Third of four parts
Molly Hensley-Clancy of BuzzFeed News continues a report on difficulties of voting and remembrances of the Standings Rock Indian Reservations in Fort Yates, N.D..
“It’s an exercise in tribal sovereignty,” said Dan Nelson, program director of the Lakota People’s Law Project about voting rights. “They (authorities) jumped through hoops to prevent it from going well.” But it worked.
“So far, across North Dakota, the tribes have issued at least 2,000 new IDs, according to OJ Semans, Four Directions’ co–executive director, including 650 in Standing Rock and at least 1,000 on the Turtle Mountain Reservation. The demand for IDs on Turtle Mountain was so high that the tribe’s chair said the printing machine overheated, melting some IDs.
“They won’t know until Election Day if their work to increase turnout has paid off. But in Standing Rock so far, Nelson said, there have been more than 350 absentee ballots cast. The previous record, Nelson said, was 77.
“In Turtle Mountain, there have been more than 700 absentee ballots cast so far, said Semans. On Election Day, Semans said, Turtle Mountain’s student council had planned a rally at its high school. The rally will end in a march — all of the school’s voting-age seniors, parading through the town of Belcourt behind tribal elders and veterans. Their final destination: The polling place.
“The state of North Dakota has repeatedly said that it isn’t trying to disenfranchise Native American voters. Instead, it says the law is necessary to prevent voter fraud, ensuring that only people who actually live in the state are voting in its elections. There has been little evidence nationwide of widespread voter fraud.
“Dale Ramsey, a get-out-the-vote worker at the yellow house in Fort Yates, doesn’t buy the state’s explanation.
‘“You damn well bet they did it to hurt us,’ he said of the voter ID law. ‘It’s pretty f…..g bullshit, is what it is.’
‘“It’s not surprising to us in North Dakota that they would have seen our success in the last election and try somehow to hinder us,’ said Shauna Elk, who lives in Fort Yates. ‘I don’t think a lot of people are surprised by the things they do here. I hope our people see it as a challenge.”’
Angus Mordant for BuzzFeed News:
An attendee during Heidi Heitkamp’s campaign stop at the Standing Rock Sioux tribal headquarters November 2:
“Phyllis Young still remembers how she and other activists in Standing Rock felt after she helped get senator Heidi Heitkamp elected in 2012: ‘Oh, we were elated. It was that exhilarating feeling.’
“It was shortly after Heitkamp’s victory that the state’s Republican legislature laid the groundwork for the voter ID law.
“Young, who has spent decades as an activist, is working with Four Directions to get out the vote in Standing Rock. From an armchair in the yellow house (headquarters), most everyone else sits on folding chairs, she helps direct workers and organize efforts until well after dark. But this time, Young said she feels very differently about Heitkamp. (Editor’s note: Heitkamp was not re-elected in the November 6 election.)
‘“Two years ago, when more than 1,000 Native Americans and environmental activists in Standing Rock were fighting against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, Heitkamp was nowhere to be found,’ Young said.
“Heitkamp mostly stood on the sidelines, refusing to back the Native Americans who said their water rights and sacred grounds were threatened by the construction of the pipeline, which would run under Lake Oahe, a major water source.
“Barack Obama’s administration halted construction at the site outside Standing Rock after a month’s-long sit-in, but Donald Trump reversed that almost immediately after he took office. The pipeline was finished in April 2017.
“Standing Rock felt Heitkamp’s silence. ‘“It was a slap in our face,’ Young said.
“Some people said they weren’t going to vote for Heitkamp this time because of what happened. ‘“The Easter Bunny is looking pretty good right about now,’ one woman joked.
“But most people in Standing Rock said they would vote for Heitkamp despite her stance on DAPL. There were more important things at stake, they said. Unlike (Kevin) Cramer, her opponent, Heitkamp has actually shown up at Standing Rock and on other reservations, and she made an effort to engage with them on other issues that the tribe cares about, like health care, education, and the disappearances and murders of indigenous women.
“‘I’m swallowing the pain and hurt and anger,’ Young said. ‘She did come back, and that’s why I forgive her.’”
Continued next week