Voter-registration drive focuses on Native Americans

March 31, 2004 

By Shanta Bryant Gyan*

WASHINGTON (UMNS) — United Methodists are working to mobilize thousands of Native Americans to register to vote and become more politically active this year.

The voter-registration effort was highlighted at a March 30 press conference launching Faithful Democracy, a nonpartisan, interfaith effort to get out the vote.

During the event, the Rev. Chebon Kernell, a Native American pastor of Pawnee Indian United Methodist Church, announced a “Rock the Native Vote” concert and voter-registration and education project, sponsored by the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference.

“Rock the Native Vote is an effort led by the faith community to excite people, especially young people in the native community, to join in the democratic process and let their voices be heard,” said Kernell, who is also director of Interpretation and Programs for the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, in a prepared statement.

UMNS photo by Leslie Tune The Rev. Chebon Kernell announced a "Rock the Native Vote" concert aimed at getting Native Americans to the polls.

The Rock the Native Vote concert, set for June 5 in Oklahoma City, will feature a lineup of popular Native American bands to appeal to new voters ages 18 to 30. Artists range from hip-hop groups and contemporary rock to reggae and blues.

The nonpartisan concert aims to encourage Native American young adults to vote in the November presidential election and to create social change by engaging in the political process. Concert organizers hope to register some 3,000 voters.

Besides Kernell, other interfaith leaders at the press conference included the Rev. Bob Edgar, a United Methodist and top staff executive of the National Council of Churches.

Workers with the Faithful Democracy project unveiled a Web site and other voter resources, in addition to registering voters after the press conference. The Rock the Native Vote project will have a link on the Faithful Democracy site. The United Methodist Board of Church and Society and the National Council of Churches, of which the denomination is a member, are official sponsors of the project.

James Winkler, top staff executive of the Board of Church and Society, issued a statement supporting the voter education initiative and committing the denomination to promoting efforts to ensure voting-age United Methodists are registered to vote.

United Methodist voters must be aware of the issues being debated in this year’s elections and be able to cast votes “that are properly received and counted,” Winkler said.

“We look forward to a healthy, civil debate on the important issues facing our world this year, and we will intentionally support efforts throughout our churches to prayerfully consider these issues from a faith perspective,” said the head of the denomination’s social action agency.

C. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance, stressed that the coalition will not endorse party platforms, campaigns or candidates. “We will not turn the sacred scriptures of our traditions into political footballs tossed about to advance a partisan vote,” Gaddy said.
 
Kernell said the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference’s voter education effort was organized to let the native community know that its vote matters and to put elected officials on notice that the issues faced by ethnic groups are not being addressed.

“The groups that are active in the political process and are in communication with elected leaders get their issues addressed,” Kernell said. “We have not done that in the past.”

The U.S. economy, loss of jobs and health care were cited as major national issues impacting Native Americans, 30 percent of whom live in poverty.

Budget cuts to social services, such as the Indian Health Service, a federal health program for American Indians and Alaska natives, have significantly affected native communities in the United States, Kernell said.

In addition to the concert, the project will encourage Native Americans to participate in seminars on civic participation and grass-roots advocacy efforts.

The Rock the Native Vote project is partially financed by an Ethnic Local Church Grant of $20,000 from the Board of Church and Society.

Neal Christie, a staff executive at the board, said the agency wanted the grant to help the Native American community make a difference through a long-term commitment to the democratic process.

“It’s all about empowering the Native American voice and engendering citizenship,” Christie said. He emphasized the project’s merger of popular culture, music and civic education to urge young people to vote in the upcoming election.

Christie explained that the concert will kick off an ongoing effort to educate native communities about the political process and how they can advocate to their elected officials on Capitol Hill.

A group from the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference will participate this year in a seminar on civic participation organized by the board’s seminar office. The conference outreach will include nearly 90 Native American United Methodist churches in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas.

Kernell hopes the conference’s voter education effort will inspire other native communities across the United States to become more engaged in political action “to create a better society with peace and hope.”
 
“We would like to see it grow. We want to raise the awareness as church people, as United Methodists,” he stated.

The concert lineup and information on Rock the Native Vote can be found at www.rockthenativevote.com. For more information on the Faithful Democracy Project, visit www.faithfuldemocracy.org/.

*Gyan is a freelance writer based in the Washington area.  News media can contact Tim Tanton at (615)742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

Related Story Oklahoma tribes getting ready to "Rock the Native Vote" (Native American Times)

Suggested Resources Rock the Native Vote Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference Faithful Democracy Project