The President, members of Congress and other top policy makers will be at Tuesday’s State of the Union Address. Alongside them will be a Native educator.
Melissa Isaac, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, has been invited to attend the event as an official guest of first lady Jill Biden.
According to the White House, Jill Biden has invited several guests to sit in her viewing box. The list of attendees also includes a diabetes advocate, military families and community college students.
Isaac is also known as Gizhwaasod (“Protector of the Young”). She is the lead of the Indigenous education initiative at the Michigan Department of Education. She previously worked as the Saginaw Chippewa’s director of education.
She said she was “honored” to be the First Lady’s guest, in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday.
Isaac was previously an elementary school teacher at the Saginaw Chippewa Academy where she advocated for mental health services for her students.
She successfully applied for a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In October 2021, Isaac met with Jill Biden during a listening session focused on youth mental health in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.
The White House indicated guests of the First Lady came as part of the themes Biden is set to speak on.
Biden’s speech is expected to highlight the improving public health outlook, rebranded domestic policy priorities and a path to lower costs for families grappling with soaring inflation.
He is also expected to speak on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Many tribal leaders and organizations have recently condemned the war.
On social media, Navajo Nation president Jonathan Nez said Navajo citizens stand ready to defend their country but prayed the situation did not escalate further.
In Oklahoma, the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation Chuck Hoskin Jr. said his nation knows how important the right to self-determination is, citing that Cherokees have been denied that right historically.
On Tuesday, major Native-organization NDN Collective released a statement that was filled with empathy, saying Indigenous people know the impacts of war and displacement all too well.
The organization asserted that war only benefits corporations like the oil and gas industries.
Members of Congress can bring a guest to the address. It was unclear on Tuesday afternoon who the Indigenous members of Congress would bring.
Watch the “ICT Newscast with Aliyah Chavez” on Wednesday, March 2 at 5 p.m. EST for more analysis with ICT regular contributor Holly Cook Macarro.
Watch Joe Biden’s speech here. It starts at 9 p.m. ET
Aliyah Chavez, Carina Dominguez and the Associated Press contributed to this report.