Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:39 — 36.8MB) | Embed
Native Americans, in general, have traditionally supported Democrats, and that has made a significant difference in a few key races. Some candidates are reaching out to the Native vote to get them into office, or to keep them in. The historic election of U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola (Yup’ik/D-AK) brings the number of Native Democrats in Congress to the highest it’s ever been: two. We’ll hear from some notable Native Democrats about the issues they see as important to Native voters.
GUESTS
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (White Earth Band of Ojibwe), Minnesota Lieutenant Governor
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk), U.S. Representative of Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District
U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola (Yup’ik), U.S. Representative of Alaska
Clara Pratte (Navajo), CEO of Strongbow Strategies and the Democratic National Committee Native American Caucus chair
Listen to an interview with Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK):
Listen to an interview with Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS)
Break 1 Music: Ojibwe Honor Song (song) Darren Thompson (artist)
Break 2 Music: Bigfoot (song) Bobby Bullet (Artist) Bigfoot (album)
Also on the show: an interview with Lloyd Miller, partner with Sonosky Chambers Law, about the U.S. Supreme Court decision in favor of tribes, including his client, the San Carlos Apache Tribe, seeking to recover millions of dollars in funds for administering Indian Health Service overhead costs.
I find it ironic that Native Americans “traditionally” support Democrats, especially as the Democrats are currently supporting a genocide against the indigenous people of Palestine. To me, what is happening in Gaza is an echo of the genocidal wars carried out by the US government against the indigenous peoples (Native Americans?) of this country. In 1948, European governments created Israel, a European settler-colony in the midst of the Arab world, to function as a “frontier fort,” much like the string of forts built in the US frontier to subdue indigenous peoples and take over their territories. In a sense, Gaza is a “reservation” for Palestinians, who are now being driven out of even that refuge by mass murder.
I would suggest that Native Americans, like the rest of us US citizens, think hard about whether it’s a good idea to be supporting political parties whose actions are based on militarism and the domination of other countries, either militarily or economically. These parties serve a tiny elite of the wealthy and powerful, not us. We desperately need to find a way to free ourselves from the grip they have on us, and to find a way to use the political power we actually already have, as the majority of the voting public. I believe there is tremendous potential for Native American in such an independent and, hopefully, an inclusive political movement that is based on communities, and not cash.