Forming a Native American Party
As I write this there are only three weeks left until Election Day.
Native Americans by the thousands will, for the most part, go into the voting booth and cast their ballots for the candidates that are Democrats. In Election Day 2008 that is to be expected and the Democratic Party knows it.
Let's get this election behind us and, beginning November 5, 2008, start to re-evaluate our connections to America's political parties. The time has come for Native Americans to break from the flock and to think outside of the box. I believe this is very important because I was once a member of that flock and in the magical year of 2008 I observed many things within both Republican and Democratic parties that caused me to stand back and re-examine my party affiliation.
I would even take it one step further and instead of joining an Independent Party, why not form our own party and call it the Native American Party. This idea is not so farfetched. After all, there are people in the Libertarian and Green Parties that are not affiliated with either the Democrats or Republicans. Granted these separatist parties run their own candidates each presidential election year, but that does not mean that Native Americans should dilute their votes by doing likewise.
As a matter of fact, if there was a Native American Party, both Republicans and Democrats would be catering to that party in hopes of garnering their support for their candidates. When any party takes its voters for granted it spends little time or money reaching for their votes. Example: How many times have presidential candidates been invited to speak at national Indian events and failed to do so? If the Native American Party held a national convention you can bet your bottom dollar that they'd all be there.
In the past the Republican Party knew that Indians would always vote the straight Democratic ticket. As a result they shied away from soliciting the Indian vote and they also shied away from supporting any legislation favorable to the Indian people.
It was the mass media that created the epiphany that brought about my thought change. As I watched and read the one-sided news reports on both candidates I realized that by filtering out the political prospects of the Republicans simply because I was a Democrat, I was denying myself the options of hearing both sides of an argument. Like that flock of sheep, I was herded into one field even though there might have been more and better grass in another field.
If the only newspapers we read or the only television 24/7 stations we watch are those catering to the left how will we ever know what is happening on the right? If we (Native Americans) formed out own party we would be more apt to want to learn about the political views of both or all parties. It only stands to reason.
Much of the money reaching the Indian reservations comes there in the form of earmarks. It comes in dribs and drabs and usually amounts to just enough to make most programs it is intended to serve fail before they have a chance to get started. From health to education to housing the Indian people are dependent upon the federal government. That doesn't make it right, but it does make it a reality.
Therefore, most Native Americans join the party they believe can bring them the basic services they have earned through treaties, but are too often forced to hold out their hats for the few goodies that come to them in the shape of earmarks. What the Indian people really need are solid programs for housing, education and health based upon annual appropriations that are true and constant not upon whimsical earmarks that are baseless. If Congress decided to eliminate earmarks altogether, what would happen to the many small programs on Indian reservations and urban centers across America that are heavily reliant upon them?
The case to create a Native American Party that all other parties would cater to in order to secure their votes may be the answer the Indian people have been searching for all of these years. Don't you think that the senior senator of any state would appoint Indians to serve as federal judges if the Native American Party demanded it in lieu of their support? How many other of the demands of the Native Americans would be answered in states with large Indian populations if the loss of their support could mean the loss of an election? As I said last week, think about it and after November 4, 2008, start giving it very serious consideration.
© 2008 Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc.
Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, was born, raised and educated on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. He was the founder and first president of the Native American Journalists Association and the founder and publisher of Indian Country Today, the Lakota Times, and the Dakota/Lakota Journal. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard in the Class of 1991. He can be reached at najournalist@msn.com.
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Thanks Tim, I just want to be clear, I don't agree with Sarah Palins' view of creationism. And the possibilty of her becoming Vice President with a world view that doesn't leave room for the 40,000 year history of peoples around the world, is just another reason for the creation of a National Native Party. As there is so much talk about the 1st woman this, the glass ceiling etc, I've not heard any acknowlegement of Winona LaDuke's historic bid for the same position. The world would be a very different place had Winona won. In peace, Shahida
Shahida, most of the different tribes in America, Canada, Central America and South America have their own creation stories. The Lakota (Sioux) believe they came from the center of the earth and emerged at Wind Cave in the Black Hills. Other tribes have similar beliefs. New science dates the history of the indigenous people in the Americas to 40,000 years ago. Tim
As a non Native American I always feel hesitant to weigh in on matters of Native Independence and autonomy..
Time to start your own party.
Tim,
I've been voting often and voting Democrat since the 2000 elections and proudly so.
However, I've also just invested a year by volunteering and taking a staff position with the Obama campaign.
While I still support Barack Obama and will continue to campaign and vote for him, my interaction with the Democratic party here in Nevada and the organizers who represent the party was dismal. The Native Vote isn't even being secured and despite my small efforts, the Native community here knows it.
