
He signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830, which forced the relocation of more than 60,000 Native Americans to clear the way for white pioneers. The act helped lead to the ‘‘Trail of Tears’’, in which an estimated 4000 Cherokee died during the harsh conditions of a long march during a forced relocation in 1838 and 1839. The Cherokees called Jackson ‘‘Indian killer’’; the Creek called him ‘‘Sharp Knife’’.
A slave owner, Jackson spoke about Native Americans as if they were an inferior group of people. ‘‘Established in the midst of a superior race,’’ he said of the Cherokee, ‘‘they must disappear.’’ Removing Native Americans from their land would ‘‘enable them to pursue happiness in their own way, and under their own rude institutions,’’ he said.
Trump’s affinity for Jackson has long been a facet of his public image as a politician. He lambasted an Obama administration plan, which has not yet taken effect, to remove Jackson from the US$20 note in favor of abolitionist Harriet Tubman.
During the presidential campaign, he referred to Jackson as someone with ‘‘a history of tremendous success for the country’’.
Just days after his inauguration in January, Trump selected a portrait of Jackson for the Oval Office. In March, he stopped by the Hermitage, Jackson’s home in Tennessee, to lay a wreath at the former president’s tomb.
Mihio Manus, a spokesman for the president and vice-president of the Navajo Nation, said the placement of the Jackson portrait was ‘‘unfortunate’’.
However, Thomas Begay, one of the code talkers honoured, told CNN that he was ‘‘puzzled’’ but not offended.
‘‘The Marines made us yell ‘Geronimo’ when we jumped out of planes, and that didn’t offend me either,’’ he said.