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- By Levi Rickert
Opinion. After attending the Four Directions Native Vote forum at the Potawatomi Casino Resort, I attended the 2024 Hunting Moon Powwow in downtown Milwaukee on Friday evening where I interviewed several people about the upcoming presidential election.
When I asked individuals how they were going to vote, to my surprise some responded by saying they don’t know enough about either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris to make a decision.
The differences between the presidential candidates are rather stark. If they don't know by now, it is evident they have not been paying attention to press coverage of the upcoming election.
With just over two weeks left before the November 5 presidential election, it’s time for people to begin to pay close attention.
I realize campaigns can be long and seemingly drawn out by media coverage that can cause fatigue among the public.
This past May, a survey from the Pew Research Center Pew Research Center found “More than half of Americans (58%) say they are following news about candidates for the 2024 presidential election very or fairly closely. Another 28% say they aren’t following it too closely, and 13% aren’t following it closely at all.”
These numbers indicated that some 41% of potential voters openly admitted they were not paying attention.
Two weeks ago, I was at the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians’ community meeting. One tribal citizen expressed that some of her fellow tribal members in rural Michigan were voting for Donald Trump because the Democrats had not done anything for them.
I told her she has not been paying attention.
Because had she been paying attention she would know Democratic President Joe Biden has been the best US president for Indian Country in history. A good place to start is with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), who is the first Native American to ever serve in a secretarial role in a presidential cabinet. The president did not stop with the appointment of Secretary Haaland. Within the federal government, there are dozens of Native Americans in key positions. Two notable Native American “firsts” to serve are: United States Treasurer Chief Marilynn “Lynn” Malerba (Mohegan Tribe), National Parks Service Director Charles F. “Chuck” Sams, III (Umatilla).
Biden has nominated over half of Native Americans to ever serve as federal judges. All have been women. Biden nominated Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby (Black and Native American) to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland; Judge Lauren King (Muscogee Creek Nation) to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington; Judge Sunshine Sykes (Navajo) to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Sara Hill (Cherokee), and Danna Jackson (Kootenai) to the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.
Across the Biden-Harris administration has been over 80 Native Americans who have served in the federal government, which is unprecedented.
During the first three years of the Biden-Harris administration, some $45 billion was invested in Indian Country. Allocating federal dollars is walking the talk; committing $45 billion is not mere political rhetoric.
All of this impact by the Biden-Harris administration should not go unnoticed. Indian Country needs to pay attention.
This year is unique because both major party candidates have history working with Indian Country. As a former president, Donald Trump has a track record of dealing with tribal nations during the Covid-19 pandemic and as vice president, Kamala Harris has been part of an administration that has been very favorable towards Indian Country during the past four years.
During his presidency, former President Donald Trump maintained a poor track record working with tribal nations.
Former Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), who served as vice chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs reported in the fall of 2020 about the Trump administration:
“The Trump administration has expressed views that challenge the unique legal status of Tribes and has attempted to remove Tribal lands from federal trust, while consistently desecrating sacred Tribal land on behalf of corporate polluters.
The Trump administration has made multiple statements expressing views that reject the well-established legal status of Tribes and imply programs and regulatory considerations for Tribes are “race based,” including in one of the president’s first signing statements in 2017 and a letter to Tribal leaders from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services in 2018.
The Trump administration failed to reestablish President Obama’s White House Council on Native American Affairs for the first three years of the president’s term despite repeated requests from Indian Country. It has never convened a White House Tribal Leaders Conference.”
This year, National Congress of American Indians Executive Director Larry Wright, Jr. has said the Native Americans should not vote for either the Republican or Democratic party, but for the tribal sovereignty ticket.
Native voters should evaluate which presidential candidate will serve Indian Country the best with all of the concerns, such as sacred sites, water rights, and other tribal sovereignty issues.
Native voters should pay attention to facts, not social media posts, nicknames, or misleading labels, such as liberal or conservative.
First, Native voters need to pay close attention.
Thayék gde nwéndëmen - We are all related.
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