A CALL TO PROTECT OUR DEMOCRACY

June 24, 2021

The National Urban Indian Family Coalition (NUIFC) and 40+ members of our national network of urban American Indian & Alaskan Native nonprofits are demanding that Congress take action to protect our democracy, by passing the For the People Act (H.R 1/S.1) or comparable civil rights policy. This landmark legislation has the potential to expand and protect every American’s right to participate in our democracy by addressing partisan gerrymandering, restoring faith in non-partisan endeavors, and ending dark money political contributions.

The NUIFC and our national network of member organizations have a shared commitment and belief in fulfilling our country’s democratic ideals. Together we acted on that belief by conducting the largest Native voter and civic engagement initiatives in history for the 2018 & 2020 elections and the 2020 Census. Our work in building electoral power and capacity for Native communities resulted in unprecedented voter engagement across the country. Our collective efforts made a significant impact on local, state, and national elections and energized the largest segment of the American Indian and Alaska Native voter base – the Urban Native voter. We will continue to fight, organize, and build our electoral power movement across Indian Country, but we need Congress to stand with us and use their legislative authority to protect our right to vote and ensure we have equitable access to the polls. 

We are deeply concerned to see lawmakers in many states pass voter suppression laws following the 2020 election. We are appalled, but not surprised that these efforts will be disproportionately harmful to the voting rights of Native, black, and communities of color who already experience historic and systemic marginalization in our democracy. It’s not a coincidence that one of the states passing the most aggressive voter suppression laws in Arizona, a swing state with a significant Native voting bloc that played a pivotal role in defining the national political landscape after the 2020 election. 

As a united voice for urban Indian families and the nonprofit organizations that serve them, our work is predicated on the message that voting is a foundational and inherent right. When those rights are put in jeopardy, it is our responsibility to respond to that threat. Congress has the opportunity in the coming weeks to pick up this mantle and pass transformative legislation that will enshrine this ideal. If that means reforming the filibuster – an anti-democratic measure that has long stymied civil rights efforts – then so be it. The Senate must not allow this opportunity to fortify our electoral system to slip away.

Signed in Solidarity and Love by the Urban Indian Organizations below, 

National Urban Indian Family Coalition

Janeen Comenote, Executive Director, NUIFC
Staff members Rio Fernandes, Audrey Gray, Meila Davis, Michelle Boxley

NUIFC Board and Organizations

Patricia Hibbeler – CEO, Phoenix Indian Center
Ramon Vasquez – Executive Director, American Indians in Texas Spanish Colonial Missions, San Antonio, TX
Sheri Timm-Riemers – Government & Community Relations Director, Ain Dah Yung Center, St. Paul MN

NUIFC Member Centers & Affiliates