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Bernie Sanders and Native American policy advisor, Nicole Willis, to the right of Sanders, pose with the Great Plains Dance Company in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. At far right is Sanders’s wife, Jane Sanders. Courtesy Bernie Sanders campaign.
This election is already one for the books. Why? Because Bernie Sanders spent more time campaigning on Native American issues than any candidate before him.
This is Trahant Reports.
I have been writing about political campaigns for forty-plus years. I’ve seen an evolution in how presidential candidates reach out to American Indian and Alaska Native voters.
Early on the connection with Native people was mostly seen as a constituent service. Candidates visited. Showed their face. Even said, “vote for me.” Many published nifty policy papers written by folks who work every day on Native issues. But there was no real connection.
**My first experience with that was in 1976 at a press conference with the new President-elect Jimmy Carter asked him how reserved tribal water rights would fit into a Carter water policy? He looked at me and then said that was a question for the Interior Secretary. Next.
**That started to change when Jesse Jackson ran for president. I remember him walking into the Navajo Nation Council and he wasn’t just there. He was present. The response from the tribal delegates was just as real and emotional. There was a connection.
Barack Obama did Jackson one better when he campaigned on the Crow Nation in May of 2008. That connection paid off: Obama has had one of the most successful presidencies in history and that’s especially true when you measure what has occurred in the area of Native American policy.
Has it been a perfect eight years? Of course not. But compared to other administrations — even good ones — this has been a remarkable ride. Obama delivered on his promises. Period.
So with that history fresh in my mind, I think, Bernie Sanders raised the level of expectation to an even higher standard.
What made the Sanders’ campaign so remarkable is that it took what had been a special event — a visit to Crow, for example — and it made it routine. When a Sanders event was near Indian Country (or better within a tribal nation) everyone from the candidate to his staff knew what to do.
This is how campaigns should be run. It conveys a level of respect to the first people of this continent in a way that defies history.
How would this have translated into policy? That we will never know. Unless. Unless Secretary Clinton picks up the best elements of the Sanders campaign and then adds something more. This is entirely possible. She has history in Indian Country that goes back a long time, at least as far back as her legal services work. So with the right people to help her, she could reach that next level.
And on the Republican side, Donald Trump has expressed the beginning of his Native American policy, essentially aligning that policy with more development for oil, gas and coal. His campaign reached out to to the Navajo Nation Council asking for a meeting to explain.
So while this week marks the end of the presidential primary season — and a focus toward general election voters — perhaps there will also be continued conversation about issues important to Native Americans.
I am Mark Trahant reporting.
