Montana's largest Indigenous rights group is hosting a series of events around the state to empower Native voters as the election draws closer. The next event begins today in Fort Belknap.
The events in the Snag Dat Vote Tour are about more than just registering and encouraging all Indigenous people to vote.
Western Native Voice Communications Director Tracie Garfield said there's a special focus on educating young people.
"They're brand new voters, so this might be the first time they're voting," said Garfield. "But I believe that if we can get them to vote in this election, the likelihood of them voting in more elections is pretty high."
In addition to the Fort Belknap event that starts today, she said Western Native Voice is holding outreach events in Crow Agency, Lame Deer, Polson, and Poplar through early October.
Garfield said educating Indigenous people about the importance of their voices in elections is a critical part of the democratic process, especially in Indian country.
"Not just this election, but in the city, state, local county elections," said Garfield. "We want to make sure voting becomes a family tradition - because Native people haven't been voting that long, and making it a family tradition is something that we would really like to see."
Western Native Voice also launched an online voter guide, called Ballot Builder, to help educate voters about the candidates and issues before they head to the polls.
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Arizona State University has developed a new tool that they hope will help researchers analyze connections between illnesses and health determinants within Indigenous populations. The Indigenous Health Research Dashboard is an online repository of peer-reviewed, published studies that focus on medical conditions and diseases impacting Indigenous health since 2020.
Angela Gonzales, a member of the Hopi Tribe in Northern Arizona, and an ASU professor and director of the American Indian Studies Program, said it is important for her to be a part of an initiative that aims to move the needle for Indigenous health equity. She explains that she has seen firsthand the "devastating impacts" of limited access to health care in Native communities.
"By having it public available and accessible, when tribes are interested in trying to find out the latest research, for instance let's say on COVID-19 vaccinations, they have a one stop source to be able to access a lot of that information. You can search by keywords, can search by key topics, it breaks it down into regions," she said.
Gonzales added that the dashboard is what she calls 'bio-directional,' meaning it's an effort that is driven by what tribal partners have identified as major health concerns, and said the project has also allowed students to develop their research skills and learn to synthesize information. They are currently recruiting students to be a part of the team that will continue working on the initiative next year. She hopes they're able to capture a more 'holistic' and historical view of health trends and findings.
Gonzales says they're ramping up outreach efforts to ensure public health professionals and medical providers in Indigenous communities know about the useful resource. But she adds that Native communities have already expressed the need for such information.
"If you're a tribal health professional, the opportunity to do research, it takes away from your other responsibilities that are oftentimes more pressing. By having this dashboard available, they can go right to it," she continued.
Gonzales said that Indigenous health equity has been improving in recent years, but she says as an academic she hopes researchers do better to create a stronger 'knowledge bridge,' and develop resources that are use-inspired. She feels the dashboard is a step in that direction.
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The state of Washington is helping Native Americans access health care after decades of barriers.
Health insurers have made it difficult for tribal members to get care covered, despite state and federal laws that bar this.
Vicki Lowe is the executive director of the American Indian Health Commission, which has led efforts to remove hurdles for Native Americans.
She said health insurers would try to make tribal clinics charge out-of-network rates, and wouldn't honor their referrals.
However, the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner has come out with guidance to prevent this.
"Not only will tribes have more money to help pay for services for their tribal members, tribal members will get care in a more timely manner," said Lowe. "So those two things just are really important, and insurance companies have been a barrier for that for decades."
Washington is among the first states to move forward with guidance for insurers and also enforcement of the law so that insurers will stop putting up roadblocks for tribal members to get care in the state.
Todd Dixon is the deputy commissioner for consumer protection and the tribal liaison for the Office of the Insurance Commissioner.
He said one reason for releasing the guidance was that the agency has seen an uptick in complaints - the number one compliant typically coming from billing managers at clinics.
"It says, 'Hey, we have an enrolled member. He or she was seen at our clinic. We billed the insurance company. They said we're out of network and so "we're only paying 60%." And then they send a bill to the enrolled member,'" said Dixon. "It's not how it works."
The Insurance Commissioner's office has been sending notices to insurers who violate protections for Native Americans.
Lowe said before they got involved, tribes fighting with insurers on their own were getting them nowhere. But it's different with the state backing them.
"Knowing that if somebody violates these laws that they're going to get that outreach from the insurance commissioner and that they have 15 days to respond," said Dixon. "Where if a tribe asked them, they would maybe not respond or respond in some convoluted way - it's a power shift to really have the state agency behind this."
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A new survey of Native American teens and young adults highlights a growing preference for the term "Indigenous" rather than being referred to as "American Indian."
Researchers from the Aspen Institute's Center for Native American Youth surveyed close to 1,000 Native Americans under age 24, including a large contingent from California.
Cheyenne Runsabove, associate director of youth programs at the center, said the term "Native American" is still dominant.
"Fifty-three percent of Native youth prefer the word 'Native American,' and only 7% prefer the word 'American Indian,'" Runsabove reported. "We continue to see that 7% going down, and what we continue to see uptick is the word 'Indigenous.'"
The report, called "Center Us," also found many Native youths are apathetic toward U.S. elections and disappointed in the rate of change. It also found Native youth who feel culturally educated are four times more likely to see themselves as capable of making a difference than those who do not.
Runsabove pointed out culture is identity for Native youth and noted more than 60% of California Native youth said they feel either moderately, a lot, or a great deal culturally educated.
"Language, history, stories, connection to land, all of those things are at the core of identity for Native youth," Runsabove explained. "And so, we have to be mindful of their true cultural identities."
The survey noted big differences between young people in urban areas versus small towns and reservations, when it comes to the availability of culturally-informed health care, after-school programs and money for college.
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