In victory and defeat, American Indians make strides on Election Day

Last month, as the voter registration deadline in Montana drew near, a band of musicians launched a tour of the state's Indian reservations with one goal in mind: Election Day. ``Make me happy,''

Thursday, November 16th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Last month, as the voter registration deadline in Montana drew near, a band of musicians launched a tour of the state's Indian reservations with one goal in mind: Election Day. ``Make me happy,'' singer Bonnie Raitt challenged concertgoers on the Blackfeet Reservation. ``Vote!''

That message resounded at the polls as an unprecedented six American Indians won election to the Legislature.

In Oklahoma, the chief of the Cherokee Nation sent letters to tribal members reminding them to vote, then provided vans to ferry people to the polls. The result: A Cherokee was elected to the U.S. House in the tribe's congressional district.

And if Republican Slade Gorton loses his hotly contested U.S. Senate seat in Washington state, Indians can claim some of the credit.

In an election reminding all Americans that their votes really can matter, Indians made their voices heard at the polls in what some are declaring the beginning of the end to electoral indifference among the nation's first inhabitants.

``One vote does make a difference. I think we're finding that out now,'' said Linwood Tall Bull, a Northern Cheyenne who saw more Indians heading to the polls this year on the Montana reservation.

``The interest of the people has really changed,'' Tall Bull said. ``They're now looking at the national level and the state level, and not just tribal elections.''

American Indians comprise one of the smallest slices of the U.S. voting population _ 1.6 million eligible voters of 206 million nationwide. Just how many Indians are registered to vote and actually do vote is unknown; Indian activists and voter research groups say it's simply too tough to track.

Because of the numbers, the Indian electorate has been largely overlooked by candidates and, in turn, U.S. elections have been ignored by Indians, who are more likely to participate in tribal elections.

``Indians are still trying to get a place at the political table. That is what's happening now,'' said Ron Allen, vice president of the National Congress of American Indians and chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam tribe in Washington state.

The attitude began changing with ballot-box battles over issues such as Indian casinos. In California, for example, tribes spent more than $66 million fighting for a 1998 initiative to expand reservation gambling. When courts struck down the measure, the tribes raised another $20.7 million to support a proposition passed earlier this year allowing similar casino pacts.

This year there were other rallying cries.

Indians were infuriated by a resolution adopted by Washington state Republicans calling for the dissolution of tribal governments. Although Gorton didn't support the measure, he was targeted by Indians for defeat because of his efforts to make tribal governments subject to lawsuits and restructure the federal funding system for tribes. Indians spent $1 million in their bid to oust Gorton.

In Utah, tribes joined other groups in an unsuccessful effort to defeat a measure making English the official state language, while Arizona tribes banded together against a proposition dismantling bilingual education in public schools.

The bilingual education initiative passed statewide but was defeated in the three counties encompassing the Navajo Nation, the country's largest Indian nation. Fearing the measure could eliminate programs meant to preserve tribal languages, Navajo leaders ``made that a priority and urged every eligible voter to vote against Proposition 203,'' Navajo education official LeNora Fulton said.

While those efforts failed, the Indian vote spelled success in Oklahoma and Montana. Democrat Brad Carson won election to the U.S. House in Oklahoma's 2nd Congressional District, in which Indians comprise 15 percent of registered voters. An enrolled member of the Cherokee tribe, Carson becomes the only Democratic congressional member from Oklahoma and joins Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., as the second enrolled tribal member in Congress.

In Montana, six of seven Indians running for the Legislature were elected following an intensive get-out-the-vote campaign on the state's reservations. Five of the state's seven reservations will be represented by Indians.

For the first time, the state Democratic Party hired an Indian coordinator to help register tribal members and turn out the vote, while the nonpartisan group Native Action sponsored voter registration drives and concerts around the state.

``This is a real positive thing for Indian people,'' said Democrat Norma Bixby, a Northern Cheyenne who narrowly defeated an incumbent Republican legislator in the district that includes the Northern Cheyenne Reservation and part of the Crow Reservation.

The Indian vote in Montana also provided evidence of an emerging Democratic bloc: Democratic candidates won handily in counties with large Indian populations.

All of that, Indians hope, will mean greater influence and participation at the polls in the future.

``I don't think Indians have seen their vote as important, the same as many people throughout America,'' said Montana state Rep. Carol Juneau, who ran unopposed for her seat that includes the Blackfeet Reservation. ``But I think we're getting a good lesson on how important one vote is.''