Voting Rights Act

Robert F. Kennedy's Legacy with First Americans

Author
Producer
Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education
Year

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy’s address to the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) in Bismarck, North Dakota. I was in high school then. My memories are that of tribal leaders who came together from throughout the nation to discuss key issues of the time–challenges that are still with us today. The leaders welcomed him with accolades, but also with a great hope that he and his brother would lead us all to a better condition. They inspired great hope in us to overcome so many obstacles...

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Gipp, David M. "Robert F. Kennedy’s Legacy with First Americans." Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education. November 29, 2013. Opinion. (http://tribalcollegejournal.org/robert-f-kennedys-legacy-first-americans/, accessed October 20, 2023)

South Dakota Indians Sue for Early Voting

Producer
100r.org
Year

Native Americans have never had an easy time getting to vote in South Dakota. In 1977, the state attorney general dismissed the Voting Rights Act as an “absurdity” and advised state officials to ignore the federal law. The state didn’t allow Native Americans into polling places until the 1940s, though federal law had given them the right to vote in 1924. In 2004, a judge stopped poll watchers from following Native Americans out of voting places and taking down their license-plate numbers. Through the years, Native Americans in South Dakota have filed more than 20 lawsuits over their right to vote. This month, members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe went to court. In the upcoming presidential balloting, tribal members will have only six days of early voting, when the rest of the state has 46 days to cast early ballots in the primary and general elections...

Resource Type
Citation

Woodard, Stephanie. "SD Indians Sue for Early Voting." 100 Reporters, February 2, 2012. Article. (http://100r.org/2012/01/south-dakota-indians-sue-for-early-voting/, accessed November 6, 2023).