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- By Neely Bardwell
Native Vote 2024. Former Navajo Nation Vice President Myron Lizer (of the Naałání or Comanche People Clan) has been a longtime supporter of President-elect Donald Trump. During his tenure as vice president of the Navajo Nation, Lizer visited then President Trump in the Oval Office during the Covid-19 pandemic. He even spoke at the 2020 virtual Republican National Convention.
Now a consultant, Lizer remained active with Native American Republicans. He sat on a panel during a Native American roundtable discussion at the downtown Milwaukee Hilton during this year’s Republican National Convention.
At a campaign stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico in late October, Lizer was a speaker at a Trump rally.
Lizer’s name has been mentioned as the assistant secretary for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior in the incoming Trump administration, the position now held by Bryan Newland (Bay Mills Indian Community.
Lizer joined Native News Online’s Election Recap Live Stream late last week to give advice to tribal leaders across Indian Country on dealing with newly elected President Trump.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.
What is your reaction to this election?
I was featured on stage at a Trump rally in Albuquerque last week. I had just two, three minutes to really bring hope, provide encouragement, and let President Trump know that Indian Country is out there, and we have a lot of valid issues. We have a lot of history of the government failing us, and broken promises, broken treaties.
Being a Republican, then becoming the Vice President of the Navajo Nation, our trajectory should always be up and up, enhancing the quality of life in Indian Country, not only on Navajo Nation, but all the 574 federally recognized tribes.
Have you been contacted by the Trump team soliciting your advice?
Yes, the contact is ongoing, collaborative, and, of course, I’m trying to garner more attention for all of our issues, all the plights of Indian Country. To recite a part of my speech in Albuquerque last week, the left wing and the right wing are of the same bird.
I fully expected Trump to win. Seeing the tide turn, and then it was revealed in those numbers. Even though we are 1 percent of the voting block in this great United States, 64 percent of the Native American voted red, voted for President Trump.
Biden-Harris, to their credit, they advanced Indian Country a lot. And now Trump can advance. They are in queue. Now it's their time. We need one another, getting messaging and policy recommendations, getting rid of the hierarchy of layers and layers of federal bureaucracy that has stymied advancement in Indian Country.
We have the land, we have the resources, if the federal government would let us tap into them more readily, we are sovereign. Who out there would use our sovereignty? Who would like to use our sovereignty as an unfair or a competitive advantage? That's what I'm interested in. Those are the discussions that I'm pursuing currently.
Have you been offered a position in Trump's administration?
There's been hints of it from various respectable and good sources. I'm standing there ready for what may come. I will be a strong advocate for Indian Country.
When Trump is in office, what advice would you give to those tribal leaders who may be concerned about another Trump presidency?
I've been told that Trump is keeping receipts of those that have supported him to this point. He's really going to work with them, and I'm one of those. I'm one of the probably few that are still good seed. I'll use those terms in a light way, and I don't mean to minimize any of the tribal efforts. And for me, my calling card is relationships.
Through relationships, you can certainly educate and re-educate, but you could certainly offer some correction, offer some ability to influence. I would encourage some of the tribes to go out and then start working with the Vice President, as well as the President and the staff.
If everybody says let's work together, if the healing in the nation is going to happen, we certainly do have to ascribe our hearts to that, and using all my gifts, all my talents, and using my network, I will continue to advocate for Indian Country. We've been left behind.
If I remember 2020 President Trump's Indian Country platform was forgotten. We need to amplify that again, but we also need to add some more meat to that, and then some more authority and some more insight.
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