Wisconsin's presidential primary and numerous local elections around the state will be the first major test of some get out the vote campaigns this year. That includes one attempting to get more Native Americans to the ballot box.
The Wisconsin Native Vote group recently started its get-out-the-vote campaign with a ceremony emphasizing the thousands of Indigenous people who live in the Milwaukee area.
Daniel Preston blessed the event with a prayer and then sang and used a hand drum to perform a tribal honor song.
The event outside the Gerald L. Ignace Indian Health Center in Milwaukee also dedicated a mural that hangs on the north side of the building. The painting features a woman in a jingle dress standing near seven children and reads, "Vote for Our 7th Generation."
Artist Christopher Sweet is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation. He says every election is important. “And this year, every vote is critical. When I was painting this mural, I thought about my children's futures. But it does not end there. Let’s think about all of our future generations," Sweet says.
Anne Egan-Waukau of Wisconsin Native Vote is a member of the Menominee Nation. She says if there is voter apathy about the race for president, she hasn’t experienced it.
“You know, when I’m out talking to my people, I hear a lot of enthusiasm because they do understand climate change. Do you remember when the Canadian fires were going? We had people literally sick. I got sick down here. But our people see it and they really know Mother Earth needs our help. And by voting, they can help," Egan-Waukau says."I’ve had high school kids say, ‘When I turn 18, I’m going to come back to you at a pow-wow, and you’re going to register me.’ And I’m like, 'OK!'”
Egan-Waukau says there are plans to work with the Milwaukee Public Schools to register more 18 year-old students to vote. Other get out the vote efforts are planned at tribal communities in Northern Wisconsin. There are roughly 70,000 Native Americans of voting age in the state. The last two presidential contests were decided by only about 20,000 votes.
While the get out the vote effort by Wisconsin Native Vote is non-partisan, the Biden/ Harris campaign believes it has an advantage in partisan efforts to boosting Native voting.
On March 16 in Sheboygan: “I will just reiterate the fact that I’m here in my personal capacity, and everybody here can call me Deb. Leave off the title, please,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland — the first Native American to be appointed to the Cabinet.
Not acting in her official capacity, Haaland made four stops in Wisconsin to try to help reelect President Joe Biden. At the local Democratic Party headquarters in Sheboygan, "Deb" spoke for about twelve minutes, praising the work of Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris.
Then Haaland turned her remarks to the record of former President and likely 2024 GOP nominee Donald Trump.
“Remember going to sleep each night with a pit in your stomach, wondering what you were going to wake up to the next morning or which world leader he’d pick a fight with next?" Haaland asked the audience.
At earlier stops in Green Bay and Shawano, Haaland spoke to audiences that included many Oneida and Menominee Nations members. Gracie Waukechon is a Menominee college student and an enrolled member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
Waukechon introduced Haaland at the Shawano event and says the interior secretary is a big plus in tribal areas.
“To have a Native person in Cabinet, and to travel across Wisconsin, as a surrogate for President Biden, it is not only effective but, it gets a positive response. We really love her up in Menominee County," Waukechon says.
Waukechon is getting ready to vote in her first presidential election.
Trump will campaign in Green Bay on Tuesday evening, April 2, where local news broadcasts will reach many people, including the Oneida and other tribes in the northeast quarter of the state.
NPR recently reported that Republicans plan to campaign to tribal members nationwide with messages about education, good jobs and community safety. NPR also listed Wisconsin as one of seven states where tribal turnout could help swing the November election.
