{"id":43011,"date":"2024-11-06T14:01:06","date_gmt":"2024-11-06T19:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=43011"},"modified":"2024-11-06T14:12:01","modified_gmt":"2024-11-06T19:12:01","slug":"cronkite-news-native-youth-lead-ride-to-the-polls-on-election-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/11\/06\/cronkite-news-native-youth-lead-ride-to-the-polls-on-election-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Native youth lead ride to the polls on Election Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\"White<\/a>
Attendees of the Ride to the Polls event on November 5, 2024, in Whiteriver, Arizona. Photo by Brianna Chappie \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n
White Mountain Apache members participate in \u2018Ride to the Polls\u2019 movement<\/div>\r\n
Wednesday, November 6, 2024<\/div>\r\n
By Brianna Chappie<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

WHITERIVER, Arizona — Kaia Aiello, 20, sat on top of her horse, Amoureux, Tuesday and prepared to lead a group to the only polling location in this small town on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation so they could cast votes in the 2024 presidential election.<\/p>\r\n

Aiello is a field organizer for Arizona Native Vote<\/a>, a nonprofit organization that seeks to amplify Indigenous voices in rural communities throughout Arizona, including on Hopi and Navajo land and the three other federally recognized Apache nations in Arizona.<\/p>\r\n

Aiello and other Apache, including Miss White Mountain Apache Charity Johnson, 23, and Jada Vargas, 19, who is co-president of the White Mountain Apache Tribal Youth Council, were the driving force behind Whiteriver\u2019s \u201cMarch to the Polls.\u201d<\/p>\r\n \"White<\/a>

Kaia Aiello waits to lead the group to a polling location on November 5, 2024, in Whiteriver, Arizona. Photo by Brianna Chappie \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

The event was part of a large-scale movement that originated from the Navajo Nation and has since spread across Arizona, where people are encouraged to walk, ride or skate to the election polling places to cast their ballots and make their voices heard.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhen we vote it counts. When we show up it matters,\u201d Aiello said. \u201cWe can make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Whiteriver has a population of roughly 4,500 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau<\/a>. But the White Mountain Apache Tribe that Aiello and a majority of the attendees belong to has around 17,000 members that reside across nine major reservations, with Whiteriver representing the largest population of tribe members.<\/p>\r\n\"White<\/a>

Kaia Aiello\u2019s horse, Amoureux, wore a bright blue garland during the event on November 5, 2024, in Whiteriver, Arizona. Photo by Brianna Chappie \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

The frost that blanketed the area had barely subsided by 8 a.m., and the temperature hung at a chilly 30 degrees when Aiello rode up to \u201cTimes Square,\u201d an area in Whiteriver between a supermarket and a Wells Fargo bank. But frigid temperatures didn\u2019t stop attendees from showing up.<\/p>\r\n

Landis Reed, a youth organizer with Arizona Native Vote who had been in the area since 6 a.m. encouraging people to vote, emphasized the importance of being part of the community they are working to support.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cJust having someone who is from their own reservation, who knows the people, who knows the trauma and what the people\u2019ve gone through,\u201d Reed said.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cOur votes matter because our votes speak words,\u201d said Miss White Mountain Apache Charity Johnson.<\/p>\r\n \"White<\/a>

Gaan dancers, the emulators of the Mountain Spirits \u201cGaan,\u201d at the Ride to the Polls gathering on November 5, 2024, in Whiteriver, Arizona. Photo by Brianna Chappie \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>

<\/p>\r\n

Apache Gaan Dancers<\/a>, who embody the spirit of Gaan, or \u201cMountain Spirits,\u201d danced to the beat of drums as the group marched to the polling place. The Gaan dancers showcase dances taught by Gaan that bring healing and harmony to the Apache \u2013 and today, to the elections.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWe get to actually have a voice now,\u201d said Mylyle Ethelbah, a White Mountain Apache Tribe member and artist within the community. \u201cEspecially the amount of tribal people that are in the tribe that finally have the chance to voice their opinions \u2013 because, before this, we weren\u2019t allowed to.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Arizona was one of the last states to allow voting rights for Native Americans, and for years afterward, Indigenous communities still faced hurdles<\/a> when it came to voting. Today, problems around elections still persist on Indigenous lands, including misinformation.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cA lot of people didn\u2019t know that it was voting day,\u201d Aiello said. \u201cWe were out canvassing the past couple weeks and reminding people, \u2018Do you have a plan to vote? Do you need a ride?\u2019 and they either didn\u2019t know it was the election or they weren\u2019t registered.\u201d<\/p>\r\n \"White<\/a>

Mylyle Ethelbah holds up her flag and poster on November 5, 2024 in Whiteriver, Arizona. Ethelbah identifies as \u201ctwo-spirited\u201d \u2013 a term for Indigenous LGBTQ members, who Ethelbah says, \u201ccan go between two worlds \u2013 the masculine, to the feminine, to the spiritual to the natural. The N\u00e1dleeh (two-spirit) don\u2019t belong to any, but we can go between all.\u201d Photo by Brianna Chappie \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

Receiving ballots is another issue Aiello said she noticed on Apache land.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cPeople get their ballots by post office boxes, not residential addresses,\u201d Aiello said. \u201cSo, they would either have to be hand-delivered or just, hopefully, everyone gets to the post office.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Despite these issues, Aiello and other Apaches have persevered to make sure their community participates in the election.<\/p>\r\n \"White<\/a>

An Apache Crown Dancer pauses before the Ride to the Polls event on November 5, 2024 in Whiteriver, Arizona. Photo by Brianna Chappie \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

For Vargas, this will be her first time voting. Vargas was at Gila River Reservation when President Joe Biden issued an apology<\/a> on behalf of the federal government for its role in Native American boarding schools. Vargas called the event amazing.<\/p>\r\n

Through the White Mountain Apache Tribal Youth council, Vargas helped with community outreach services and leadership on Apache Land, giving Apache youth a voice.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to vote because our voices really need to be heard,\u201d Vargas said. \u201cOur voice is very powerful.\u201d<\/p>\r\n \"White<\/a>

Arizona Native Vote offered signs to Ride to the Polls attendees on November 5, 2024, in Whiteriver, Arizona. Photo by Brianna Chappie \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n \"White<\/a>

Miss White Mountain Apache Queen Charity Johnson with Kaia Aiello\u2019s horse, Amoureux, on November 5, 2024, in Whiteriver, Arizona. In Johnson\u2019s arms is the White Mountain Apache flag. Photo by Brianna Chappie \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nFor more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A>.<\/STRONG>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News<\/a>. It is published via a Creative Commons license<\/A>. Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication<\/A> at Arizona State University<\/A>.<\/EM>
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