NY-21 Dem candidate Collins talks about Native American issues

By Andy Gardner

AKWESASNE – Democratic congressional candidate Paula Collins says she wants to improve federal government support for Native communities, especially in the areas of healthcare and providing educational opportunities for Native youth.

Collins, who lives in nearby Dekalb Junction, is running against incumbent Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville. Stefanik has represented the 21st Congressional District since 2014, which includes Akwesasne and the neighboring counties. Originally from Baton Rouge, La., she now works in New York state as a cannabis law attorney.

Collins made her first visit to Akwesasne on Saturday, Nov. 2, three days before the election. She said she only came to the territory after being able to build relationships and be invited, rather than just showing up.

"It was making the connections, making the personal connections, and understanding how an invitation could be extended to me. I wouldn't be so brash as to just show up on my own schedule. I needed to have a relationship, have an introduction made possible," the congressional candidate said.

Collins said she feels Pres. Joe Biden's apology for the country's role in the genocidal residential schools program is "a wonderful gesture and long overdue." She believes the federal government should take an active role in amplifying the real stories of what happened at those schools so history never forgets and Washington can "hold itself accountable."

"I hope there will be more effort made ... and whichever actions that might be to reinforce that sincere apology, to seek out to make right some of the wrongs that were done," Collins told Indian Time. "Primarily, what I want to see is that the truth will be told and these stories handed down from generation to generation will be given proper air time, so to speak, that people will become aware of our government's part in this egregious policy."

The NY-21 candidate said she also wants to support schools on reservation territories and close the funding gap with off-territory schools.

"We need to have an accurate assessment of how we can support the schools that are on territory and provide them with books and classrooms and teachers able to meet the needs of the classrooms not on territory," she said.

Collins also said she feels schools off territory but near reservation boundaries where Native students may also attend could get better support, "making sure those schools are adequately meeting the needs of the students going there."

To ensure needs assessments don't get needlessly tied up in red tape, she believes, "we might need to tie it to certain benchmarks for progress, as well as certain calendar ... dates, deadlines." She also feels it's important to also extend more job-readiness programs, like BOCES, to on-territory schools.

Although she has a number of ideas to assist Native education, Collins said she has to be mindful and stay in her lane when it comes to separation of powers between state and federal governments. The state Education Department oversees schools and receives the benefit of federal education funding, which Albany divvies around the state.

"I'm running for a federal office. It wold not necessarily be in my purview to interfere between the state and the school district," she said, adding that federal lawmakers can still "provide the support and encouragement and if not, expectations we could make ... in this area."

She said she also has the power to promote awareness of educational and other issues specifically impacting Akwesasne and other Native communities among other lawmakers.

"One of the things I'd love to explore is how we can preserve the Native languages. With each decade, we see fewer and fewer people speaking the Native languages and we will soon reach a point of no return with that. Could we have programs or awareness made in the schools for preservation of language and cultures?" she said, adding that language could also be preserved with federally funded extracurricular programs.

"Some of the tribes like to have their own schools, like a Saturday school, where someone is teaching. I think the Senecas are down to a handful of Native speakers now. This is our last generation to really turn that around," Collins said.

She also wants to see state initiatives like the Green CHIPS Program be offered equitably to Native Americans. The state government wants to expand the microchip and semi-conductor industry in New York state.

"I think we also need to look at where the rest of New York is going, in terms of technologies, and make sure our students either in school on territory, or in the surrounding area, are prepared to meet that demand," she said. "For example, the CHIPS Act and the movement in New York state to develop a microchip industry. We need to make sure our Native students are prepared to meet that demand and fill some of those jobs."

The Green CHIPS Program is separate and distinct from the state's Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPs), which funds road maintenance and repairs.

When it comes to supporting Akwesasne's elders, Collins said she recognizes the toxic legacy of Massena's three industrial plants and the St. Lawrence Seaway, and wants elders to be able to get the best healthcare the government can provide.

"We are very aware, as somebody who's interested in conservation and environmentalism, there is a disproportionate impact of toxins on Native communities, where elders have been found to have higher incidences of cancers and immunological disorders. The United States government would provide therapies and health care where appropriate," she said. "There's also evidence, that breast milk, for example, in Akwesasne mothers had higher levels of toxicity largely because of plastics and other toxins that really spiked at the creation of the Seaway. It is incumbent on state and federal governments to provide the appropriate level of support for healthcare," according to Collins.

"When you combine that with mental health issues, and addressing mental health and addiction issues and providing Social Security support, not just rehab, but ongoing therapy to support someone coming out of rehab."

Collins also connects providing better nutritional support for Native elders with addressing issues of disproportionate exposure to toxic chemicals.

"What we really need to do is to renew the 2018 Farm Bill, which should have been renewed by the end of 2023. It provides support for food banks and nutritional support. It also provides for SNAP benefits," Collins said Saturday afternoon. "I circle back to where there are cases in which our government participated, for example in creating the St. Lawrence Seaway ... that created a higher toxicity in soils and water.."

