TIM GIAGO American Indian vote crucial this year

There appears to be a battle brewing in South Dakota and other Western states with large American Indian populations in this election year.
Twenty years ago few politicians considered the Indian vote. It was a policy of the Democrats to spend more time with the people of the Indian reservations simply because of tradition. One seldom, if ever, saw a Republican actually visit an Indian reservation.
And so, through the years, the Indian people tended to be Democrats. This didn't seem to matter until several years ago when Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., squeaked out a very narrow margin over his opponent mainly on the back of the Indian reservations. But even then, Daschle was considered more lucky than calculating.
The Senate race in South Dakota in 2000 put an end to all speculation about the Indian vote. Sen. Tim Johnson, a Democrat, was in a heated race with Republican John Thune. Thune, a former member of the House of Representatives, gave up that seat in order to pursue Daschle.
During the campaign several big guns from the Republican Party made trips to South Dakota in support of Thune. On election night it looked as if all of their efforts had paid off. In the wee hours of the morning only two precincts remained to be counted and the supporters of John Thune were already popping the corks on their champagne bottles. Oops!!
Nearly every Republican forgot the precincts on the Pine Ridge Reservation, the largest reservation in South Dakota, at least population wise. It had been an all-night affair for both parties and most voters were bleary eyed by the time the final tally came in. Tim Johnson had squeezed out a hard fought campaign by a mere 564 votes and it was the Pine Ridge Reservation that put him over the top.
Finger of suspicion
The Republican House in South Dakota, with speculative comments from columnist Robert Novak on his television show, pointed the finger of suspicion upon the Indian voters. They hastily set about changing the rules in the middle of the stream. One controversial change put into effect was that all voters had to present photo ID's before they could cast a ballot. How many other states in the union require photo ID's?
But all of the efforts of the South Dakota Republican House failed when Stephanie Herseth defeated Larry Diedrich for the House of Representatives seat left vacant by the resignation of Bill Janklow, who had run a stop sign and killed a biker.
Although this close race was held in a primary election when voters do not turn out in large numbers, the Indian vote turned out to be the difference.
States such as New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, Oklahoma, Idaho and Washington with large Indian populations can make a difference in the 2004 elections. The Indian vote has always been there and it has, for the most part, supported Democratic candidates, but it is much more organized now and the Indian voters tend to vote in a block.
All of a sudden Republican candidates are courting the Indian vote, a vote they ignored for the last 50 years. There are even members of different tribes actively speaking out for the Republican candidates. Thune, who is challenging Daschle for the Senate this year, is actively pursuing the Indian vote. He has activist Russell Means promoting his candidacy as well as a new Republican named Bruce Whalen. Both are from the Pine Ridge Reservation.
In the 20-plus years I have been publishing an Indian newspaper this is the first time I have witnessed Republicans making an effort to garner the Indian vote. There are a shade more than 65,000 Indians in South Dakota, so this means they make up about 10 percent of the voters. That is not a very large percentage except in extremely close races.
'Wild Bill'
When Stephanie Herseth lost to Bill Janklow for the House of Representatives in 2002 she did take the majority of the Indian vote simply because most Indians in this state do not like the man they call "Wild Bill" Janklow. However, Janklow won by a large enough margin that the Indian vote was negated. Plus, Herseth was an unknown commodity back then but has since made a mark for herself.
The Republican Party is viewed by most Indians as "anti-Indian." They have had good reason to believe this. When many tribes were trying to establish casinos on their reservations it was usually the Republicans who stood in their way. When severe budget cuts devastated the reservations during the Reagan years, the Indian people put this in their memory banks.
The younger generation of Indian voters usually follow the lead of their elders. One family head will usually determine whom they will vote for and they accept this. Many of the elders remember Franklin Delano Roosevelt, first as their wartime leader during the Second World War but also for all of the Civilian Conservation Corps and WPA jobs he brought to Indian country during and after the Great Depression.
Roosevelt was a Democrat and considered a very good man by many tribal elders. He left his mark in Indian country and that tradition is still a part of the culture. This is a very high hurdle for the Republicans to overcome. They must also overcome the legacy of John and Robert Kennedy, two men who were dearly loved in Indian country.
The rest of America will have an eye cast on the election in South Dakota in November. Tom Daschle, although he is a Democrat in a largely Republican state, has won in the past because the people look to the man and not the party. That's the way South Dakotans have always voted. They are an independent lot.
X Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, is editor and publisher of the Lakota and Pueblo Journals. He is author of "The Aboriginal Sin" and "Notes from Indian Country" volumes I and II. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.