We all had some fun last week laughing at Bush’s inability to answer a question about what he believes tribal sovereignty means in the 21st century. The president looked (and sounded) pretty foolish when he said, “Tribal sovereignty means just that; it’s sovereign. You’re a — you’ve been given sovereignty, and you’re viewed as a sovereign entity.”
Most of us chuckled because it was another example of Bush clearly not knowing what he’s talking about. But for American Indians, the gaffe had far more meaning. One word from Bush’s comment struck a particularly troubling chord: “given.”
As the continent’s first societies, American Indian tribes hold their status as sovereign nations with an almost sacred reverence; an inherent standing as self-governing, independent bodies dating back millennia, something that’s always existed.
Sovereignty is “the nearest and dearest, No. 1 issue in Indian Country,” said Jacqueline Johnson, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Congress of American Indians. “It’s not something that was given to us. As tribes, we see sovereignty as something we’ve always had.”
It’s possible this is one answer in which Bush’s poor choice of words may change some votes in the fall.
Though not as well-known as “soccer moms” and “office-park dads,” the American Indian vote often has an impact on statewide races.
In Washington’s U.S. Senate race in 2000, Slade Gorton arguably lost his re-election bid due to Indian voters and those sympathetic to issues affecting them — thanks in large part to a negative ad campaign against Gorton run by the First American Education Project, an Olympia-based political advocacy group founded by several prominent tribal leaders.
And in South Dakota in 2002, Tim Johnson squeaked out a 524-vote victory for a U.S. Senate seat — a win he has since credited to the strong voter turnout among that state’s prominent Indian population.
Bush and Kerry are no doubt aware of this and are working aggressively to rally support within the community. The “given” response has not only been a setback for Bush, it’s given Kerry another area of effective criticism.
Alyssa Burhans, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in Oregon and the Native Americans organizing director for National Voice, a non-partisan get-out-the-vote project, and Jacqueline Johnson, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Congress of American Indians both agreed that Bush’s answer to the question on sovereignty has created a “buzz” within the American-Indian community.
The president’s words likely will strengthen individual Indian voters’ support of the candidate they already support, said Ron Allen, longtime chairman of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, and a Republican who opposes the president.
“It was disappointing to hear his statements,” said Allen, who also serves as NCAI’s treasurer. “It was clear to us that he didn’t know what he was talking about.”