It took a lot of pushing, name calling and personal attacks to finally force me from Barack Obama's bandwagon. That's right. I will not be casting my vote for Obama and if you believe today's polls, my vote doesn't matter.
But it matters to me, win or lose.
A few weeks back I wrote a column that said I was "undecided." Many of Obama's supporters took this to mean that I would be voting for Senator John McCain. I did another column asking, "What is it that liberals do not understand about the word "undecided?"
That opened up the floodgates. Some of the kinder words aimed at me were stupid bastard, ignorant S.O.B., not a real Indian, in the back pocket of the Republicans, and then the comments degenerated into words beginning with the letter "F".
I was taught that liberals are the ones with the open hearts and minds. Wrong! "You're either for Obama or you're not worth my spit," is what I hear from liberals today.
I listened to the supporters of Obama and read his plans for Indian country, but I was not impressed. His platform is a platform of promises. In my more than 30 years in the field of Indian media I have heard hundreds of politicians stand at the podium and say "Here is what I intend to do for you." After reading the record of John McCain I settled on his record. He was able to say, "Here is what I have already done for you."
Going to do or have done? If some of the tribal leaders out there would take off their blinders they would recall politicians that said "I promise" and have met few that could proudly say, "This I have done." One spews another long list of promises, the other presents a long list of accomplishments. Accomplishments or more promises: Which is best for Indian country?
Senator McCain fought for and sponsored the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Since it became law NAGPRA has returned the remains of hundreds of Indians to their homelands for proper burial. The law has also protected Indian gravesites from demolition until the remains could be safely removed.
McCain has attempted to stop the federal recognition of Indian tribes by preventing them from going through the back door to gain recognition. He strongly opposes federal lawmakers from bypassing the Bureau of Indian Affairs and granting recognition to Indian tribes without fully exploring and investigating their claims of legitimacy.
Why did so many presidents of Indian colleges jump into the tank for Obama when it was McCain who has been their strongest supporter in Congress? McCain sponsored the legislation to reauthorize tribal colleges and he cast his vote in favor of the Native American Languages Act.
There is only one Native American serving as a federal judge in this Nation. She serves the District of Arizona and her name is Diane J. Humetewa, Hopi. She was appointed by Senator John McCain of Arizona.
When a Nation is in financial turmoil as America is today the people that fall to the bottom of the list of promises are Native Americans. Remember the adage, "Out of sight, out of mind?"
Former Republican Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Northern Cheyenne, threw his support behind McCain and since then has been severely lambasted by the Indian media. McCain also has the support of Republican Representative Tom Cole, Chickasaw, of Oklahoma. Cole has also taken his lumps from Indians he once considered his friends.
For those Indians who believe that Sen. Obama will somehow be more magnanimous to Indians simply because he is a minority, consider this: Many thousands of Indians were relocated from their reservations to cities like Dallas, Cleveland, Oakland and Los Angeles 50 years ago and they were moved into Black communities headed by Black community organizers. When the loaves of bread were handed out whom do you think ended up with the crumbs? Don't take my word for it. Ask someone who has been on relocation. Ask the Indians in Chicago, Obama's home territory, about what he didn't do for them. I did.
In the end it all amounts to what one man has done and what the other has promised. Done deeds or more promises? How many times in the past have I heard tribal leaders complain about broken promises. In the 1970s when Elijah Whirlwind Horse was President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe I served as his Director of Public Relations. He said something that has always stuck with me. He said, "You can't take promises to the grocery store."
So at the risk of alienating family members, longtime friends and Democratic politicians, I will cast my vote for the man that "has done," rather than the one who says, "I promise."
(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)
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has weighed in on the side of the Cherokees by publicly opposing my legislation, H.R. 2824, which suspends U.S. relations with the Cherokees until the rights of Freedmen are restored.
Sen. Obama also takes exception to a recent Congressional Black Caucus letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in which the caucus declares its opposition to Native American housing legislation if it does not include a provision that would prevent the Cherokee Nation from receiving any benefits or funding under the bill if the Freedmen are expelled from the tribe.
Thirty-five CBC members signed the letter.
Sen. Obama’s argument mirrors the Cherokees’ justification for Freedmen termination. He declares that the Freedmen issue is a matter of tribal sovereignty and should be arbitrated in the courts .
The fact that Sen Obama sees through the lens of a Constitutional lawyer is a hopeful sign for us all.
Yes, Barrack Obama did weigh in on the side of tribal sovereignty by publicly opposing H.R. 2824 but this wasn’t until his campaign was in full force. We should remember that the Democrat on the Black Caucus pushing H.R. 2824 was California Congresswoman Diane Watson , a staunch and unyielding supporter of Hillary Clinton who was Obama’s opponent during the primary elections. Obama had little to lose regarding his opposition to Watson’s bill when it came to the Black Caucus, however he has much to gain with regard to Native America votes in some key states.
The most “mighty powerful” statement Obama made to date is that he apparently has never ventured inside Indian country until now.
