Native American women made history in tribal, state and federal elections

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A third-grade field trip to the Navajo Nation Council sparked Crystalyne Curley’s political ambition when she witnessed a fiery debate erupt between two tribal lawmakers.

“I thought to myself at a very young age, that’s where I want to be,” Curley said.

On Election Day, Curley surpassed that childhood dream and broke a barrier she says she never imagined as a nine-year-old: She was elected the first woman president of the Navajo Nation.

This week's elections brought a wave of milestone victories , from the nation’s first Black female governor to the first openly gay man and first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. It also marked a turning point for Native American women, whose leadership in their families and communities has rarely translated to formal political power.

Peggy Flanagan became the first Native American woman elected to the Senate, Deb Haaland the first to win a state governorship, and Curley the first to lead one of the largest tribes.

“This is a win for all Navajo women,” Curley told The Associated Press.

Jordan James Harvill, a Cherokee Nation citizen and strategist with the advocacy group Advance Native Political Leadership, said decades of political organizing are bearing fruit as more Native women run for and win office.

“This is a seismic shift that is happening in our communities,” he said.

Lene Bitsui supported Curley in the Navajo Nation election because she felt she was best positioned to restore order to the tribal government after what she sees as a period of dysfunction . But when Bitsui cast her ballot, she felt pessimistic.

“I thought our people weren't ready for a female president,” Bitsui said. “I was wrong, and I feel so happy to have been wrong.”

The modern, centralized Navajo government has been led by men since its establishment under federal pressure over a century ago. Navajo has the largest land base of any federally recognized tribe, spanning 27,000 square miles (70,000 square kilometers) in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, and is second in population to the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma.

Some Navajo people believe traditional teachings prohibit women from holding top government positions. Others say women's absence from the presidency stands in contrast to the matrilineal structure of Diné society.

“You see the language of tradition used to both deride the possibility of a woman being president and to say that women’s leadership is needed now,” said Jennifer Nez Denetdale, a professor of Diné studies at the University of New Mexico.

Curley, who narrowly defeated attorney Justin Jones, according to unofficial results, told the AP she faced sexist rhetoric while campaigning and expects to be held to a higher standard as the first woman president.

“As women, we have to work twice or triple as hard, especially within Navajo politics,” said Curley, who also was the first female to lead the tribe's legislative branch as speaker of the tribal council.

After Curley and her running mate Chris Deschene take office in January, they plan to transition the Navajo Nation away from coal development , historically a major economic engine for the tribe, and reassert its leading role in national discussions around federal Indian policy.

The Seneca Nation of Indians in western New York also elected its first woman president, longtime council member Tina Abrams, on Tuesday.

At her Senate victory celebration in St. Paul, Minnesota, Democrat Flanagan , a citizen of the White Earth Nation and the state’s outgoing lieutenant governor, credited supporters from her community.

“I could not run for the U. S. Senate without Native women. I could not exist in the way that I do without Native women,” Flanagan said.

More than 230 years after the U.S. Senate was established, only four Native people have served in the chamber, all men.

“This is a win that shows we can break every single glass ceiling,” Harvill said.

Flanagan will join Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Cole, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. A victory for Democrat Mary Peltola , a Yup’ik woman, in Alaska's still unsettled Senate race, would mark the first time three Native people have served in the chamber simultaneously.

In the House, Kansas Democrat Sharice Davids, Ho-Chunk, and Oklahoma Republican Josh Brecheen, Choctaw, won reelection. New York Democrat Claire Valdez, a citizen of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, and Michigan Democrat Sean McCann, a citizen of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, became the first Native Americans elected to represent their states in Congress.

Haaland’s political career has been defined by historic milestones. She was one of the first two Native women elected to Congress in 2018 before becoming the first Native American to lead a U.S. Cabinet agency, the Interior Department.

Now, in her home state of New Mexico, the Laguna Pueblo citizen, will break ground as the first female Native governor of a U.S. state.

“I think it's a long time coming,” said Haaland, who traces her ancestry in what is now New Mexico back 800 years.

She is tasked with making good on campaign promises to make life more affordable for struggling New Mexicans and addressing persistently poor education outcomes in the state.

Haaland, who is affectionately known as “Auntie Deb” in parts of Indian Country, was tearful reflecting on the support she has received from Native voters and other Native women in politics, including Davids and Flanagan.

“It makes me very happy that we're able to have a presence,” Haaland said. “It’s not just a slogan. It matters that people feel represented.”

This story is published through the Global Indigenous Reporting Network at The Associated Press.