Post by blackcrowheart on Nov 6, 2006 21:58:24 GMT -5
Tribes might sway abortion vote Traditional views would tend to support
ban by PETER HARRIMAN PUBLISHED: October 31, 2006
[http://cmsimg.argusleader.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=DF&Date=2006103\
1&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=610310302&Ref=AR&MaxW=290] Amanda Black Elk, 20,
holds her 1-month-old, Saphron, while father David Wolfe, 21, looks on
Tuesday on the Pine Ridge Reservation. "If they are old enough to have
sex, they are old enough to have a baby," Black Elk said. PINE RIDGE -
Since 2002, when Sen. Tim Johnson narrowly won a re-election bid against
then-Rep. John Thune in large measure because newly registered Indian
voters overwhelmingly backed him, the emerging power of the Indian
electorate has been notable in South Dakota politics.
As the state decides whether to retain or reject its abortion ban on
Nov. 7, the role of Indian voters might again affect the outcome.
"In our culture, they put children number one. That's still there, it
always will be there," says Mabel Two Lance, 62, of Pine Ridge. At the
same time, many in Indian Country want little to do with a vote they say
won't affect them - because the tribes are sovereign nations.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe is at the center of speculation over Indian votes
and the abortion ban for several reasons. Voter-registration drives
around Pine Ridge in the past five years have enfranchised thousands of
new voters, and tribal members this year recalled chairwoman Cecilia
Fire Thunder after she announced she would build an abortion clinic at
Pine Ridge. Bruce Whalen, a tribal member and the Republican challenger
to Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth in the U.S. House race, also has
made his anti-abortion stance a centerpiece of his campaign. But there
seems to be no unanimity of opinion about Referred Law 6, the abortion
ban, at Pine Ridge or elsewhere in Indian Country.
Cornell Conroy, 59, opposes abortion. But he says he will not vote on
the ban.
"I don't vote in those elections. I'm a sovereign. Why would I interfere
in the political process?" he says. Beyond that, Lakota culture tells
him it isn't his issue. "Us men, we don't interfere. As Lakota, we are
not supposed to tell women when to have their children. It's their
issue," he says.
Charon Asetoyer, founder of the Native American Women's Health Education
Resource Center on the Yankton Sioux reservation at Lake Andes, agrees
with Conroy about that. Birth decisions "are traditionally the business
of women, and for men to decide for us is extremely disrespectful,"
Asetoyer says. Unlike Conroy, however, she is adamantly opposed to the
state abortion ban, and "I am urging all native people to vote no on
Referred Law 6," she says. "This is an issue of sovereignty. It is our
sovereign right to make decisions for ourselves. I think it is very sad
the government feels they have to legislate our decisions for us." New
kind of debate If nothing else, the issue has raised a new debate in
places such as Pine Ridge.
Even Two Lance sees both sides of the issue as a former social worker.
She says she has seen many children with fetal alcohol syndrome and
others born HIV-positive. "Those children don't have a chance of growing
up normal," she says and wonders if they would have been better off
never being born.
"I know the culture says differently, but there are some things where I
think our culture needs to bend, too," she says.
In a meeting room at the tribal building in Pine Ridge, where a coffee
pot entices visitors, Eleanor Charging Crow, 75, asserts her own
opposition to abortion. "It is my belief as an Indian lady that abortion
is not a good thing for our people," she says.
Charging Crow says she, like many Indian women, has stepped in to help
raise children whose parents were not up to the task. "Our culture ...
takes care of everyone," Two Lance agrees.
Even considering abortion is a new challenge to the Lakota culture.
"Abortion was never an issue until now," Charging Crow says.
Karen Artichoker is executive director of the Cangleska domestic
violence program at Pine Ridge. She says debate among Indians over the
state abortion ban has "created a diversity in thought in what our
cultural beliefs are with the issue. Quite honestly, until all this came
up - and I have been doing this work for a lot of years - I never heard
a lot of discussion about it." Now "we hear women talking about it, yes.
Whether they'll go vote, I don't know," she says. Power of politics But
Eileen Janis, tribal vice president, is sure voters at Pine Ridge are
strongly in favor of retaining the state abortion ban and will show up
at the polls to ratify that belief. She points to the Fire Thunder
recall as evidence.
At the neighboring Rosebud reservation, Alfred Bone Shirt, a tribal
activist, says dissatisfaction with Gov. Mike Rounds will bring Indian
voters to the polls this year. They feel Rounds has failed to address
tribal economic concerns by refusing to renegotiate Indian gaming
compacts and by pursuing a lawsuit against the Lower Brule tribe over
its attempt to have the federal government take about 90 acres at Oacoma
into trust on its behalf, Bone Shirt says. The abortion ban will be
wrapped up in discontent with the governor, Bone Shirt predicts.
"I think there are going to be more people voting for (Democratic
challenger Jack) Billion," Bone Shirt says, "and if they take that
abortion issue as part of the Republican agenda, they will vote against
it, too."
Asetoyer says opponents of Referred Law 6 have largely stayed away from
mobilizing Indian voters in the belief the majority oppose abortion and
would support the state ban. "I think that's a mistake," she says. "We
are the swing vote."
Artichoker isn't so sure. "Our statistics show native women are raped at
much higher rates than other women. We are raped by men of all races,"
she says. "But even those statistics don't really generate a lot of
discussion about abortion." The vote on Referred Law 6, though, "has
really challenged us to look at what our traditional views are.
"Each of us who hold whatever belief about the issue believe we hold the
traditional belief," she says.
