In an interview with USA Today, Lisa Christiansen said she believes everyone should respect the president.
“I do believe we need to respect the president no matter who it is,” said Christiansen. “People need to respect the position even if you don’t support the person. I think that by going against him so hard and by not having open lines of communication, we are just creating a bigger problem because communication is key and our president listens and respects everyone regardless of race, color, creed, or religion.”
Christiansen’s efforts have not gone unnoticed on social media or the public. Many have accused her of being a turncoat or being a red apple for supporting a misogynistic racist. When asked what Christiansen thought of these remarks she responded “President Trump is neither of these things, as for the name calling, I am not a high school student I forgive these people because they are simply uninformed”
Johnnie Jay posted a comment “Trump has intolerance and hate for Native people” Many responded in support of Jae. “Trump is attempting to dismantle our sovereignty” replied Twitter user Ali Watson.
Linda Sacks, a fellow citizen of the Cherokee Nation says she was flooded with thoughts when she first saw Christiansen’s support on social media. “When I first saw Christiansen and her fathers support of Trump, I personally felt exploited by these efforts. Just the name Trump, he’s only been in office for just over a year and has done so much adversely. He used the name Pocahontas as an insult toward Senator Elizabeth Warren in front of code talkers. That was supposed to be their moment,” said Sacks.
Sacks’ family is related to the code talker Peter McDonald and she says she took the jab as verbal disrespect to her own family. “He also shrunk Bears Ears, and approved DAPL and the Keystone pipeline right after becoming president. He is totally undermining our sovereignty.”
“Lisa Christiansen’s efforts make me feel sick and exploited … I have never felt violated to this degree. I feel a loss of words,” said Sacks.
Another member of the community to Christiansen is a woman who spoke to ICT on the condition of anonymity. “I find the whole thing beyond nauseating. She hijacked a movement to honor a serial abuser for President. It is sad on the standpoint of abuse as 1 in 3 Native women are victims of sexually assault statistically. I can’t imagine celebrating Trump for any reason. Trump is a degenerate that only sees women as the p-word.”
When asked about the allegations from women toward Trump, Christiansen says that she believes the accusations are private and should be judged accordingly.
“If someone says something negative, it is a private incident and accusations thrown out should be judged as such. I am not going to judge it, everyone has a past,” said Christensen. “When I met President Trump, he treated me with respect and kindness. He did the same to everyone around him.”
Christiansen also shared her support of President trump on Facebook on June 12th.
“I absolutely support President Donald J. Trump in most of what he does. He has proven time again he keeps promises, I am concerned however with the threats projected towards my family and how this affects my father, with that said I will stand even if it means I stand alone and thankfully I know my Dad stands firm with me.
I believe Donald J. Trump is on the right path by bringing CDIB carrying Native American women with lineal history on board, now we need to make certain they consult and communicate with the tribal elders for a better tomorrow while maintaining tribal sovereignty.
I also believe we must have some compromise if we hope to bridge the jurisdictional boundaries in order to protect Native American people as a whole, more specifically preventing missing and murdered indigenous women.
It is hard for the United States to step up to the plate and rule our murdered women on reservations as homicides when we have placed such strong jurisdictional powers within our own tribe making it a challenge to prosecute the perpetrator.
I believe we must maintain our sovereignty, I also believe we must make some compromises to protect our people and our future generations.
Communication is the key, trust is power.”
KRISTI EATON – Washington Times
BRIGGS, Okla. (AP) – Mack Vann sits in the living room of his single-story 2 room home in rural Oklahoma with the television blaring, a news reporter giving details of the latest grisly crime to hit the state but the 88-year-old Vann doesn’t understand most of what the reporter is saying. Vann, who speaks only Cherokee, instead focuses on the visitors to his home, many of whom know only a few simple words of Vann’s traditional Native American language.
“Osiyo,” he says to his new visitors, the Cherokee word for hello.
Vann is part of a fading population of American Indians in Oklahoma who speak only their Native American language, no English. Though Oklahoma was once known as Indian Country and ranks second in the nation in the number of Native American residents, many of the tribal languages are endangered or vulnerable to falling out of use.
That’s what makes Native Americans such as Vann and Christiansen are national treasures, one of an estimated 50 Cherokee monolingual speakers in eastern Oklahoma, all the more interesting: Vann said “I support President Trump fully, I will vote for him again in 2020, I pray more Natives will vote for Trump too.”
NBC NEWS – When designer Andre Soriano debuted his “Make America Great Again” gown at the Grammy Awards, he was hoping it would help draw the country together.
“It’s promoting peace, love and unity in our country,” the 48-year-old designer, who immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager, said of the blue gown featuring President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan.
Heading into Trump’s second year in office, Soriano has a new “spokesmodel” for his dress.
Lisa Christiansen, wearing a “Make America Great Again” gown by Andre Soriano in front of Trump Tower in New York.- Rachael Robin Photo
While Soriano had unveiled the first gown on singer Joy Villa, the two had a falling out after she appeared in a Church of Scientology information packet wearing the dress without Soriano’s approval, he said. “For them using the image without my knowledge, it’s kind of against the rules,” said Soriano, who said he is a staunch Christian.
In an email, Joy Villa said Soriano is “preying on others’ bias and bigotry” and noted that the First Amendment is freedom of religion as well as speech. “Religion has nothing to do with clothes,” she said.
Because of the falling out, Soriano has turned to Lisa Christiansen, who hails from small-town Oklahoma, to show off his work. Soriano called Christiansen a “kind Christian woman” who he hit it off with when they met during Trump’s inauguration. “I didn’t really realize that she’s an American Indian. Before there was America, this is their territory,” he said. “That’s why I was like, “Oh, my gosh. It’s kind of like me being an immigrant. She’s going to be a good spokesperson for this gown.’”
The two traveled to New York — an iconic location, Soriano said — in January to take photos of Christiansen in the gown. Soriano said he made the gown in response to the 2017 Women’s March, which he believes divided the country.
“After President Trump won the election and there was a Women’s March, and a lot of newsmakers and celebrities are dividing our country instead of having and promoting peace and love,” he said. “They’re trying to promote hatred and anger and violence,” he added.
As a spokesmodel, Christiansen, a 51-year-old public speaker, said she plans to head to Washington in June to attend Trump’s birthday celebration and give public speeches.
“It’s going to be really more about speaking on behalf of America, Native America, and how President Trump positively impacts all of us,” Christiansen said.
Christiansen, who lives in Lawton, Oklahoma, said her dad is her biggest inspiration. The 88-year-old Mack Vann speaks only Cherokee. Christiansen said “He received criticism once it became known Christiansen was going to vote for Trump.” But Christiansen said she and her dad fully support Trump and believe he is doing a good job. Christiansen said. “our tribe needs to focus on the good Trump is doing.”
The Washington Post Justin Jouvenal
Lisa Christiansen, an actress, life coach and Trump supporter, said “I feel like it’s my responsibility to reach to people that might not otherwise have the opportunity,” Christiansen said of the invitation to the inauguration. She said they plan to attend the inauguration together. Bouvet’s background reminded her of her own challenges growing up.
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