A rant and a half

February is Black History month. There are federal holidays to celebrate both black and white citizens. In 1870 the 15th Amendment to the Constitution grants voting rights to Black men. In 1920 the 19th Amendment grants women the right to vote. On June 2, 1924, Congress enacted the Indian Citizenship Act, which granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the U.S. The right to vote, however, was governed by state law; until 1957, some states barred Native Americans from voting. According to the a senate site:

...voting procedures are delegated to the states, and well past 1924 some states misused this power to continue to deny Native Americans the right to vote. For example, as late as 1962, New Mexico still overtly prohibited Native Americans from voting.

It also says:

Legal obstacles.

Historically, there were four major arguments used by states to justify their continued disenfranchisement of Native voters:

1) Indians were under federal guardianship, or were federal "wards," and therefore not independent and competent for voting;

2) Indians living on reservation lands were residents of their reservation and not of the state (even though the Supreme Court declared all reservation Indians residents of their states in 1881);

3) Indians did not pay state taxes and, therefore, should not be able to affect revenue decisions; and (Utah disenfranchised Indian voters by claiming that Indians residing on reservations did not qualify as residents of the state, despite the 1881 Supreme Court decision to the contrary. This statute stood until 1957 when, under threat of reversal by Supreme Court, the state legislature abolished it.);

4) Indians were not "civilized," and their continued participation in their Tribal communities precluded participation in other elections.

Cultural obstacles. It was this last legal prohibition, the requirement that Native Americans be "civilized" before being granted the right to vote, that compounded the already complex and difficult issue of citizenship and civil participation for Natives. Many Indians had no interest in U.S. citizenship and even sought to reject it. Some believed that accepting citizenship with the very government that had oppressed one's community seemed tantamount to treason, or, at best, foolishness.

Past governmental efforts at registering or identifying community members had been for the purpose of taking land, relocating a community, or forcefully removing children to boarding schools. These experiences, ingrained in the collective memory of Native communities, are apparent in the ongoing resistance to "register" for a government ID, to "register" to vote, or, to "register" for any purpose with any governmental entity.

These concerns were only exacerbated by the requirement of many states, including Idaho, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, that Indians had to relinquish their tribal allegiances and become "civilized," according to the majority community's standards, before they were able to vote. The negative association between betrayal of their own community and voting has had long-lasting effects on current attitudes toward voting in the Native community.

1957. The year I was born. Utah is the state where my tribe is located.

Most of us take our right to vote for granted. I know I do. I also know that most of us Native People have no idea just how badly we have been denied. We were not even citizens of our own country.

How fucked up is that?

Black, women...were all given the right to vote years before we were.

How fucked up is that?


So, what's my beef?

Around the country, Indians are increasingly getting elected to state office and taking part in a political process that they once kept at arm's length.

"Indians were here first -- it's about time," said former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, who was the only American Indian in Congress from 1992 to 2004. "We're way behind the African Americans and Hispanic Americans in getting politically involved, but we're beginning to take a page out of their notebook."

While Indians are rare in Congress -- Rep. Tom Cole, a Chickasaw from Oklahoma, is the only one -- 48 are serving in 12 state legislatures, up from 36 a couple of years ago. Oklahoma has the most, 10, followed by eight in Montana, seven in Alaska and five in New Mexico, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Leech Lake tribal chairman George Goggleye, blames the dearth of Indian lawmakers on racism, lack of political experience and money, and the tribes' relatively small numbers.

Nighthorse Campbell suggested another reason: hostility toward the U.S. political system. He said that when he first ran for office, militant Indian friends questioned why he would get involved with a government they viewed as the enemy.

So, I wonder, when are we going to get our head out of the tee pee and into the rest of the world? Yes, I know we go on and on about the poverty and such of the reservations but do something while you are there...take advantage of any and all opportunities that are available. Then do as some of the others have done and go into office and change things from the inside. Be useful.

not 'nuff said at all...