Native Americans Becoming More Politically Active
/- Originally published in The Frontrunner September 23, 2004
The New York Times (9/23, Kershaw) reports American Indians "are a long ignored bloc of voters representing only 1.5 percent of the population. They have begun to show their power in the last few years, helping to defeat a senator in Washington State in 2000, helping to deliver victory to another here in South Dakota here in 2002 and being heavily courted by the presidential candidates in swing states like Arizona and New Mexico."
Republicans "and Democrats alike, including the presidential candidates, are courting Indians as never before." Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle "has campaign offices on all nine of South Dakota's reservations." Long the population "with the lowest voter turnout, Indians have begun to register in droves, and turnout among them has skyrocketed. Some tribes, including the Navajo Nation, the country's largest, with 300,000 members in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, have moved the dates of their tribal government elections to coincide with those for United States government officials." Often thought "to be solidly in the domain of the Democrats - when they voted - Indians have branched out, giving their votes and their money to both parties."
