Cherokee chief denounces Brown staffers

Cherokee Nation calls actions of Sen. Scott Brown staff 'offensive' and 'racist'

Rally video surfaces after campaigns release ads about Warren's heritageThe Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation issued a strongly worded statement Wednesday, denouncing the actions of staffers and supporters of the Sen. Scott Brown campaign, who were shown in a YouTube video chanting Indian "war whoops" and making "tomahawk chops" during a rally for the Republican senator earlier in the week in Boston.

Staff members on Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown's campaign have been caught on camera directing tomahawk chops toward supporters of opponent Elizabeth Warren, who has claimed her family has Native American heritage. Take a look at other notable missteps candidates and their campaigns have taken during the 2012 election season.

"The conduct of these individuals goes far beyond what is appropriate and proper in political discourse. The use of stereotypical “war whoop chants” and “tomahawk chops” are offensive and downright racist. It is those types of actions that perpetuate negative stereotypes and continue to minimize and degrade all native peoples," Bill John Baker, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation said in a statement.Comment:  For more on Elizabeth Warren, see Brown:  Warren Doesn't Look Native and Brown Staffers Whoop and Chop.