Navajo Nation Vote Influences Elections in Western U.S.
PHOENIX--Arizona voters passed English-only Proposition 203 by a wide margin, eliminating bilingual education for tens of thousands of American Indian public school students from 21 federally recognized tribes. "It is so devastating! It is really sad that the state of Arizona doesn't recognize the validity of teaching Native languages," said Rosa Anchondo, Pascua Yaqui director of education. Anchondo had appeared on Tucson television earlier to urge voters to turn down the proposition which eliminates bilingual education and replaces it with a one-year English immersion program. American Indian educators said it is a dangerous trend that began with the 1998 passage of English-only legislation in California and could spread to other states. Chicano activists protested Prop 203, bankrolled by Silicon Valley millionaire Ron Unz, as racism and a reaction to the growing population of Hispanics in the West. Amalia Reyes, Pascua Yaqui language and culture specialist, said passage of Prop 203 will be especially devastating for Hualapai and Navajo who have long-standing bilingual programs. Navajo President Kelsey Begaye expressed disappointment with passage of Prop 203, but said he was optimistic a compromise may be reached for the tens of thousands of Navajo students who attend Arizona public schools on the Navajo Nation. "We hope there is a way we can work this out so it doesn't impact Navajo schools negatively." Based on its sovereign status, Begaye said the tribe will first seek a legal opinion of the impact of Prop 203 on programs on tribal land and work with state representatives and senators. "And we'll move forward on that regard." Meanwhile, Arizona cast its eight electoral votes for Bush, while New Mexico voters turned out in a snow storm that closed schools, to create a close race in the swing state with five electoral votes which went to Gore. In New Mexico Zuni Pueblo Gov. Malcolm Bowekaty said he was a little nervous post-election day. Pointing out that he is one of the few American Indian leaders who voices support for Bush, Bowekaty said, "We're cautiously optimistic." "I was really ready to celebrate when Gore called the Bush camp and conceded." The tables turned several times in several hours. "I have to be careful what I say, I don't want to have to eat too much crow." Meanwhile, Navajos watched presidential and Congressional races closely. Some Navajos celebrated the election of Hillary Clinton to the Senate from New York , remembering Hillary at a dawn breakfast cooked over an open fire during the Navajo Nation Fair of 1992. "In 1992, when Hillary Clinton came with her daughter Chelsea to the Navajo Nation Fair to campaign for her husband, the Navajo people were impressed with her knowledge of Native American issues," Carolyn Calvin remembered. "She gave an impassioned speech about the Clintons' commitment to Native Americans. With that, Hillary and her daughter, Chelsea, energized the entire Navajo Nation to vote overwhelmingly for Bill Clinton." Navajo Chris Stearns, director of the Gore campaign in North Dakota, said American Indians everywhere are watching the presidential race, concerned with future appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court and Interior Department. Of key interest was the race between Slade Gorton, R-Wash., and Democratic candidate Maria Cantwell in Washington. "Tribes anxiously await the results knowing that a Bush victory coupled with a Gorton loss will place Gorton on the short list of candidates for Secretary of the Interior," Stearns said. Gorton is chairman of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee which oversees the budgets of Interior and the Indian Health Service. While the GOP remained in control of the House and Senate, New Mexico Democrats Rep. Tom Udall and Sen. Jeff Bingaman, often voicing support for Indian sovereignty, reclaimed their seats. In Arizona, Republican Congressmen Jon Kyl, who helped obtain funding for the Pascua Yaqui Boys and Girls Club and other American Indian projects, won his bid for reelection. With reports of voting irregularities by American Indians who are not dominant in English, the U.S. Justice Department sent election monitors to counties in Arizona and New Mexico with high numbers of Navajo, Apache and Pueblo voters. Gore, Bush and President Clinton visited Indian leaders in New Mexico during the final three months of the presidential race. Gore and Bush declined to respond to an invitation to address Indian country in a proposed Indian Town Hall meeting in Phoenix. The All Indian Pueblo Council in New Mexico supported Gore, even after Bush met with Pueblo leaders in southern New Mexico and vowed to uphold Indian sovereignty and the government-to-government relationship between tribes and the federal government. In Arizona, tribal members considered the passage of Prop 203 the most devastating act of election day. During a protest at the capitol, Navajo Code Talker Sam Billiman had said, "The Holy People gave us this language and only the Holy People can take it away." Navajo educators warned that elimination of bilingual programs threatens the academic progress of Din-speaking Navajo children who need instruction in both languages. Hopi leaders warned that Prop 203 follows the same thinking that led to the abolition of Native languages in boarding schools. In the end, neither the television appeals of Pascua Yaqui in Tucson, the pleas of teachers on the remote Navajo Nation nor the march and protest by Hopi, Salt River Pima-Maricopa and Gila River Akimel O'otham leaders at the capitol, could sway the minds of Arizona voters. Reyes said her young son woke up the morning after the election worried about an elementary friend who does not speak English. "How will these children survive in the classroom?" Reyes asked. |