May 15 — It seemed surreal, to say the least, for Holly Cook Macarro to be sitting between two U.S. presidents, visiting and sharing a meal in a room full of famous and prominent personalities during a State Dinner at the White House.
Cook Macarro couldn’t help but wonder where she started — growing up in Red Lake and then Bemidji, a young, passionate person with an interest in tribal defense.
“Thinking about the past makes me choke up a little,” she shared. “I am a child who was born in an Indian hospital in Red Lake Nation and was sitting next to two presidents.
The journey has been a long one, starting with an introduction to political engagement as a child, an opportunity to intern at the White House, working for the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and the Democratic National Committee, all culminating in Cook Macarro starting his own lobbying firm in 2001.
His company, named The Angle after Minnesota’s Northwest Angle, defends the rights of tribal nations and indigenous communities across the country, work that Cook Macarro believes is necessary and meaningful.
Through it all, Cook Macarro’s background and ties to her home community in Red Lake have stayed with her, providing a unique strength and perspective that she doesn’t take for granted.
“I have always been supported by my Red Lake community,” she said. “It’s been the basis of my work all these years. It’s where I started.”
Cook Macarro’s exposure to the political world began when she was young. She grew up in a politically active family and remembers her mother making phone calls and knocking on doors during election periods.
“I was raised doing this work,” Cook Macarro explained. “My mother, in particular, was very active. I grew up hanging knockers during election season and was exposed to political activism throughout my childhood.”
After graduating from Bemidji High School and earning his undergraduate degree from the University of North Dakota, Cook Macarro taught at Leech Lake Tribal College while earning his master’s degree in 1997.
That’s when she saw a flyer for a public policy internship sponsored by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and decided she would try out for the position. When she approached then-president of the Red Lake Nation, Bobby Whitefeather, for a letter of recommendation, he decided he wanted Cook Macarro to work on behalf of his nation.
“He said, ‘I don’t want you to go to D.C. and work for someone else, let’s see what I can come up with,’” Cook Macarro recalled.
An internship was created at the White House and his career in the political sphere began.
“The political landscape for the tribes (at that time) was very different. We had to fight to even be mentioned,” she explained. “The journey from there to where we are now has been truly monumental. It’s been a joy to watch.”
Cook Macarro recalled how early in her career she was often one of the few Native Americans present, and often the only woman. In moments like these, she also relied on her Red Lake roots.
“It was a challenge for me as a young girl to find my voice in rooms that were often dominated by white men,” she shared, “(but) the Red Lakers are a very proud people: proud of where we come from, proud of our lands and their status, our communities, our cultural ways of life. All of these things gave me a foundation and an ability to put power behind my voice.”
Over the years, Cook Macarro has advocated for his community and Native American communities across the United States. She met her husband Mark Macarro, a member and current president of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, and started a family.
Both she and her husband, who serves as president of the National Congress of American Indians, have been strong advocates for indigenous communities. Their work has been both for their own families and for Native American families and communities across the country.
“It’s been really important to me, as a mother of two boys who are very involved in their tribal communities, that they have a place to land and move forward that is different from where I started 30 years ago,” she explained.
Cook Macarro and her husband’s work took them far, earning them an invitation to sit at the main table at a State Dinner near President Joe Biden and former US President Bill Clinton.
And as incredible as the journey and its outcome was, Cook Macarro wants to ensure that every young Native American has as many or more opportunities as she had to find success and make an impact.
“I’m a big fan of the former, but I’m a big fan of the latter. Everyone should leave the ladder behind,” said Cook Macarro. “This is truly the type of work and infrastructure I strive to leave behind.”
With increased political visibility and growing advocacy and leadership from young Native Americans from Minnesota to California, Cook Macarro is hopeful for the future of indigenous communities.
“I now see young people whose voices are so brave and powerful,” Cook Macarro said. “I want them to know that their voices coming from our indigenous communities have a lot of power and to not be afraid to raise their voices for the things they believe in… I hope they continue to make the noise that I see them making now.”
