Representatives from almost a dozen organizations will be in Montana this summer for the annual meeting of the Native Civic Engagement Network.
The coalition includes Billings-based nonprofit Western Native Voice, which does outreach with Tribes, schools and community organizations to raise awareness about voting registration and civic engagement.
According to Western Native Voice, more than half of eligible Native American voters in the state are not registered to vote. Members in the Native Civic Engagement Network use the annual meeting to share techniques and strategize.
Western Native Voice Executive director Ronnie Jo Horse is a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation and a descendant of the Northern Cheyenne Nation. She says the date of the annual meeting is still to be decided, but she knows the 2030 census will be a topic of discussion.
“Everyone uses the census numbers, down to healthcare,” said Horse.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Indigenous people living on reservations were undercounted by around 5 percent in both 2020 and 2010. Horse says undercounts often lead to underfunding when it comes to applying for governmental grants and other resources.
“If there’s a low count, you’re not going to really fully serve that community with the numbers that you’re working with,” said Horse.
An official update of local addresses for the census begins next year, but Horse says advocacy organizations are reaching out to Tribes now.
“This is the earliest effort that we have ever tried in Indian Country,” said Horse.
Horse says outreach is going on across the network’s range, which includes 70 reservations and more than 200 Tribal communities across the West.
