GOP’s Unsung Achievements for Native Americans

The Republican Party, at the local and national level – aided by conservative philosophy – should be doing more to develop solutions for the issues affecting Native Americans.  That the GOP is not doing this is surprising considering the party’s history.  John McCain once quoted the late Mo Udall as saying: “Don’t forget the Indians.”  To McCain’s credit, he didn’t (or, he tried not to in this last campaign).  The GOP however seems to have forgotten their historically good track record in addressing and dealing with Indian relations.

President Grant tried to adopt a more humane Indian policy (although it was only a slight improvement).  Barry Goldwater was always known for his interest in the welfare of our native tribes.  His autobiography, Goldwater, contains numerous passages which reveal his heartfelt attachment and deep concern for the well-being of Native Americans.  More recently, Ronald Reagan became the first President to appoint a Native American to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  Reagan actually did more for the Native American community – when you really look at it – than anyone has ever given him credit for. As governor, he signed a resolution calling for Native American Day in California.  And, of course, people remember Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, who did, in fact, join Newt Gingrich after the GOP takeover of the House.

For the most part though, instead of honoring this legacy, the GOP has for the most part ceded their role in Indian affairs over the last few decades to the hopelessly misguided “liberal” policies of whites on the left.  This in turn led to the agitation among certain tribes in the 1960s that is only now partially receding.  But there are promising signs this is changing.  In South Dakota, John Thune defeated Sen. Daschle in the 2004 election largely thanks to an increase in support on the reservations (admittedly it wasn’t a great deal, but it was a start).  There’s much about this in Jon Lauck’s work Daschle Vs. Thune: Anatomy of a High Plains Senate Race. Also, GOP Oklahoma Representative Tom Cole is the only Indian American in Congress right now.

If you go into the reddest of Red states, you’ll find that the most stalwart conservative champions: Senators Thune, Brownback, Coburn, and the like, are immensely proud of securing Indian Health Service funding (whether or not that’s the best thing for the tribes is another issue) and doing anything they can to honor the tribes of whichever state they represent.  Take a look at their webpages, and count their press releases, and you’ll find them.  Rep. Cole’s website prominently trumpets the work he does for his Native American constituents.

For the most part though, conservatism’s best and brightest pay no attention to Native American issues at all. If you Google search “Heritage Foundation & Native Americans” (and, let’s remember, Indian affairs is written into the U.S. Constitution specifically), you’ll just find a press release or two, but not much else. Go on over to CATO (now, to be fair, they do have their hands full with healthcare), and search there, and you find a few articles about Indian casinos, but that’s about it.

In short, Republicans have a long history of working to help Indian Americans and the GOP should be doing more for them today.  There are many things that can be done, but in particular by focusing on developing tribal economies, the GOP can both rekindle their legacy on Indian affairs and also formulate new ideas to revitalize conservatism itself.  Casinos were a start (the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 was co-sponsored by then-freshman Sen. John McCain), but only a start.  Education, and economic development are JUST as important on the reservations as they are in the inner-cities.

Admittedly, I don’t have all of the answers, but its time for conservatives to begin to think about these issues again thoughtfully.  If nothing else, modern conservatism – and the GOP – needs to let Native Americans know that we’ re at least thinking about them, which could even mean showing up at their incredibly patriotic high school and college graduation ceremonies for starters.  (ROTC on Indian high schools, for example, is loved by everyone. Quite a difference from what one sees on Ivy League campuses.)

In any event, conservatism owes Native Americans their best efforts and their attention at the national level.  The GOP, apparently did do a little better last election cycle (in terms of outreach), but there is still work to be done.  If the Republican party seriously targets and attempts to attract Native voters, they will find that there are many who would be receptive to conservative principles.

Again, as with other groups, the GOP seems to have an image problem.  In the public’s mind, the party needs to be about more than (in terms of policy solutions for native tribes) just defending Chief Iliniwek and other Indian-themed mascots from politically-correct attacks, obsessing about more casinos, and, from time-to-time, grousing about “reservation socialism.”  Oh, and, of course, one cannot forget what Jack Abramoff did for the GOP’s image on Indian relations.

I’m not saying that those U.S. Senators and others that I mentioned before are committing these mistakes. Far from it.  The problem is that the public knows about the party’s missteps, but yet is unaware of the work that Republican congressmen Thune, Brownback, Cole, Coburn and others are doing.  If you were to watch cable news, and read the conservative opinion magazines, you’d never know that Native Americans are being represented by the ablest conservative Republicans in the country!  Of course, most conservative publications aren’t even bothering to write about this core (historical) constituency, and that’s sad and amazing at the same time. Barry Goldwater wouldn’t have made that mistake.  Nor, even did Gov. Ronald Reagan in California, who was quoted by Lou Cannon as saying: “We’ve taken enough from them already.” Sadly, this is just becoming another example of “Having a great history, and turning away.”