"Our government would provide the appropriate support and interventions, especially with ... nutrition and health care for the elders."

Collins says her recent work as a cannabis tax attorney includes a case where she successfully defended Native sovereignty against federal government overreach. New York state's cannabis legalization program made cannabis sales legal on Native communities before everywhere else, subject to local tribal regulation only.

Specifically, she said, she represented a member of the Seneca Nation who was bringing cannabis products from one Seneca-licensed store to another, but was arrested by the Department of Homeland Security when the travel route went off territory.

"It's frightening for someone to be caught in that predicament and here they are in handcuffs," Collins said. "How can we get on the flip side of it, a New York judge, to appreciate the sovereignty of nations?"

There is a proposal at the federal level to build a nuclear power plant on Fort Drum, about 110 miles west of Akwesasne. While Collins feels nuclear power "can be a wonderful option" for renewable energy, she has concerns.

"When there is [a nuclear] accident it is tragic, not only in that moment, but for generations to come," she said. "I'm very concerned about that."

"Since I don't have exact details on that, I don't know exactly where within Fort Drum it will be. Fort Drum is vast. What will be the options for nuclear waste disposal? I'm not privy to those details, so I'm not free to comment on that," according to Collins.

She did say that if a nuclear plant does open in Jefferson County, the federal government at the very least should have clean-up plans and a means of providing healthcare to everyone living within its hazard zone, in the event of an accident or disaster.

"With regard to that idea of siting a nuclear power plant in, or as an ancillary to activities at Fort Drum, we also need to make sure we are committed to healthcare and to clean up in the event of any nuclear disaster," she said, noting that "my Republican opponent voted against healthcare for those who were exposed to the burn puts. That, to me, is a slap in the face for our veterans."

Many U.S. military personnel and civilian workers were exposed to toxic chemicals in Iraq and Afghanistan. On military bases there, waste was disposed of by being dumped into giant pits and burned. That included hazardous waste. Exposure to those fumes are causing Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to die from cancer at relatively young ages, including some who died in their 20s and 30s.

"We cannot put military and civilians at risk as we did with the burn pits and not offer them health care," the Democratic candidate said.

Collins said she decided to run in February of this year, later in the election cycle than is typical for congressional candidates. She threw her hat in because she feels the 21st District needs a liberal opponent to take on Stefanik, who until Collins's campaign was unopposed.

Stefanik since her first election in 2014 has shifted from a moderate to the fringes of the far right, supporting Donald Trump and Make America Great Again (MAGA) ideology. Stefanik has embraced and, for the last four years, amplified the debunked conspiracy theory that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, illegitimate, and should have gone to then-president Trump.

When Stefanik was first elected, she criticized the fact that federal legislators can run for an unlimited number of terms in office, so she pledged to run for no more than five terms. She has broken that and is now seeking her sixth consecutive term.

"I couldn't align my core Democratic principles that I ... sat back and did not run," Collins said. "It was initially an effort to not allow Elise Stefanik to run unopposed. I could not square that in my mind as a Democrat and citizen of the United States. It's been eye-opening and educational. I am honored to be the Democrat on the ballot. I'm also on the Working Families line. I am proud of that as well. I am in it for the long haul."

The Working Families Party traditionally endorses Democratic candidates as an alternative liberal third party. Votes for Collins on the Working Families line, the Democratic line, or write-in are all added together equally.

Collins said she is calling on Stefanik to suspend her campaign and resign immediately due to her support and amplification of Republican conspiracy theories regarding the 2020 election.

"She has not abided by her oath of office. She swore an oath to protect and defend the United States Constitution, but campaigns actively for someone we know who has participated in crimes and is guilty of 34 crimes and trying to overturn the 2020 election. We know Elise Stefanik did not accept the results of the 2020 election, and at least from the podium, has spoken in a way that would lead to the overthrow of the U.S. Constitution," Collins said.

She said with regard to the 2024 NY-21 Congressional District election, she will accept the results, no matter who wins.

"I am confident we will conduct an election that is fair and without interference," Collins said. "I do plan to accept the results."

She said regarding the 2024 presidential election, she has national-level concerns that far-right MAGA elements are maneuvering to not prevent certification of the vote, should Democratic candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris win.

"I plan to accept the results of the 2024 (presidential) election, after we have determined all the election activities and certifications were conducted properly. I'm very concerned about improprieties, such as the ballot boxes that were burned" out west in Oregon, she said. Police there are looking for someone has set fire to at least three early drop-off ballot boxes in that state, damaging hundreds of early ballots.

"I'm also very concerned about this plan to locate elections officials strategically who are MAGA-aligned to not certify the vote, particularly at the local level," not in NY-21 but elsewhere "throughout the country," she said.

"We're at a very unique moment in history. What I'm looking forward to today in my visit with Akwesasne is learning their perspective on how we can preserve our nation democratically, but also continue relations with tribal nations. There's much work to be done in that area," Collins said.