I will strongly consider organizing for a Native political party, I think it's the most revolutionary thought when put between a party that takes us for granted and a party who won't even deal with us.
-- Alfred Walking Bull.
Tim, what an incredible idea. I've never heard anything like it before. This would get everyones attention and respect. I'll be thinking about this for a long time. I do think anyone should be aloud to join. Would you consider being our first candidate? Thanks again Tim. I can't stop thinking about this!!!!
The idea of a Native American Party came to me because we (Native Americans) do not fit into any of the parties now in existence. The choice of a name for the party would happen at the first meeting of the people interested in forming that party. Whether the party would include non-Indians as members would be up to the governing body of the party. I think it is an idea whose time has come. Tim
As a historian of Native America, I can say that this is one of the most original ideas I have ever heard for increasing the political reach of American Indians. I really cannot see a downside. The history of the federal government's Indian policies during the 20th and 21st centuries should be evidence enough that more traditional, measured steps are not enough to make a difference in Indian Country. Even when projects get approved, they so often don't get funded because of the BIA's low position on congress's priority list.
I support this idea 100% and will do whatever I can, as a non-Indian, to help!
If natives can learn to create a successful economy from the resources they do have, then that will be even more empowering. For example using solar or wind farms, growing crops with very little water needs, such as jojoba and agave in the desert, or being very efficient with community farming, such as the Growing Power farm in Milwaukee. The founder, Will Allen, son of a sharecropper, just won a McArthur Grant, and he has some great ideas on feeding 2000 people a year on 2 acres, complete with a fish farm and using compost to heat greenhouses.
I am part Cherokee, far removed. I have heard that there are grievances against the term "Native American" They prefer First Tribe or maybe just plain Native People. I think I like the sound of Native People Party. I don't think anybody is looking for endorsements from the Green or Independent or Libertarian Parties, because each of them have their own candidates.
But I definitely support you in getting organized as a group of people, and getting more recognition from the government.
One of my pet ideas is to get a network of educational opportunities, so that Lakota college students can be transfer students to other colleges on or near reservations, with Hawaiian, Dine, Hopi, etc. and vice versa.
I would like to see successful Native people become mentors to classes back on the reservation, and inspire the kids.
Often times, as we find out through time and experience, it's not the money we need. What we need is hope, guidance, and thinking in new ways. It would even be inspiring to students to make larger trips to the Amazon, Africa, and see how other communities have perhaps successfully integrated with the Western world. Growing up isolated, you can have a victim mentality. We need to band together and connect in many ways.
Good luck to you in your work!
Ani-Tsalagi - I might agree with your feeling that the "Native People Party" would be a good choice, however, as a Native American (most of us grew up being called Indian or American Indian, which is how the dictionary defined us as a race), this term could prove to be problematic. Native people, along with your other suggestions of preference, while definitely more respectful and correct, carries the connotation of being inclusive of all native peoples stretching beyond even North America. For this reason it may be impractical from a political aspect.
A discussion and movement would be very worthwhile pursuing.
Ah ghi-ut-sa Ani-yun Waya Tsalagi - Ne-wah
Very interesting proposal, Mr. Giago. Obviously, Native Americans need their own political party. May I ask you what you would do when White people start wanting to join your party? I would be interested to hear your thoughts on that.
A-hok-a-hey. I'm for it! Sign me up. About time we took our voice back. Start a drum circle throughout all the nations, maybe we can at long last be heard and be represented.
Please sign me up. I am an Indian, one of the last who will finally be recognized by Canada. I had relatives hung in Boston on Nov 13, 1726. As I am of Mi'kmaq and Abenaki descent, I breech international (Canadian and US) boundaries.
I deplore the state of the environment. There is no stewardship.
Mr. Obama pledged to us that we would have a say in the lands, that is, our Interior. I want that promise kept.
An obvious suggestion, to say the least. On September 19, 2008, Paulson demanded entitlement for Bush's $1 trillion dollar going away present to his cronies. That date also marks the admitting by the RNC that the Republican Party is formally to be known as the Party of Corporate Welfare. America does not tolerate corporate welfare. The next Republican you meet, remind them they belong to the Party of Corporate Welfare.
Those conservatives that do not want to belong to the Party of Corporate Welfare will have to find another. We have witnessed the vaporization of the Republican Party. What will replace it?
Why, of course, multiple parties running on platforms of issues important to Americans. The two party whatever is now replaced by Democracy. A lot of work, but a lot of Americans looking for parties to support that represent their issues. Good luck, and will be looking for your announcement.
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