The Navajo Nation was established in February suedNew Mexico’s San Juan County has been notified about its new redistricting plan. San Juan County is located on a large swathe of the Navajo reservation and has enough Indigenous voters for two voting districts. The Navajo Nation’s lawsuit, however, argues that the countys redistricting plan packs those voters into a single voting district, diluting the power of Indigenous people at the polls and violating the Voting Rights Act.
For Leonard Gorman, executive director of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission (NNHRC), the stakes couldn’t be higher. The priorities of Indigenous voters are often different from those of their non-Indigenous counterparts. Because they have less voting power, they are less likely that they will be represented by legislators on the issues they care about. In particular, Gorman says, redistricting could impact Navajo people’s ability to deal with resource allocations, water quality and access, and land use – environmental issues important to Indigenous people in the area. He said that redistricting has an impact on every aspect of our lives.
States across the US are redrawing their congressional and legislative districts according to changes in the 2020 Census and population counts. The new boundaries will be applicable to federal, state and local elections over the next ten year. New Mexico is one among many states where Indigenous voters are concerned that redistricting plans may limit their ability to protect themselves. Experts and tribal leaders now believe that this once-in-a-decade redistricting process could be a lost opportunity. This will result in another decade of disenfranchisement, and lack of legislative advocacy. This will impact everything, from land and resource exploitation to water protections.
Keaton Moonchild, Western Native Voice’s political director, stated that elected officials would prefer to suppress Native votes than work on understanding the issues that are important. We fear that these groups are just getting started.”
Based on the 2020 Census, Montana will be given two congressional seats, making it the first time in decades. The state’s plan to divide Montana into an eastern and western region raises alarms for many Indigenous groups and nations. Two reservations are located in the western district, and five others are in the eastern district. Sunchild, a Chippewa Cree Tribe member says that the new redistricted map reduces the voice of Indigenous voters. It really doesn’t put a lot of emphasis on the Native vote in either district. He said it makes it easy to ignore Native voters or Native priorities.
Sunchild claims that when he surveys Indigenous voters in the State, his main concerns are natural resources production, protecting reservation land, and hunting or fishing rights. He claims that the new map makes it more difficult for voters to voice their concerns at the legislative level.
Maylinn Smoak, chair of state districting commission, claims that all efforts were made to group reservations together. Smith, who was appointed last year by the state supreme Court, was a professor of tribal law at the University of Montana. He has also worked in various tribes’ legal systems. Because I have been practicing Indian law my whole life, I am extremely sensitive to tribal sovereignty issues. She acknowledged these interests. Smith said that there was no way to group additional reservations together based on the geography of the states.
Patrick Yawakie, the political director at Indigenous Vote, an advocacy group that promotes Indian Country voting, is enrolled in Zuni Pueblo Tribe. He is Turtle Mountain Anishinaabe as well as White Bear Nakota & Cree. After what he calls the worst legislative session in Montana history, Yawakie believes that Indigenous representation is particularly important at this time. Yawakie cites the example of state legislation that threatens tribal environmental rights as an example. billThis law imposes criminal penalties on people who protest pipelines and other infrastructure projects.
Yawakie said that the bill was a direct assault on our communities and our rights to use our first amendment rights to voice concerns against projects that harm the environment. The bill is a response to Indigenous activism regarding the DAPL, KXL and Line 3 pipelines.
2020: The Native American Rights Fund (NARF), released a 176-page document. ReportThe report outlined the many problems facing Native voters and candidates. The report listed obstacles at every stage of the electoral process, including redistricting and voter registration, casting votes, and running for office. The report found that 94 lawsuits were filed by Indigenous voters based on the 14th Amendment and 15th Amendments. One of these lawsuits was settled in 86. NARFIt has been closely collaborating with tribal leaders from states like New Mexico and Montana. They have released toolkits to assist Indigenous communities in advocating for themselves during the process.
The whole redistricting process depends on data that has already disadvantageed Native voters. A ReportAccording to the US Census Bureau, the 2020 Census did not count Native Americans on reservations or on the reservation. This could be corrected by working with tribes. Hispanic and Black people were also undercounted. White and Asian people were both overcounted. The following is a StatementFawn Sharp, President of National Congress of American Indians, stated that these results confirm our worst fears. He called on federal agencies and tribes to work together to ensure that the undercount does not lead to underfunding.
Representative Jamie BeckerFinn from Minnesota, a descendant of the Leech Lake Ojibwe, said that decades of hard work by tribal advocates paid off in the state’s new redistricting maps. The state redistricting panel was made up five judges and announced the new map in February. It placed all seven Ojibwe reservation in the same congressional district. The map also included tribes within the state legislative districts. Several Indigenous candidatesThey have already declared their candidacy in the new district.
This change respects American Indian tribes’ sovereignty and was requested by tribal leaders and Minnesotans throughout the state to allow those tribes to voice their opinions. Submitted.
The new maps are drawn, but the old ones are not. cautious optimismCommon Cause Minnesota is a nonpartisan voter advocacy organization that works to increase representation in minority and disenfranchised areas. Common Cause Minnesota represents a range of political parties and groups across the state. Do not be disappointedThe new maps did a poor job of highlighting communities of color in the way they had hoped.
Becker-Finn grew up on the Leech Lake reservation. She represents a suburban district in the Twin Cities metropolitan region. Becker-Finn believes that the new map offers a tremendous opportunity for Indigenous voters. She says that they were not able to advocate for environmental causes that had an impact on their communities before the new map was created.
Becker Finn thinks that the new districts could impact the Line 3 pipeline. We simply didn’t have enough political power to stop it at that time. She said that if our legislature had listened to the Native people, it might not have ended the way it did.
Becker Finn is optimistic about the potential of the new districts but acknowledges that it will take time and effort to make progress. This is a chance. It’s on us to do the work to make it as meaningful as it can be, she said.
While Minnesota’s tribes work to make use of redistricting opportunities, the Navajo Nations situation in San Juan County is far more common. Tribes in Nevada, Oregon, Other statesRedistricting is a topic of serious concern for many, but other nations are fighting it in court. In February, the Spirit Lake Tribe and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians as well as individual voters were present. suedThe state of North Dakota has been criticized for its redistricting map. The lawsuit claims that the new plan splinters Indigenous voters across multiple district boundaries.
It’s another way to hinder our ability vote, said Douglas Yankton (Chairman of the Spirit Lake Tribe). We are citizens. We should all have the right to speak up.
However, the Fort Berthold reservation’s Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation have not been contacted. Support expressedFor the North Dakota map, which places Fort Berthold within its own district rather than dividing it.
Leonard Gorman is the executive director of Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission. He stresses that Indigenous voters having the ability to advocate on their behalf for environmental issues will benefit everyone and not just Indigenous communities.
He said that this is the time when Indigenous peoples should have the floor.
