LARAMIE, Wyo.—Sitting in Arena Auditorium, listening to Sen. Barack Obama speak, I couldn’t help but look around and be amazed at the thousands of people going crazy over him.
I was surrounded by bright, colorful posters, flashing cameras and loud screams from the crowd. For a moment, I almost thought I was back at the Beyonce concert I’d attended last summer in Denver.
Obama was speaking here at the University of Wyoming on March 7, the day before the state’s Democratic caucuses. He and the Clintons—presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, former president Bill Clinton and their daughter, Chelsea—were touring the state, trying to rally support for the Democratic presidential nomination.
I think the appearance of Obama and Hillary Clinton, two powerhouse candidates, was special to Wyoming because it made it seem like we mattered. Poor little Wyoming always gets left out of everything. Some people don’t even know we’re a state.
Obama and Clinton showed by coming here that not only does the state matter in the coming election but also that every person’s vote matters.
I think the main reason why people don’t vote is because they don’t think it will make a difference. This is especially true for Native Americans since we’ve always been treated as if we don’t matter. All the budget cuts to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service under President Bush seem to enforce this idea to me. It always feels like no matter how loudly we scream, our voice is never heard.
But something has changed. For this election, very many Natives have an opinion. I see them wearing stickers with Obama’s or Hillary’s name. They hang posters in the windows of their homes and, most important, they display willingness to talk openly about whom they hope to vote for in November. I think this is because Natives, along with the rest of America, are ready for a change. It also doesn’t hurt that both candidates have spoken, even if only briefly, about their plans for Indian Country.
During the last presidential election, it seemed that everybody was ready for the war in Iraq to end and for healing to begin. But the election results didn’t fall in that direction.
Now four years later and after seeing all the consequences of the war — including a shrinking budget for BIA, soldiers dealing with the shadows of Iraq and having to say goodbye to many loved ones — Native people, and the rest of America, are ready to find a solution to this war that will benefit everybody.
It felt good to look around not only at the Obama speech but also at the caucuses in Lander, Wyo., and see so many brown faces. It was good to see that the fight to have our voice heard and to show that our vote does count is still going strong. I just hope that Obama and Clinton recognize that the Natives, along with the rest of America, are ready for change.