Jane Sanders is the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, and her influence on his campaign is increasing. This week in Arizona, she visited a number of Native American communities, supporting Apache protests against mining interests and engaging with the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe, the Indian Country Today Media Network reports. She also sat down for a discussion with Simon Moya-Smith, a journalist from Indian County Today Media Network.

In the interview, she spoke about the “lack of attention” being given to Native American voices and the failures of the United States government to support Native American nations. She said that her husband had worked originally in city government and dealt with issues “one at a time” to “make enormous progress.” As president and first lady they would apply a similar strategy to work with Native American communities to address such problems as police brutality and high rates of violence against indigenous women.

“As first lady, I feel that the most important thing I can do is reach out to the populations that are having difficulties … [and] make sure that we bring those [voices] into the consciousness of everybody, and then deal with the issues,” she said.

Watch the full interview below.

–Posted by Emma Niles

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#indigenous people#interview#jane sanders#native american#police brutality