Conclusion

Abstract

The conclusion briefly highlights the cases of Miguel Trujillo (Isleta Pueblo) and Frank Harrison (Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation), whose 1948 legal challenges led to the overturning of Native American voter restrictions in New Mexico and Arizona, respectively. It argues that we must view such legal cases as part of a long history of Indigenous electorates, and not simply as the culmination or end point. From the Spanish colonial era through the U.S. territorial period in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands, Indigenous peoples elected individuals who worked tirelessly and at great sacrifice to ensure tribal sovereignty. The conclusion ends with the author’s family gathering for a tribal election in fall 2016, which the author argues must be seen as a continuation of the elections most important to Indigenous communities; those that pertain to leadership in Indigenous nations and maintaining self-government.