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Showing posts from August, 2022

Voters Who Could Decide Close Elections in 2022: Natives are casting critical votes, as well as running for—and winning—local, state, and national offices.

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OJ Semans, Rosebud Sioux organizer of the Nevada forum and co-director of the voting-rights group  Four Directions. Photo by Justin Poole. A version of this article appeared in Yes! magazine in August 2022. For more on topics like this, see my book, American Apartheid: The Native American Struggle... .  O ver the course of two days in June, a lively, engaged audience listened to federal and state candidates describe their positions and plans at a Native-run candidate forum at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, law school. These meetings are teaching moments, says OJ Semans, the Rosebud Sioux organizer of the forum and co-director of the  voting-rights group Four Directions . “We’ll learn about the candidates, and they’ll learn about us.” Candidates from the Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian parties answered questions posed by tribal leaders, by Native and non-Native attorneys, and by staffers from Native nonprofits, such as the National Congress of American Indians. Amber Torr