CANNON BALL, N.D. -- Today is Indigenous Peoples Day. In North Dakota, advocates are honoring their heritage by ramping up efforts to ensure Native Americans overcome voting obstacles in the 2020 election.

The race is on to help those living on reservations know what they have to do to cast their ballot. But with the pandemic ravaging North Dakota right now, that road to provide assistance has become more narrow.

Nicole Donaghy, director of North Dakota Native Vote, said they're still encouraging tribal members to vote absentee.

But COVID is limiting activity on reservations for residents to deliver those ballots, while longstanding issues, such as internet access and postage fees haven't gone away.

She said limited dropboxes pose another problem.

"In Standing Rock, for instance, there's going to be only one dropbox, and that'll be at the courthouse," Donaghy explained. "And so, like if you live in Cannon Ball, you'll have to drive 20 miles to get your ballot to that dropbox."

She noted in a community on the Spirit Lake reservation, the post office has closed, creating another barrier.

Donaghy's group sought clarification from the Secretary of State on whether they could assist with ballot collection. The response didn't provide a clear opinion, so the group is holding off out of caution, so ballots aren't disqualified.

The group has been training volunteers on reservations to do outreach so that tribal members are protected during the pandemic. And Donaghy said they're placing a lot of focus on updating their website with necessary information.

Meanwhile, State Rep. Ruth Buffalo, D-Fargo, worked with North Dakota Native Vote on seeking clarification on the ballot issue.

She agreed the current statute is too vague for groups to explore the idea of collecting them. She said it underscores the need for the state to be more proactive in helping this population prepare for a crisis.

"Anything that we can do to prevent further stress on communities who are already experiencing chronic stress," Buffalo offered.

Buffalo said the issues right before the 2020 vote are very similar to the last-minute court decision in 2018 that allowed enforcement of the state's voter ID law.

Many say the law disenfranchises Native voters. While there was still record turnout among the Native population that year, there are lingering concerns there might be a setback given all the challenges this time.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in an Arizona case concerning ballot collection for tribes.

A team of educators and supporters recently proposed changes to South Dakota's framework for Indigenous education, making the lessons more accessible for teachers across the state.

The Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings and Standards, in the works since 2008, were approved by the state in 2018 for education about the region's Indigenous cultures and ways of knowing. Some of the core understandings are built on themes including environment, identity, kinship, traditions and sovereignty.

According to the document, the framework offers not just an opportunity to learn about Indigenous people but also from them.

Roberta Bizardie, Sicangu Lakota, superintendent of the Todd County School District, sits on the 2024 Revisioning and Reaffirming Team and said it is meant to be imbued throughout an entire school day, rather than restricted to just social studies or history class.

"We want kids to understand when you walk in the door, we're incorporating them throughout your whole day," Bizardie explained. "And just to really help build up that identity side of who our kids are."

According to a 2023 state survey, 62% of South Dakota educators reported using the standards, a 17% increase from 2021, though the response rate dropped. There are no state requirements to implement the standards, though Bizardie pointed out Todd County has a policy to ensure they are used.

Bizardie noted while the current accepted standards focus on younger kids, her goal is to create grade-level expectations for K-12 students in Todd County. The 2024 proposal does not change the core understandings themselves but includes a deeper integration of Native language and will make lessons more accessible to both students and teachers.

"It was just kind of cleaning things up," Bizardie added. "When a teacher, whether you are Indigenous, non-Indigenous, you could look at this document and say, 'Oh, I can do this.'"

The 2024 proposal is open to public comment through Sept. 16.


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Historic inequities have left many tribal nations behind the rest of the country but a new Arizona State University program is designed to launch them into the digital future.

The university's Center for Tribal Digital Sovereignty is designed to help Native Americans plan and develop their digital footprint. The project is a joint effort between The American Indian Policy Institute at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law and the National Congress of American Indians.

Tracy Morris, executive director of the institute, said it is all about providing full access to the digital universe.

"Tribal digital sovereignty is the exercise of self-determination of all digital aspects in a tribe, that the tribe itself controls," Morris outlined. "That could be the infrastructure, it could be the data, it could be the physical networks, it could be their cloud or whatever."

Morris argued developing a platform for digital information is critical to tribal autonomy. The program will support tribes in Arizona and across the U.S. in achieving equal access to the governance, social and economic advantages of broadband and other technologies.

Morris pointed out digital sovereignty encompasses all aspects of a tribal nation's digital plan and footprint, such as tribal codes, managing data protection, digital equity, network infrastructure, development of funding sources and capacity building.

"The point is for tribes to be able to implement the best thing that they can and exercise their digital sovereignty so that they can serve their members," Morris explained. "For the end user, they should be able to have the same access as, theoretically, you or I have in a city."

Morris added broadband and other communications technologies are a necessary 21st-century platform for tribal independence. She believes establishment of the Center is a significant turning point for Native Americans.

"If you look at Indian law and Indian history, it's usually something imposed on us in the past or it's taken away from us," Morris observed. "We have a level playing field here. We're all competing. We're all competing. We're all the same resources, the same capacity, the same people to do the work. And it's exciting."


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Indigenous leaders are asking California Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a bill that would allow federally recognized tribes to sign agreements with the state to co-manage and co-govern ancestral lands and waters. Assembly Bill 1284 unanimously passed both houses of the state Legislature this week.

Scott Sullivan is vice chairman of the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation.

"This is going to allow us to deepen our relationship on a government-to-government level, it'll give us better access to our traditional ancestral territories to improve the environment and to reconnect our people to the land," he said.

Tribes hope the bill will strengthen shared decision-making around the new Yurok-Tolowa Dee-ni' Indigenous Marine Stewardship Area - which covers the coastline three miles out - from the mouth of the Little River in Humboldt County up to the California-Oregon border.

Fawn Murphy, chair of the Pulikla Tribe of Yurok People, said the tribes want to promote biodiversity and reverse erosion and environmental degradation.

"As these devastating climate impacts are coming and things are changing so rapidly, we need to bring it back to what works. California tribal people have been practicing traditional ecological knowledge since time immemorial," Murphy explained.

The tribes also seek input into future offshore wind projects in the area. The bill is also intended to help California meet its goal of preserving 30 percent of the state's land and waters by 2030.


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