Native Americans could take Trump or Harris to the top a century after they got the right to vote – Winnipeg Free Press

RED SPRINGS, N.C. (AP) — Native American communities were decisive voting blocs in key states in 2020, and both campaigns sought to mobilize Native voters in the final weeks of the presidential election as the 2024 race remains stubbornly close.

But many Indigenous voters said the two campaigns couldn’t be more different when it comes to messaging. It’s been 100 years since Native Americans were given the right to vote with the passage of the Snyder Act in 1924, and whichever campaign can flex its muscle in this election could shake up some of the most hotly contested counties in the country.

In swing states such as Arizona, North Carolina, Michigan and Nevada, candidates — especially Vice President Kamala Harris — have been using radio ads and campaigns like Bill Clinton and Donald Trump Jr. on tribal lands. It targets Native Americans with events featuring speakers such as.

Native American voters tend to prefer Democrats, but they are more likely to vote Republican than Latinos or African Americans, said Gabriel R. Sanchez, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. They are one of the least partisan and youngest voting demographics in the country, he said, and are often influenced by issues that directly affect their communities, such as land rights and environmental protection.

In 2020, the Biden administration campaigned in many tribal lands in critical states like Wisconsin and Arizona, where reservations on tribal lands helped narrowly swing the election for Democrats. “Arizona was kind of like a textbook example of what this could look like if you make those early investments,” Sanchez said.

The United States must respect treaty rights and support tribal sovereignty, Harris said as part of a $370 million advertising campaign released this month, including on various reservations. Crystal Echo Hawk, CEO of Illuminative, a nonprofit organization that works to increase the visibility of Native Americans, said those commitments, along with the economy and environmental protection, are the top issues identified by Native voters in Illuminative surveys.

Those investments could pay off again for Democrats, Echo Hawk said. “I haven’t seen the same kind of targeted messaging and support from the Trump campaign,” he said. Harris will also inherit some of the goodwill left over from the Barack Obama and Joe Biden administrations, he said.

Obama increased consultation with tribes on issues such as land protection and criminal justice, and Biden appointed more than 80 Native Americans to senior administration roles.

“The moment it was announced that Harris was entering the race, you saw people organize overnight,” Echo Hawk said. And he said Trump will have to deal with reducing Bears Ears National Monument by 85% and reviving the Keystone XL pipeline; Neither of these are very popular among Native peoples. “I think most of these people remember that,” he said.

On Friday, Biden formally apologized for the nation’s support of Native American boarding schools and its legacy of abuse and cultural destruction. Although it was seen as long overdue, it was praised by tribal leaders. On Saturday, vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will campaign on the Navajo Nation.

The Trump campaign has not run ads targeting Native Americans, but U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, has admired the former president in Native communities in North Carolina, a swing state that has been decided. By less than a point in 2020.

On a quiet evening earlier this month, Mullin sat alongside Donald Trump Jr. on a small stage in front of several hay bales to answer questions. and sat next to former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat who recently announced she would join the Republican Party. from an audience of several hundred people. They discussed a variety of topics, from economics to tribal self-determination.

The event took place on a small farm in Red Springs, North Carolina, which is part of the traditional homeland of Mullin’s ancestors and is now home to the Lumbee Tribe, a state-recognized tribe with about 55,000 members.

Federal recognition of the Lumbee has been opposed by many tribal nations, including the nearby Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Mullin’s own tribe, the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. The Lumbee push for federal recognition has become a focal point of both campaigns, a rare issue on which both parties agree. Last month, Trump said he would sign legislation granting federal recognition to the Lumbee. Harris called the Lumbee tribal chairman last week to discuss the legislation.

“This is an injustice that needs to be corrected when it comes to the Lumbees,” Mullin told the crowd. “This is absolutely ridiculous. It needs to be done. I was so proud when I heard President Trump say he would sign this.”

But Mullin soon pointed to one of the many areas where the two candidates differ: energy policy. Emphasizing his belief that Trump’s second term would mean a better economy and lower energy costs, Mullin laid out Trump’s policy in a recognizable term that viewers resonated with: “Drilling, baby, drilling.”

Both the Biden and Trump administrations have sought to produce more oil and gas than ever before, including through extractive energy projects opposed by Indigenous peoples. But Native leaders have expressed concern that Trump will further erode protections for tribal lands.

If tribal nations are truly sovereign, Mullin argued, they should be able to extract energy without the burden of federal intervention. Tribes’ rights to manage their own lands have also fallen victim to federal bureaucracy, he said, as has the Lumbee’s fight for federal recognition.

“Why are tribal lands treated as public land?” Mullin asked, questioning why the federal government should have any control over tribal nations that extract natural resources on their lands. “Natural resources are being extracted from the land just beyond protected areas. “There are extremely wealthy private landowners and people literally starving to death on reservations,” he said, comparing some to third world countries.