Native Americans will be watching to see if promises are turned into deeds. Trust decisions will honor our ancestors. We need individudals from both sides of the mainstream political isle. Native Americans today are not to young to be aware of our history, nor have we grown too old “to muss the Custer anymore."
Of course, you cannot say that McCain has little experience with Indian affairs. However, his record is ambivalent at best, as has been noted by other posters.
To me, it really does come down to how the candidate treats people (and especially disadvantaged people). On that basis, I'll take Obama, and its not even close.
However, I found myself shaking my head on this one. But, to quote a rather infamous person at a McCain rally, "not for the reasons you think." You paint Obama and "liberals" with a broad brush. Those hateful responses you cite are despicable, but not everyone is closed-minded.
You say that we should judge by actions, but you present a very selective list of Senator McCain's actions. As others have noted, his actions on Dineh relocation have been reprehensible. You cite McCain's support for NAGPRA, which is commendable. However, you imply that Senator Obama would not have supported it, which you cannot say since he wasn't in office at the time (he was on the South Side of Chicago, supporting the underprivileged around that time!).
While Obama does not have experience with Indian Country, his perspectives on how people are to be treated bode well for both Indians and non-Indians. McCain only promises to appoint more judges to the Supreme Court who will continue the progeny of decisions that have been made over the past 30 years (since the Oliphant case, at least) that will further damage and limit the jurisdiction of tribal governments.
Personally speaking, I'd rather have Obama's promises than McCain's actions. But, of course, that choice is mine, just as your choice is yours.
Sarah Palin has a crummy record regarding First Nations support in Alaska. Go here for info: http://alaskareal.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah-palins-record-on-alaska-native.html
On 9/20/08, Navajo Nation president, Joe Shirley, Jr. and more than 100 other tribal leaders announced their support for Obama. http://tribes.barackobama.com/page/content/firstamshome
Tim, it would seem that there are valid reasons in Indian Country for not supporting McCain.
Althoughh many Indian people live apart from the mainstream we still live within the U.S , whose actions impact all peoples , tribal and others around the world, including other living beings.
Mccain 's record as an enviromentalist is very bad and he will leave a heavy footprint upon the earth and her creatures. His first thought is of war and bombing and that is a path that serves no one well, even those who "win."
It is not just about native people, we are casting a vote for all life here.
It is true that Obama may not have as much "experience" working with those in the First Nations as others, However, to me it seems that his record is far more human and environmentally friendly and supportive than McCain's certainly.
One of Obama's qualities that I like very much is the appeal he makes to all of us Americans to work with him, to make change happen. I haven't heard that call of inclusivity and empowerment since John F. Kennedy ran for President.
1. He has shown extremely poor judgment, at best, in selecting Ms. Palin, who is not ready to step in, should that be necessary. That, alone, should terrify you.
2. He has lied and whined about perceived slights, about his positions and his opponent's positions and about anything else he could think of to fire up the base.
3. He has been extremely hypocritical, suggesting that there is something troubling about Senator Obama's various associations but shrugging off his own -- much more intimate -- involvements with truly despicable people.
4. He has shifted positions on a daily, if not hourly, basis, and this inconsistency is frightening.
5. He has been dismissive of his opponent in an undignified, unpresidential way, criticizing the individual rather than the individual's policies.
These deeds, among many others, show that Mr. McCain is unfit for the office he now seeks.
But, indeed, vote your conscience, and see if you can live with yourself over the next four years.
As for me, I've had enough poor vice presidential choices, lies, hypocrisy, inconsistency and snide disdain from the current White House occupant to last the rest of my life. And it will take at least a lifetime to straighten out the mess Mr. Bush has created.
As to your caving in to McCain's casino lobbyists, and shilling this blatant propaganda, I can only feel sympathy for those who look to you for direction. You're selling your fellow Indians out for how much? Blackmail doesn't work, unless the victim reports the crime. I encourage you to step up and do so. Your followers are counting on it.
I respect your decision. That's what voting is all about. Please, though, be sure you step back a few paces and view the other policies which will, in the long run, have a far greater impact upon us all than any single issue.
Obama is interested in all Americans not just black Americans. He reaches across political aisles, racial and religious lines. I am sorry that when Native Americans were forced into AA ghettos that there were problems as you describe but you know that the history between AA and NA goes so much deeper historically than that. The difference is Obama knows that and I doubt McCain and certainly not Sarah Palin remembers that far nor has read anything about that.
I hope you will reconsider your vote and help us make the entire country better for all of us not just the chosen few. Neither nor I have been part of them.
Even though McCain has done more for my ethnic group and would probably do more for my ethnic group, I must vote as an American, not as an Indian-American. I feel that Obama's policies are better for America as a whole and will make the world a safer place, so it would be selfish of me to vote for the candidate who would help my race. What good is it for a small segment of our society to prosper if it forces us to elect a leader who will send thousands more to die in war?