Election Day is almost here, and one organization wants to ensure indigenous folks in Montana know how they can cast their ballots.

Ta'jin Perez, deputy executive director of Western Native Voice, said people can register to vote on Election Day, this Tuesday. In urban areas, the process will be a bit easier because people likely can register at their voting precinct. In rural areas with smaller precincts, he said, they won't be equipped to also register people to vote.

"Individuals do have to go to the main county office, especially in rural areas like reservation areas, to register to vote and vote during the same trip, on Election Day," he said.

There was some confusion regarding same-day voter registration in the lead-up to this election. In September, the Montana Supreme Court blocked a state law that would have repealed Election Day registration. People also can sign up to vote as part of late voter registration through Monday at noon. Polls will be open until 8 p.m., and anyone in line at that time will be able to cast a ballot.

While midterms often don't draw the same amount of engagement as presidential elections, Perez said this election is important. He noted, for instance, that Montanans will be voting on two U.S. congressional seats.

"It's important, for Indian Country especially, because there is a direct connection between federal policy and tribes," he said. "There is that direct relationship there."

Perez said there's also been confusion about this election because in 2020, people received their ballots in the mail, due to the pandemic. But this time around, ballots aren't showing up in mailboxes unless a person has registered for absentee ballots. He said if people were expecting to get a ballot in the mail but haven't by Monday, they should make plans to vote in person.

"Encouraging people to check their voter registration status with the Secretary of State's website," he said, "and to contact us if they need any assistance, whatever it may be."

American Indian and Alaska Native communities in Colorado continue to face significant gaps in health care access, quality and outcomes, according to a new analysis of the Colorado All Payer Claims Database.

While the communities face higher rates of many chronic conditions, they are also not getting important preventive care.

David Wright, data manager at the Denver Indian Center, said fear remains a primary barrier, pointing to decades of mistreatment, including the forced sterilization of women and federal policies forcing medicine men and other spiritual leaders into mental asylums up until 1978.

"Native people, for a long time, have been used to advance medical research without their consent," Wright pointed out. "And so there's a large mistrust within the native communities against the medical profession."

Between 2018 and 2024, American Indian and Alaska Native people were diagnosed with kidney disease, autoimmune, nervous, metabolic and endocrine disorders such as diabetes at rates far above their white peers. Wright noted the analysis, produced in partnership with the Center for Improving Value in Health Care, will be used to create a culturally tailored education program for health providers.

Without additional training, Wright pointed out health professionals are likely to continue to assume chronic conditions are due to an individual's dietary choices. Many do not understand for more than 100 years, tribes had to rely on government rations, typically high in carbohydrates and salt, to get enough calories.

"Because of the forced relocation and the reservation systems, and relying on heavily carbohydrate related rations," Wright added.

Poverty, lack of affordable housing and the breakdown of family systems also disproportionately affect health outcomes. Wright argued better health will require treating the whole person, not just specific medical conditions. When people are out of balance in any one area, he stressed there are ripple effects.

"If we're not able to provide stable housing -- which is not only of mental and emotional and physical importance -- but it also will affect the outcomes and the teachings and the role modeling you need for your children and your family structures," Wright emphasized.


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Ho-Chunk has kicked off its summer internship program in Nebraska after sifting through 600 applicants.

It is opening pathways to higher education and leadership positions within the Winnebago Tribe in Nebraska. The Ho-Chunk Incorporated internship program will mentor nearly two dozen students this summer, 14 of whom are members of the Winnebago Tribe.

Aaron LaPointe, CEO of Ho-Chunk Capital, started as an intern and said the program is an opportunity for interns to learn a business from the ground up - and he has personal experience.

"I was studying agriculture, and the CEO here at Ho-Chunk was like, 'What? We have a tribal member studying agriculture? He's got to run this farm,'" LaPointe recounted.

LaPointe started by running the farm and ascended to head Ho-Chunk Capital, an investment arm of the corporation. He took on several other roles on his way up the ladder, too. The internship program is highly competitive. From hundreds of applicants, only 24 were accepted.

In addition to learning skills they need to be successful in business, LaPointe said, interns also gain the confidence to do their jobs.

"Our interns aren't just sitting in a cubicle off to the side filing," he explained. "They're in the board meetings, they're in the executive board meetings and strategizing business, and we really make it a well-rounded experience."

The internship program runs until Aug. 1.

A Montana-based Indigenous advocacy group said it is increasing membership this year in a new way, with a traveling conference.

Western Native Voice on Tuesday held the last of about a dozen conferences it has hosted since March in tribal communities across Montana. The group offers programs to attendees that focus on leadership development, civic engagement and education, and public policy advocacy.

Denise Juneau, former Montana state superintendent of public instruction and a conference keynote speaker, said Native legislators made a lot of headway in this year's session.

"There was a sense of pride in seeing what got accomplished through the 12 Native legislators who got elected from all these different communities," Juneau explained. "I think really a glimmer of hope about what can happen when people get engaged."

Bills passing in 2025 included updates to the Montana Indian Child Welfare Act and a new approach to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons crisis, as well as reauthorization of Native language preservation programs and formal recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day.

Juneau, an enrolled member of the Mandan Hidatsa Tribes of North Dakota, credits her own success in part to growing up with parents in the state Legislature and tribal leadership.

"Being in those seats of power and speaking truth to power, and being engaged at that level really makes a difference for your community, for your state, for the country and for the people who are around you," Juneau recounted.

She encouraged people to get involved at any level, from ensuring your family is registered to vote to running for office.

Shane Doyle, executive director of the nonprofit coalition Yellowstone Peoples and a member of the Apsáalooke Nation, said there is a common misconception tribes across Montana were historically in conflict, when evidence shows they were largely friendly.

"Despite the enormous and remarkable language diversity here in Montana, the tribes were all able to coalesce over generations and create their own sign language," Doyle noted. "It just is a testimony to their stable relations."


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