This Diné Leader Uses Horses to Drive 'Largest Native Turnout Ever' at the Ballot Box | US elections 2024

IIn the Diné or Navajo culture, the horse symbolizes strength and resilience as well as a connection to the earth. Cowboy culture is so important to Native communities that horseback rides are used to raise awareness of issues within the community, including suicide prevention and alcohol and drug use, said Allie Young, a 34-year-old Diné grassroots organizer . This fall, Young has used the ride to engage Diné voters in the presidential election: Her group's voter registration events will culminate with 100 Indigenous voters riding horseback to a polling place in Arizona on Election Day.

“When you get on a horse and are in rhythm with the horse, there is a reconnection,” Young, founder of the Indigenous-led civic engagement program Protect the Sacred, told the Guardian. “So when we connect with the horse, we are reconnected with Mother Earth and reminded of our cultural values ​​and what we are fighting for and what we are protecting.”

Native American voter turnout is particularly important in the upcoming election, when tribal sovereignty could be threatened by the conservative Project 2025, which argues that fossil fuel extraction on tribal lands should be made easier. Political representation that provides needed resources to Indigenous communities is particularly important in tribal areas, where 75% of roads remain unpaved. Due in part to Young's advocacy, Native American voters are credited with flipping the historically red state of Arizona Democratic in the 2020 election. According to the data, up to 90% of the approximately 67,000 eligible voters in the Navajo Nation voted for Joe Biden this year.

Young said she hopes the success of the Ride to the Polls campaign in 2020 and 2022 will result in “the largest Indigenous voter turnout ever” in the upcoming election. This year, the campaign has expanded its reach to include events such as skateboarding and bull riding competitions, heavy metal and country concerts.

“We are trying to convey to our community that we must protect our tribal sovereignty,” Young said, “and by extension our sacred sites, our lands, our cultures, our languages, our traditions.”

Young launched the “Ride to the Polls” campaign in 2020 in response to the rapid spread of Covid-19 infections in the Navajo Nation, where some counties had the highest per capita death rates in the country. She wanted to ensure her community filled out the U.S. Census to receive the funding they deserve and elect politicians who would prioritize the concerns of Native communities.

“Our nation and many tribal nations across the country have been devastated by the Covid-19 outbreak because our system is chronically underfunded,” Young said, “which revealed to the rest of the world what we already know: that government is not underfunded. “We honor our treaty that says we should receive good health care and education.” She began creating culturally relevant initiatives so that young Diné citizens who felt disenfranchised could use voting as a tool to “rebuild our lives.” “Power as a community”.

The campaign's goal in 2024 is to register 1,500 new voters through in-person initiatives and more than 5,000 voters through online efforts. So far they have registered 200 new voters and checked or updated the registrations of around 400 people.

On October 12, actor Mark Ruffalo will join Ride to the Polls to mobilize Native voters and celebrate the 100th anniversary of giving Native Americans the right to vote. Ruffalo and Indigenous voters in traditional dress will walk three miles to vote early at a municipal ballot box in Fort Defiance, Arizona – the site where the forced relocation known as the “Long Walk of the Navajo” began in 1863.

“For 76 years, Indigenous peoples have only been able to fight for their future at the ballot box,” Ruffalo said in a statement. “Now we are seeing a huge movement of young Indigenous people exerting their power at the polls… I hope their resilience will inspire other young Indigenous people from all communities to do the same.”

While most Native Americans were granted U.S. citizenship under the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, some state constitutions continued to block the voting rights of Native Americans living in their nations. In Arizona, pollsters required English tests to vote. The Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 finally granted all Native Americans the right to vote.

Still, there are still hurdles that make it difficult for Diné to register to vote and cast ballots, including a lack of residential addresses since many people on the Navajo Nation use post office boxes. The drive to a polling station can also take up to an hour, Young said. And this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Arizona can enforce a state law requiring prospective voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship on registration forms, which Young called a “slap in the face to Native Americans, the first peoples.” of this region “designated country to require proof of their citizenship”.

To overcome some of these hurdles, Protect the Sacred is partnering with the Indigenous-led nonprofit voter advocacy group Arizona Native Vote. Indigenous organizers are registering voters and helping residents find their addresses by locating their homes on Google Maps. “When we talk to voters, a key point is to let them know that voting and registering to vote shouldn’t be so difficult,” said Jaynie Parrish, executive director of Arizona Native Vote. “For example, the form itself — what takes five minutes or less for someone in Flagstaff or Phoenix or in a city with a physical address or city, that doesn't happen here.”

During a six-stop Diné registration walking tour across the Navajo Nation in mid-September, Indigenous organizers discussed with voters the importance of voting in every election. They served citizens stew and fried bread while explaining to them that county elections can determine how local government operations are financed. Young said, “I believe we have created a movement around the power of the Indigenous vote.”