AUDIO: Native leaders testify about voting rights in the Dakotas

Tuesday, April 16, 2019  

Tribal and Native leaders testified about barriers to voting in North Dakota and South Dakota at a Congressional field hearing on Tuesday morning.

The hearing was hosted by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe at its headquarters in Fort Yates, North Dakota. It opened with a prayer, followed by a flag song performed by the Little Warriors drum group from the elementary school on the reservation.

CHA Ranking Member Rodney Davis welcomed the Standing Rock Elementary Little Warriors drum group before they opened today’s Subcommittee on Elections Field Hearing with the Flag Song. #NorthDakota pic.twitter.com/ham5KSV7CG

— House Admin. Committee GOP (@HouseAdmnGOP) April 16, 2019

Members of the Committee on House Administration, including the Democratic chair and the Republican ranking member, participated in the hearing. It featured representatives from four of the five tribes with homelands in North Dakota.

Also testifying were State Rep. Ruth Buffalo, who is first Native woman Democrat elected to the North Dakota Legislature, and advocates from North Dakota and neighboring South Dakota.

The hearing lasted about 2 hours. Audio can be found on the Indianz.Com SoundCloud.

Field Hearing: Voting Rights and Election Administration in the Dakotas (April 16, 2019)

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe hosts Congressional field hearing on voting rights (April 15, 2019)