Non-Indigenous officials representing Indigenous constituents, nations
Pauly Denetclaw
CHICAGO — The 22 Indigenous nations in Arizona, whose lands make up nearly a third of the state, have never had an Indigenous politician represent them in Congress. In 2022, Alaska, where 40 percent of Indian Country is located, elected the first Alaska Native to serve as a U.S. House representative but never a senator. In New Mexico, no Indigenous person in congressional district 3 has represented 16 of the 22 Indigenous nations.
These are just a few examples of the stark reality that Indigenous people don't have representational parity in Congress and their interests are often represented by non-Indigenous elected officials.
This was clear during the two days of Native American Caucus meetings at the Democratic National Convention, a slew of elected officials, the majority were non-Indigenous people who represent districts with a high population of Indigenous people. According to Advance Native Political Leadership, there needs to be 17,000 Indigenous people to local, state or national office to gain representational parity in elected offices.
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, in Arizona, spoke to the caucus on the first day of their meeting. She describes herself as a seventh generation Sonoran Desert dweller. The city of Tucson was built on the homelands of the Tohono O'odham Nation and Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Romero was reelected last fall.
"It's important to me to be able to represent our urban Native people, and be able to give the importance that both the Tohono O'odham Nation and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe represent to all of us, in my city," Romero told ICT.
There are many issues that urban Native people in Tucson face including health disparities, maintaining cultural connection, low graduation rates, and high infant mortality, according to Romero.
"We need to make sure that we are investing," Romero said. "Investment in after school programming, investment in education, investment in health and availability of health care for all. That's why I believe in the Harris-Walz ticket."
During her speech, Romero also highlighted that a vote for Harris-Walz is also support for Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, White Earth Nation, to become the first Native American woman governor.
Related: Past, present Indigenous elected leaders endorse Kamala Harris
Hawai'i Rep. Jill Tokuda, district 2, attended the rural caucus meeting where she planned to speak but time ran out. Tokuda represents nearly 78,000 Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders, according to the U.S. Census .
"I feel very humbled that I'm able to represent our Indigenous community in Hawai'i," Tokuda said.
She is running for reelection and will likely serve another term.
Since the 1970s, housing has been one of the major issues in Hawai'i. The state leads the nation in high housing costs, to buy and rent. The average home cost is well over half a million dollars. This has forced many Native Hawaiian families to leave their ancestral homelands for the mainland.
"It breaks my heart that when I go to Las Vegas, I'll go to Zippy's , and I'll see everyone there. It looks like I'm right back in Hawai'i, and they should be home," Tokuda said.
The housing issues were exacerbated by the devastating Lahaina fire on Maui last year that killed 102 people and left 12,000 people displaced. Nearly one year later there are still families without stable housing .
This is why housing is one of Tokuda's main priorities while she's in Congress.
"(It) means economic opportunities. It means educational opportunities. It means homes that they can afford, and not just on homestead lands," she said. And so really, how do you support (Native Hawaiian organizations) to be able to create jobs, good jobs for not just Native Hawaiians, but for Kamaʻāina alike."
Kamaʻāina means non-Native Hawaiian people who are born and raised in Hawai'i.
Tokuda affirmed her commitment to her Native Hawaiian constituents that she would continue to be an ally.
"I recognize fully that at the end of the day, I have much to learn," she said. "I accept this job. I fight to get this job back with much humility in recognizing that we have to address many of the historic traumas of the past, a lot of the inequities that still exist today, but we have to view them, yes, as challenges, but opportunities as well, to advance and grow together."
New Mexico Rep. Teresa Leger-Fernandez was another non-Native member of Congress that attended the Native American Caucus meetings.
She proudly said that she represents 16 Indigenous nations in Congress. She is running for reelection against Navajo Nation citizen Sharon Clahchischilliage, the Republican candidate.
Leger-Fernandez is co-chair of the House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs. Two of the major issues she sees are the attacks on Native American voting rights and water settlements. She also highlighted the historic amount of federal funding allocated to Indigenous nations through the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill and American Rescue Plan. Billions were poured into Indigenous nations for infrastructure and Covid relief.
"Native Americans were the last ones to get the full right to vote, and they (Republicans) are attacking that vote again. So the only way to stop that is to show up and vote, no matter how hard they make it," Leger-Fernandez said.
