Nathan Phillips offers to meet with students, community, and Catholic leaders

Omaha Nation elder Nathan Phillips gained sudden and unwanted fame after a YouTube video went viral showing him being mocked by a group of Catholic high school students wearing MAGA (“Make America Great Again”) hats while he was singing a traditional Native song at the conclusion of the Indigenous Peoples March at the Lincoln Memorial on Friday. Now, he says he’d like to use what occurred as a teachable moment.

He’s offering to travel as a delegate representing the international coalition behind the Indigenous Peoples March to Covington Catholic High School in Northern Kentucky and have a dialog about cultural appropriation, racism, and the importance of listening to and respecting diverse cultures.

“Race relations in this country and around the world have reached a boiling point,” said Phillips. “It is sad that on the weekend of a holiday when we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., racial hostility occurred on the steps of the Lincoln memorial, where King gave his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.”

Phillips and others were closing the Indigenous Peoples March with a prayer ceremony in their permitted area when, videos show, two groups without permits—Black Hebrew Israelites and the high school students—began arguing. Phillips said he approached and stepped between the two groups in an effort to quell the burgeoning conflict through spiritual song.

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“I have read the statement from Nick Sandmann, the student who stared at me for a long time. He did not apologize, and I believe there are intentional falsehoods in his testimony,” Phillips continued. “But I have faith that human beings can use a moment like this to find a way to gain understanding from one another.”

Phillips expressed appreciation for the statements from the school and the mayor of Covington that mockery and taunting are not representative of the compassion, respect, and other inclusive values they want to teach. “So, let’s create space for the teaching of tolerance to happen,” he said.

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