And those views, "they are all over the map," she says. Reach Peter
Harriman at 575-3615.
ban by PETER HARRIMAN PUBLISHED: October 31, 2006
[http://cmsimg.argusleader.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=DF&Date=2006103\
1&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=610310302&Ref=AR&MaxW=290] Amanda Black Elk, 20,
holds her 1-month-old, Saphron, while father David Wolfe, 21, looks on
Tuesday on the Pine Ridge Reservation. "If they are old enough to have
sex, they are old enough to have a baby," Black Elk said. PINE RIDGE -
Since 2002, when Sen. Tim Johnson narrowly won a re-election bid against
then-Rep. John Thune in large measure because newly registered Indian
voters overwhelmingly backed him, the emerging power of the Indian
electorate has been notable in South Dakota politics.
As the state decides whether to retain or reject its abortion ban on
Nov. 7, the role of Indian voters might again affect the outcome.
"In our culture, they put children number one. That's still there, it
always will be there," says Mabel Two Lance, 62, of Pine Ridge. At the
same time, many in Indian Country want little to do with a vote they say
won't affect them - because the tribes are sovereign nations.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe is at the center of speculation over Indian votes
and the abortion ban for several reasons. Voter-registration drives
around Pine Ridge in the past five years have enfranchised thousands of
new voters, and tribal members this year recalled chairwoman Cecilia
Fire Thunder after she announced she would build an abortion clinic at
Pine Ridge. Bruce Whalen, a tribal member and the Republican challenger
to Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth in the U.S. House race, also has
made his anti-abortion stance a centerpiece of his campaign. But there
seems to be no unanimity of opinion about Referred Law 6, the abortion
ban, at Pine Ridge or elsewhere in Indian Country.
Cornell Conroy, 59, opposes abortion. But he says he will not vote on
the ban.
"I don't vote in those elections. I'm a sovereign. Why would I interfere
in the political process?" he says. Beyond that, Lakota culture tells
him it isn't his issue. "Us men, we don't interfere. As Lakota, we are
not supposed to tell women when to have their children. It's their
issue," he says.
Charon Asetoyer, founder of the Native American Women's Health Education
Resource Center on the Yankton Sioux reservation at Lake Andes, agrees
with Conroy about that. Birth decisions "are traditionally the business
of women, and for men to decide for us is extremely disrespectful,"
Asetoyer says. Unlike Conroy, however, she is adamantly opposed to the
state abortion ban, and "I am urging all native people to vote no on
Referred Law 6," she says. "This is an issue of sovereignty. It is our
sovereign right to make decisions for ourselves. I think it is very sad
the government feels they have to legislate our decisions for us." New
kind of debate If nothing else, the issue has raised a new debate in
places such as Pine Ridge.
Even Two Lance sees both sides of the issue as a former social worker.
She says she has seen many children with fetal alcohol syndrome and
others born HIV-positive. "Those children don't have a chance of growing
up normal," she says and wonders if they would have been better off
never being born.
"I know the culture says differently, but there are some things where I
think our culture needs to bend, too," she says.
In a meeting room at the tribal building in Pine Ridge, where a coffee
pot entices visitors, Eleanor Charging Crow, 75, asserts her own
opposition to abortion. "It is my belief as an Indian lady that abortion
is not a good thing for our people," she says.
Charging Crow says she, like many Indian women, has stepped in to help
raise children whose parents were not up to the task. "Our culture ...
takes care of everyone," Two Lance agrees.
Even considering abortion is a new challenge to the Lakota culture.
"Abortion was never an issue until now," Charging Crow says.
Karen Artichoker is executive director of the Cangleska domestic
violence program at Pine Ridge. She says debate among Indians over the
state abortion ban has "created a diversity in thought in what our
cultural beliefs are with the issue. Quite honestly, until all this came
up - and I have been doing this work for a lot of years - I never heard
a lot of discussion about it." Now "we hear women talking about it, yes.
Whether they'll go vote, I don't know," she says. Power of politics But
Eileen Janis, tribal vice president, is sure voters at Pine Ridge are
strongly in favor of retaining the state abortion ban and will show up
at the polls to ratify that belief. She points to the Fire Thunder
recall as evidence.
At the neighboring Rosebud reservation, Alfred Bone Shirt, a tribal
activist, says dissatisfaction with Gov. Mike Rounds will bring Indian
voters to the polls this year. They feel Rounds has failed to address
tribal economic concerns by refusing to renegotiate Indian gaming
compacts and by pursuing a lawsuit against the Lower Brule tribe over
its attempt to have the federal government take about 90 acres at Oacoma
into trust on its behalf, Bone Shirt says. The abortion ban will be
wrapped up in discontent with the governor, Bone Shirt predicts.
"I think there are going to be more people voting for (Democratic
challenger Jack) Billion," Bone Shirt says, "and if they take that
abortion issue as part of the Republican agenda, they will vote against
it, too."
Asetoyer says opponents of Referred Law 6 have largely stayed away from
mobilizing Indian voters in the belief the majority oppose abortion and
would support the state ban. "I think that's a mistake," she says. "We
are the swing vote."
Artichoker isn't so sure. "Our statistics show native women are raped at
much higher rates than other women. We are raped by men of all races,"
she says. "But even those statistics don't really generate a lot of
discussion about abortion." The vote on Referred Law 6, though, "has
really challenged us to look at what our traditional views are.
"Each of us who hold whatever belief about the issue believe we hold the
traditional belief," she says.
And those views, "they are all over the map," she says. Reach Peter
Harriman at 575-3615.