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By Anne Egan-Waukau, Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Native Vote Communications Manager and Tribal Organizer
Throughout the year, the Wisconsin Native Vote team has been talking with community members across the state to promote voting in the Tuesday, Nov. 3 election and have heard the same message: βVoting is vital to the survival of our cultures.β
Our tribal organizers work to educate, motivate, and register Indigenous people to vote. You may have seen us at pow wows, round dances, and community events around Wisconsin.
We talk with first time voters, long time voters, and everyone in between, but the conversations circle back to why our votes truly make an impact on our people: the people we elect have the power to make decisions that impact our Tribal nations and our daily lives. When we vote, we choose our leaders and we have a say in our future.
Voting is key to ensuring we maintain our sovereignty, cultural ways, and protect our wild rice beds. In fact, our rice beds are beginning to flourish after years of shrinking due to climate change, motorboats, and other destructive practices impacting our waterways.
Another key issue for our Indigenous people is the need for funding to combat the devastation caused by opioid use among our people. The result has been the loss of lives, livelihood, and broken families on our reservations and Natives living in urban areas.
Itβs important, now more than ever, to uplift one anotherβs voices and encourage our people to vote. Our votes have a long-lasting effect on our future generations. When we go to our polling places to cast our ballots, we think of those who came before us and remember that it is a way of protecting our seventh generation and our sovereignty.
In the same way that we work to maintain traditions within our family, we encourage people to make voting one of those traditions. In our communities, traditions survive because we practice them repeatedly. Casting your ballot is the same way. When we show up collectively, our voices and communities are stronger.
Make sure to use your voice and vote on Tuesday, Nov. 3 β and encourage your friends and relatives to join you.
Find all the voting information you need on our website at www.conservationvoices.org/vote, such as where your polling place is. You can register in-person when you vote with a proof of residence document. To vote, make sure to bring a valid photo ID, such as a Tribal ID or a Wisconsin driverβs license.
Together, we can protect our voices in our democracy, our culture, and our sovereignty on November 3.
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