Voters on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming voted overwhelmingly for president-election Barack Obama even as the rest of the state went for John McCain.

Obama won 76 percent of the vote in the Fort Washakie precinct, 66 percent in the Arapahoe precinct and 79 percent in the Ethete precinct. That's nearly the opposite of the margins McCain received elsewhere in the state.

"What just happened here is an indicator that for too long, Native people have not had an acceptable and working relationship, one that acknowledged treaties, with our governments," Sergio Maldonado Sr. of Central Wyoming College told the Associated Press. "With President Obama, we have reason to believe this cultural change that is inclusive of acceptance ... will happen," he added.

The reservation is home to the Eastern Shoshone Tribe and the Northern Arapaho Tribe. Native Americans make up 2.6 percent of the state population.

Get the Story:
Tribal precincts backed Obama (The Billings Gazette 11/9)

Relevant Documents:
NCAI Post-Election Analysis (November 2008)

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