Casino money helps Indians emerge as new force in politics

Renee Ruble

Monday, Nov. 4, 2002 | 9:48 a.m.

MILLE LACS LAKE, Minn. -- Standing under portraits of chiefs one night a few weeks ago, state Rep. Sondra Erickson told the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe that she believes their reservation no longer exists.

Some members of the Indian band leaned back in their chairs. Others turned to each other, shook their heads and whispered. What the band holds sacred as reservation land, Erickson and some others believe the band lost in a 1913 U.S. Supreme Court ruling and acts of Congress.

It was the first nontribal political debate hosted by the Mille Lacs Band, and although none of the candidates was Ojibwe, all acknowledged the growing political and financial muscle of the northern Minnesota band.

Tribes around the country, many enriched by casino revenue, are becoming a growing force in politics. Candidates more often campaign at reservations, trying to reach a growing number of Indian voters.

"In the last decade, the Native American voice and influence in politics, both economically and locally, has grown exponentially," said Holly Cook, a Red Lake Band of Chippewa member who lobbies for several tribes in Washington, D.C.

"They're seeing more and more that our votes are getting stronger," said Tammy Miller, a Mille Lacs band member who organized the debate.

The tribes recognize the power of becoming active in "the other government." They're creating offices to nominate and elect tribal members for state and county seats, many never held by an American Indian.

"We need to get out there and vote or else no one is ever going to listen to us," said Jesse Claussen, a Lakota, who organized a record high Indian voter turnout in southern South Dakota.

In tribal elections, voter turnout rate is typically over 60 percent, but Indian participation drops dramatically in state and federal elections. The trend can be seen from the Ojibwe and Mdewakanton in Minnesota to the Lakota Sioux in South Dakota and the Navajo in the Southwest.

"Tribal elections are so personable -- you know the people and can see the difference on the reservation," Miller said. "It's just a matter of educating members that their votes also can make a difference in state elections. It's changing a thought process."

To make voting less intimidating, Lakota members gave rides and welcomed voters in Lakota at polling places. Mille Lacs handed out a voter guide on Indian issues. And in the Southwest, Navajos were hired by counties to help with voter registration.

The Navajo also worked with states to combine elections, allowing members to vote on tribal and state issues on the same day and at the same place. On such days, the Indian voter turnout jumped to about 60 percent, said Carol Perry, who heads the Navajo election administration.

"There's a lot of pride when Indian people step forward and do well," said Claussen, who helped organized a record primary vote by the Lakota to oust the mayor, county commissioners and a school board member in Martin, S.D., between the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations.

Claussen and other Lakota leaders spent months organizing the vote after town leaders dismissed their concerns of prejudicial schools and racial profiling by the sheriff's department. They went to basketball games, tribal feasts and door to door to register Indians, including some who never voted in a nontribal election.

When the June 4 primary arrived, Indians accounted for 53 percent of the voter base, up from the typical 15 percent. Among the winners were three recruited Indians.

"We're hoping that what we did can filter out to other Indian people, to let them know how you can change things in your community by voting," said Claussen, a LaCreek District Civil Rights Committee member.

In the 2000 presidential election, contributions from Indian gaming amounted to $2.95 million, mostly to Democrats. So far this year, more than $1.3 million in Indian gaming money was given -- closely divided among Democrats and Republicans -- by individuals, PACs and soft money, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

"We're getting more respect as well as getting more influence with gambling dollars," said Al Childs, treasurer of the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Community in south-central Minnesota.

The tiny Prairie Island is one of the top ten Indian gaming campaign contributors this year, spending more than $53,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Earlier this year, Prairie Island gained national attention in the congressional debate over the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site. The Indian community supported the Nevada site in hopes it would limit the nuclear waste stored at a nearby Xcel Energy waste site.

With revenues from its Treasure Island Resort and Casino the band runs just south of the Twin Cities, Prairie Island bought full-page ads in the Minneapolis and St. Paul daily newspapers, as well as Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, about Yucca Mountain.