By Winona LaDuke
July 2024: This is a patriotic time in the US, and I just want to stop and reflect on that for a minute. This June “…marked 100 years since President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act into law, ensuring all Native Americans are counted as United States citizens. Before this, my ancestors were treated as foreigners in their own land without a voice in the country’s most important systems. The act’s passage kicked off a journey for Native American freedom and self-determination that continues to this day…” said Sharice Davids, Representative from Kansas and citizen of the Ho Chunk Nation – a dual citizen.
American citizenship, while coveted by many, has been a mixed bag for most Native people, particularly as citizenship was conferred without the rights which would be associated with citizenship, like voting, protection of private property or freedom of religion.
Some Indigenous people who will not vote in American elections, but some, like me have tried many times to see how to participate and make accountable government and fair and just systems. The fact is, while some things move ahead, we are still far behind in the recognition of basic rights. Just think: Corporations are now considered natural persons under the law and AI probably has more rights than I do.
There’s been a lot of discussion in the Native media about the l00th anniversary, particularly putting it in context of American political rights in general. Think of it this way: In 1868, the 14th amendment granted American citizenship to every person born or naturalized within the bounds of the United States, but not Indigenous peoples. Native people were not even considered humans under US law until the 1879 Standing Bear case.
Chief Standing Bear, along with other Ponca chiefs had been detained for leaving the reservation. Ponca Chief Standing Bear sued for a writ of habeas corpus in U.S. District Court in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, ex rel. Standing Bear v. Crook was filed in federal court. General Crook was named as the formal defendant because he was holding the Ponca under color of law.
On May 12, 1879, Judge Elmer S. Dundy ruled that “an Indian is a person” within the meaning of habeas corpus. He stated that the federal government had failed to show a basis under law for the Poncas’ arrest and captivity.
Chief Standing Bear was allowed to speak on his behalf. His clearest words were, “That hand is not the color of yours, but if I prick it, the blood will flow, and I shall feel pain,” said Standing Bear. “The blood is of the same color as yours. God made me, and I am a Man.”
That’s a deep statement, I am a man. I am human, and we deserve to be treated with dignity.
If we are to participate in the system of America, we should have rights and protections and access. “We didn’t get the right to vote in this country till we were l% of the population,” John Trudell used to point out. That was in the 20th century. The Native American Freedom of Religion Act came into effect in l978, about two hundred years after the US was created on principles of religious freedom.
New Mexico finally enacted laws to allow Native people to vote in l962. That’s when Navajo people, who had served in the US military as code talkers in World War II could finally vote in the American elections. States have put up many barriers to the Native vote across the country, and those continue.
It seems like North Dakota is still trying to suppress the Native vote. In January of 2024, the U.S. District Court ordered the state to redraw state electoral maps to ensure Native Americans are not denied a fair opportunity to elect state legislators. In the same order, the court also denied the North Dakota Legislature’s latest attempts to delay implementation of new state legislative maps.
“For so many years, generation after generation, Native people have had to defend their right to vote in North Dakota,” Spirit Lake Tribal Chair Lonna J. Street said in a press release. “This court order marks a milestone closer to the day when Native people participate in redistricting and in elections as equals to our non-Native neighbors.”
North Dakota laws and discriminatory practices were targeted at Native voters. In 2013 and 2017, North Dakota enacted voter ID laws that targeted Native voters and made it harder for voters living on reservations to vote. Those were also challenged.
Vote suppression results in less representation , less of a voice. North Dakota math says that based on relative population size, three state senate seats and six state house seats should be held by Native people. In 2021, there were no Native American state senators serving in the legislature for the first time since 1990 and Native Americans held just two state house seats. There’s an old saying, “You’re either at the table or you’re on the menu.” That’s why voting rights are important.
Let our people vote. National legislation like the Native American Voting Rights Act would streamline processes, add polling places, and affirm tribal IDs. That’s a good step. Making sure that people are treated with dignity and have a voice is what we would all want, and ultimately, our votes do matter.
