PAWHUSKA, Okla — According to the Native American Rights Fund, only about 66 percent of Native Americans were registered to vote in 2020.
The United Indian Nations Organization (UINO) is trying to increase that number.
The UINO received a grant from the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) to be part of the Warrior Up to Vote tour. Members of the organization are traveling around the state to visit tribal areas and promote the importance of voting.
Margo Gray is the Director of the UINO and is glad to be taking part in this initiative. She said the program already helped several hundred people with any voting questions they had, especially help needed with registration.
"We're starting to move that needle," said Gray. "We're gonna see a bump, now how big of a bump, we won't know until we're done."
The tour emphasizes the importance of voting, it also highlights tribal sovereignty.
Ben Barnes, chief of the Shawnee tribe and Chairman of UINO, said tribal sovereignty is important for native nations to protect.
"For those that don't know, tribal nations are governments that preexisted the United States, so we have services that we provide to our people," he said. "Part of our mission is to educate Oklahomans, as well as folks on the national stage that tribal nations are alive, vibrant, doing well and we have voters, and our votes will matter."
On September 30, the UINO will have an event at the River Spirit Casino to talk more about tribal sovereignty and why it is important to tribal nations.
Guests including actors Tatanka Means and Zahn McClarnon will be in attendance.
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