Former President Donald Trump traveled to New Mexico last Thursday in a final attempt to rally voters in the state. He focused the rally on Hispanic voters, but there were also a number of Native Americans at the event.
During the rally former vice president for the Navajo Nation, Myron Lizer, who is Republican, said he wants to see areas with high populations of Native Americans grow economically.
“We want to make a Native America great,” he said. “We've never been there. I have to scoff at Build Back Better, because how can you build back better to a place you've never been? I’m talking about Indian country.”
Build Back Better was part of President Joe Biden’s economic plan and was included in the American Rescue Plan and other legislation.
“I hearken to President Trump and his leadership to help bring Indian country into this 21st century. Amen, President Trump. We want to be invited to the American dream. Yéego Trump,” he said.
Trump focused a lot of his speech on border security, saying, quote, “millions of people” come through New Mexico’s section of the southern border. Customs and Border Protection records about half a million encounters on New Mexico's border since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2021. Trump said those include criminals.
“Congratulations. You now have those gang members in your presence,” he said. “You have a lot of rough hombres, don't you?”
Jen Thomasik is from the Quapaw tribe in Oklahoma. She attended the Trump rally while in town for an Indigenous business convention. She said that she resonated with Trump’s sentiments. Her own mother was T-boned by someone who entered the country illegally.
“And it could have taken her life,” she said. “It scared the crap out of my kids, and he was never prosecuted. And you know that kind of thing when we can't prosecute people for the injustices that they do. So having that ability is something that's needed.”
Statistics show that Native Americans typically vote Democratic, but at least one research poll after the 2022 midterms found Republicans gaining ground among Native voters.
“I'm a mom, I'm an auntie, I'm a cousin, I'm a sister,” said Thomasik. “I don't like to tie myself to anything, you know, too strongly. I like to deal with things on a case by case basis."
Thomasik said that even though she’s a Republican she doesn’t place herself into a box and that she’s not a political person.
“For our people, you have to make that individual choice yourself. And it goes beyond a party. It goes on what your Creator is telling you, that gut feeling and what you feel is right, what you feel is wrong,” she said.
Despite New Mexico having one of the largest Native American populations in the country, Trump did not acknowledge Native American voters in his speech. Instead he made derogatory remarks about Kamala Harris and referencenced Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren as Pocahontas.
“Kamala is a radical left Marxist rated even worse than crazy Bernie Sanders and Pocahontas herself,” he said.
Republican Brandy Ross from the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma was offended by that.
“When he mentioned Pocahontas, we both hid our faces, because it is embarrassing for comments like that, yeah, but I think those comments come from ignorance. It does, and that can be fixed,” she said.
Ross also felt that a land acknowledgement should have been done before the event, which is standard practice in New Mexico and other parts of the world.
“You fly into any city of Australia, and they acknowledge the lands and the peoples of those lands, when you land on any airline, super simple. Makes an amazing impact on minorities like us,” she said.
But Valentina, who did not want to give her last name, said she feels closer to the political views of her elders. She’s Navajo from Farmington and said despite her parents being Democrats, she’s a Republican.
“I was brought up by my grandparents, and my grandparents are very conservative, so my ways are just always been toward Republicans,” she said.
She said that Trump is a better candidate because under his presidency the economy was in better shape.
“Inflation was down. Our borders weren't open. He was slowly getting us back back on our feet, and just when COVID happened, everything kind of just went wonky,” she said.
But not everyone who is worried about the economy is voting for Trump. Tamara Allison is Navajo, originally from Farmington. She attended a Snag the Vote event several weeks ago in Albuquerque and said she’s concerned about things like food and rent prices.
“And I just see a lot of people working, you know, minimum wage, two jobs, just to survive,” she said.
Allison is voting for Kamala Harris based on the vice president’s background.
“What she's done, she's comes from a middle, you know,” she said. “I think middle class family herself, she understands. I don't think Trump has that background to really understand issues and what everyone faces, low income to middle income people, he's never been there.”
Tyla Chopito is from Zuni Pueblo and was also at the event. She works for the All Pueblo Council of Governors and said she’s voting for Harris, not Trump.
“I feel like if we have this person coming in, everything might change and the Native voice will be swept under the rug,” she said.
She appreciated Harris’ work with President Biden to protect Chaco Canyon.
“In hopes that we can continue to protect more cultural landscapes for our Pueblos and Natives,” she said.
Santa Clara Pueblo voter Jason Garcia said there are issues in the Native American community that need to be addressed.
“Education, tribal sovereignty, cultural resource protection, environmental protection, water rights, land rights associated with tribes,” he said.
He added that it’s important that Native American voices are heard.
“To express our support for our leadership, whether it's national, tribal, city, county, whatever, I think it's important to us, you know, we have a voice in the democratic system, you know, to choose our leaders in that sense,” he said.
Despite the tensions around this election, the humor within Native communities is still present. Garcia had another candidate in mind.
“Kanye. Write in,” said Garcia.
Election Day is November 5th.
Support from the coverage comes from the Thornburg Foundation.
