Because people in Washington, D.C., make decisions which affect Indian country. They often make bad decisions. Slade Gordon makes decisions and he is an elected official. It matters because people died for the right to vote in this country, to have the dignity of having a voice in the future of the nation. It matters because a vote is something worth casting in dignity, not going to the polling place and choosing between the least of two evils.
Public policies affect Indian country and they are forwarded by elected officials.
Every few years, the Alaskan delegation introduces legislation to milk oil from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and trash the ecosystem, the Gwichin and the caribou, and those are elected officials. Every year, there are more proposed encroachments on Native sovereignty, on our way of life, on subsistence harvesting, there is more misuse of our funds and our resources all by these officials in government. So, while we wait for accountability by the government, not to big corporations, but to those of us who live here, let us engage them in the many ways needed to make change. The Green Party is active in some 80 countries and has elected officials in many European countries including Germany, Denmark and Great Britain. There are 25 active state Green Parties in the United States.