Victory for NM Dem Native American Caucus

A rule change that allowed an official Native American Caucus to be created within the Democratic Party of NM passed unanimously at Friday's State Central Committee Meeting. An article by Erny Zah in the The Daily Times of Farmington provides good coverage on this important achievement. Excerpts:

"It's a good thing," said GloJean Todacheene, a state committee member and vice president of Shiprock Chapter. "It's a darn good thing."

... With the committee's approval of amendments to the state bylaws to include a Native American Caucus, New Mexico becomes the second state in the country to have the Democratic Party recognize Native Americans with a caucus. The first state to have a Native American Caucus was California, which established it in 1998.

... For New Mexico, Harris said that the approval of the caucus validates the role Native Americans have in the party. She said Natives account for about 10 percent of the state's population, and about 16 percent of the Democratic vote. In addition, about 75 percent of registered Native voters are Democrat.

"One of the ideas we hear that is usually true is Native Americans are taken for granted as a base group," said Harris, who is Comanche.

Now that Native Americans are a viable party within the party, she said that will open doors for Natives for funding that include helping get Natives registered to vote and for training for Natives so they can become more involved with campaigns as volunteers and candidates.

"That's important because of tribal sovereignty," she about that role of Natives in the political process.

... Even though the State Central Committee unanimously approved the formation of a Native American Caucus, Natives are still vastly under represented on the state committee. Of the 357 people on the state committee, only four members are Native American.

Linda Yardley, a State Central Committee member, said she believed going into the vote for approval of the caucus that Native Americans were "overlooked and neglected" by the Democratic Party.

Harris said Native Americans have "caught up pretty quick" with the rest of the party since they have only had the right to vote in state elections since 1962. Now Harris hopes the number of Native Americans holding office will begin to be more reflective of the percentage of Native Americans in the state.

"There's not enough Native American's running for office," she said. She said there are reasons why Native's have been under represented.

"We have been building ourselves. We have been in survival mode for so long. It's just now we can look beyond mere survival," she said.

There will also be increased voter outreach to tribal populations in the state by the Democratic Party of NM's field director, Anathea Chino. Anathea is one of four new field organizers in NM paid by the DNC to do Party building and outreach, and is from Acoma Pueblo, west of Albuquerque. She'll be concentrating on San Juan, McKinley, Sandoval, Cibola, Valencia, Torrance, and Lincoln Counties with an emphasis on the Native American communities throughout the state.