Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts secured the Democratic party's presidential nomination with a sweep of nine states on Tuesday, paving the way for a heated matchup against President George W. Bush that tribal leaders say will draw 1 million Native American voters this November.

Kerry (http://www.johnkerry.com) took a string of states, from Maine to Georgia to California, by overwhelming margins. "Tonight, the message could not be clearer," he told supporters in Washington, D.C. "All across our country change is coming to America."

The Super Tuesday sweep prompted conciliatory remarks from rival Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina (http://www.johnedwards2004.com), who congratulated Kerry for running a "a strong, powerful campaign." Edwards will make a formal announcement of his withdrawal from the race today.

Kerry has won 27 of 30 primaries and caucuses in a year when voting came earlier and in several states with significant Native American populations. In North Dakota, more Native voters on one reservation turned out to the state's caucuses than any other group.

Getting out the vote in November is a top priority of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), which is not backing a particular candidate. But the organization is working to help tribes increase participation.

"We all have a role to play," said Holly Cook last week at NCAI's winter session in Washington.

Cook, a member of the Red Lake Band of Ojibwe, served as the Democrat Party's liaison to Indian Country during the 2000 presidential race. She is now helping Native Vote 2004, an NCAI all-volunteer initiative focused on national and local races.

Tribes are already playing high-profile roles in the presidential race. Last November, several Democratic candidates, including Kerry, spoke at NCAI's annual session in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

This year, NCAI has moved up its annual meeting to October to draw the final two candidates before a tribal audience. The convention will take place in Florida, where the Miccosukee Tribe has already pledged more than $1 million to host the first presidential debate on September 30.

"We wanted to make sure that the person who will lead us for the next four years understands about Native Americans," Miccosukee Chairman Billy Cypress said at a press conference when asked about his tribe's involvement.

During the 2000 campaign, Indian issues did not figure significantly in either party's campaign. But near the end of the race, Bush met with tribal leaders in New Mexico, where he pledged to spend $1 billion to fix crumbling Bureau of Indian Affairs schools.

That promise is being tested this year due to his proposed cut in the school construction account at the BIA. Jennifer Farley, a White House aide, defended the budget last week at NCAI and said Bush has allocated $1.1 billion to reduce the backlog.

"BIA was not cut to fund Indian trust reform," she said, seeking to address a major complaint of tribal leaders and their allies in Congress who point out that money from the BIA budget usually ends up at the Office of Special Trustee (OST), which was created by Congress to oversee a fix to the trust system.

Kerry is promoting his 20-year record in the Senate to Indian Country. "I am the only candidate with a comprehensive agenda for Native Americans," he said at NCAI last November, promising to bring health care to everyone, reduce overcrowded housing, increase economic development and small business loans, build new Indian schools and ensure tribes receive direct funding from the Department of Homeland Security.

This year, the Democratic National Convention will take place in Boston from July 26-29. The Republican Nation Convention will take place in New York City from August 30 through September 2.

John Kerry on Native Americans:
NCAI Questionnaire | Campaign Platform

Super Tuesday Results:
Calif.� | �Conn.� | �Ga.� | �Md.� | �Mass. | Minn.� | �N.Y.� | �Ohio� | �R.I.� | �Vt.

Relevant Links:
Native Vote 2004 - http://www.ncai.org/nativevote