Lieutenant Governor-Elect of Minnesota Peggy Flanagan Becomes the Highest-Ranking Native Woman Elected to Executive Office in the United States

Running! is a Teen Vogue series on getting involved in the government.

On November 6, Peggy Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, made history when she was elected to become the Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota, becoming the highest-ranking Native woman elected to executive office in the history of the United States.

In the wake of post-election coverage, Teen Vogue sat down with Flanagan to discuss how she got here, what she sees for the future of Minnesota and Indian Country, and what she would say to young Indigenous people. The Q&A below meditates on her journey to making history, her commitment to her own people, and how she reconciles the difficulties of working within a system that has been harmful to Indigenous peoples.

Teen Vogue: Lieutenant Governor-Elect Peggy Flanagan, you're a member of the White Earth Band. Would you actually prefer to be addressed as an enrolled member, member, descendant? And would you prefer to be called Indigenous, Anishinaabe?

Well, thank you, first, for being the first reporter to ever ask me how I'd like to be identified. I'm happy to say, member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. That's great. You can feel free to use Indigenous woman, Anishinaabe, Ojibwe, all interchangeably, Native with a capital 'N'.

TV: So you're the first-ever Indigenous woman elected into statewide office in the history of the United States. What does that mean to you?

Peggy Flanagan: I just want to make sure I clarify and give Denise Juneau her due. So, Denise Juneau was elected as Superintendent of Education in Montana. So I am the highest-ranking Native woman elected to executive office in the country.

That being said, every time I hear that phrase, I kind of catch my breath a little bit. I think it is incredibly humbling and exciting. I'm also grateful that in 2018, in the year that I was elected, that we also saw Deb Haaland [U.S. House Member-elect (NM-1)] and Sharice Davids [U.S. House Member-elect (KS-3)] elected as well. Mark Trahant reported that there are 54 Native women who ran in states across the country and just came out with that 28 of us were elected. I'm excited to be part of a sisterhood of Native women who stepped up to run.

TV: Before running for Lieutenant Governor, you were a school board member in Minneapolis, and then a State House representative. What made you run for higher office, and did you always think you'd end up in this scenario?

PF: It's just really surreal. I did not plan my life to run for office. When I first ran for the Minneapolis School Board it was because I was working at the Division of Indian Work running a program called Parents Plus to help bridge the gap between home and school for Native kids and their families, and just saw firsthand how Native families were treated, families of color were treated, and I thought we have to find somebody to run for the school board from our community. After months and months of trying to find someone, there were folks in the communities said, “why don't you do it” — and I said, that's not what I meant, but at least our issues would get covered. Well, it turns out that the issues that we were talking about in our community, were issues that were important to the entire city, so I was able to be elected.

Then, when I ran for the State House, that was just a natural extension of the work I had been doing at Children's Defense Fund. I decided to run because we needed more advocates for children and families in the Capitol. My plan was to be in the legislature as long as my constituents re-elected me. I was doing work especially around family economic security, equity, working closely with our Native American Caucus, and then my friend Tim Walz [Governor-elect] paid me a visit.

I thought we were going to be there to talk about the priorities that I had been working on in the legislature and how to extend those into the work that he'd do on the campaign. I said, I'm happy to talk to you about a potential running mate, [and] I think you should think about having a woman, and someone from the Twin Cities — maybe a woman of color or an Indigenous woman. He said, "Well that's interesting because there's only one person on that list and it's you." That started off a series of many conversations about us coming to the decision to run together.

TV: Minnesota has eleven federally-recognized [Ojibwe and Dakota] tribes in the state. Do you feel like you have a special responsibility to those communities as a member of one or multiple of them?

PF: Yes, absolutely. One of my heroes and mentors is LaDonna Harris, or Mama LaDonna as many call her. She often reminds me that at no time can I stop being a Comanche woman — there's this whole business about walking in two worlds, but she's like, I reject that because I am Comanche all the time.

I think that that has been helpful for me to just think about as well, that I am an Ojibwe woman, I am a mother, that is the lens through which I see my world. I have a responsibility, especially because of those who came before me and cleared a path, to do good for my people. Governor-elect Walz often says this: if the children and families in Indian Country are doing well in Minnesota, the entire state is doing well. I think that that's been a real guide for us as we think about how we approach this work at the Capitol, and through the executive office.

TV: Why public office instead of activism or advocacy?

PF: The way that I have been raised to think about leadership in the community has been that essentially we are all in a circle, and no one role is more important than any other role and when called upon you step into the circle. [You] do good for your people, and then when you're done you step back out so someone else can step in.

I care tremendously about politics, I care tremendously about social justice and organizing work, and making sure that our democracy accurately reflects the people it seeks to represent. I think that this is just a natural extension, this is an opportunity for me to serve. That's how I see my role and no matter where I am.I think that my job is to make sure that people feel seen, heard, and valued. That's my vocation.

My dad is Marvin Manypenny, and he still lives in White Earth. He says, "My girl, I want us to burn the system down, and you want to work within the system to change the system, and that's important too." When it comes to my dad, who understands our constitution — both the United States Constitution, but our tribal constitution forwards and backward — that's where I come from. Now, my job is to remember where I come from, but also I am able to connect and serve within state government in a way that acknowledges that Native people are still here and we exist within a current cultural context. That we are still here, and the more we are engaged in policy and policy-making on our own behalf, the better opportunity we have to thrive.

TV: What do you see for the future of Minnesota? What do you see for the future of Indigenous peoples in Minnesota, and in the United States?

PF: I think our future is bright. When we talked about that message of one Minnesota it was grounded in the fact that people directly affected by decisions, by policy decisions, would have a seat at the table in self-determination, in creating their own future. I believe that the future of our state depends on people being engaged in their government.

I am hopeful because we come from a land where we have been on the forefront of scientific discoveries, and I believe that that will continue. Minnesotans are simultaneously proud and humble. I just can't wait to see what we can do together in this administration.

When it comes to the future of Native folks in Minnesota, and all across the country I think we are living in a really, really exciting time. Primarily non-Native folks have said, "oh, is [so many Native women running] your response to Donald Trump?" I think that cheapens it in a way because Native women have always been leaders of our communities, and what we've watched happen over the last two decades is that Native folks were registering to vote, turning out to vote, and then seeing the power of that vote in their ability — in our ability — to flip seats in the legislature, in Congress, to influence Senate races and presidential [races].

I think 2018 will be the year where we say that is when we saw more and more Native people stepping up into leadership positions. I am here for it and I am excited about it. It's just an exciting time, and I am grateful in this moment to be the mother of a little Anishinaabekwe [Ojibwe woman] who just started Kindergarten.

TV: If you had a message to young Indigenous people, especially young Indigenous women, what would it be?

PF: The message I would have for other young Indigenous people or young people of color it is that you deserve to be seen, heard, and valued. There is a place for you in this work. That your own story and experiences are valid and you deserve to have a voice within your own community and your own future.

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