My name is Krystle Young Bowers. I’m Panther clan and 32 years old. My mother is Brenda Cypress and father is Steve Young (non tribal). My siblings are Angel, late Josh, Kanavis, late Blige, and J’Forest. My husband of over one year is Wilson Bowers from the Bird clan family. I grew up with both of my parents around and lived with both of them at different times of my life.

My dad never allowed me to give up on any activity once I committed to it. And when I finally found out I was decent at basketball he didn’t have to worry about me quitting that because I grew to love the sport. Throughout high school I played on two basketball teams, one for my school and one for the tribe.

At the University of Miami I learned to think rationally and scientifically, and to a lesser extent politically. Everywhere we go and every group we are a part of has politics. I’ve had practice thinking rationally, scientifically, and politically through my time at UM and Florida International University.

Also, our language has greatly influenced the person I am today. Increasingly, the younger generation of Indigenous people around the world are realizing the importance of their language and culture with tons of people learning both. I’ve wanted to become a fluent speaker since I was 15 years old. I asked my mom and few other people who are fluent speakers to teach me, but I still am not fluent.

Powerof the Vote

People become powerfulwhen they vote. Any one person has the potential to create great change within a community, therefore a voting population committed to creating a better space can accomplish so much more. We vote in small elections and large ones. Small elections include deciding on where you will eat with your friends tonight or who will win a music video award. Large ones are our tribal and presidential elections that decide everything in our lives.

Women were granted theright to vote in 1920, but Indigenous peoples were not granted full citizenship until 1924 by the U.S. constitution. Even after federal support, the right to vote in elections for Native Americans was left to the decision of each state. The last state to grant Indigenous peoples the right to vote was in the late 1940s. Even after voting rights were granted by the states, many Indigenous peoples, just like black and other people of color, were subjected to intimidation at the polls, voting taxes that many minorities couldn’t afford, and English literacy tests that many minorities couldn’t pass. Although they had the right to vote, our parents and grandparents still had barriers to cast that ballot. Even today, many Tribes in other states are fighting for their right to vote in presidential elections.

In our last presidential election, we saw massive amounts of mudslinging, disinformation, and division. Trump convinced a group of people to storm the capital to take back his power. The Republican party has become religious extremists while minorities’ confidence in the Democratic party weakens because politicians appeal to moderates or Democrats don’t vote the way they promised. What both Republicans and Democrats have in common is they are making efforts to appeal to voters. They lie, draw voting lines to favor their party, accept bribes or donations from constituents, and convince us they will vote for bills in our favor - all to get our votes. But the difference is that the Republican is actively trying to strip Tribal rights away by reversing ICWA, which keeps native kids with native families. The judges that allowed this case to go to the supreme court were Republican nominations and Trump appointed 3 of them. While the Biden administration made it a requirement that Indigenous knowledge must be recognized and implemented in doing research, policy, and decision-making throughout the federal government.

Another tactic lawmakers use is to make it increasingly difficult to vote in elections. They’ve convinced millions of people that felons shouldn’t have the right to vote, and felons are disproportionately minorities. Or they create laws that make it harder to vote, just like they did with poll taxes,
except they make poll lines longer in minority communities. And white Republican communities enjoy 10 minutes or less line compared to a BIPOC
democratic community with a wait time of 5 hours in some places. Simultaneously, politicians made it a crime to help others in line with water or food. In 2020, there were over 500 bills introduced in the U.S. to make voting more difficult for minorities. Whether any, one, or all of these bills are passed, the fact that they were introduced shows the kind of fear voting can incite in people placed in power by votes. We don’t only face unfair voting laws from our federal government, but it occurs within our community as well.

In 1957, our Tribe decided to vote on a constitution and charter. BIA granted “all Indians 21 years of age and over whose names are on the agency’s tribal census roll at Dania are entitled to vote whether or not they reside on one of the three Florida reservations under Federal jurisdiction.” Our constitution provides the basis of all actions within our tribe. And back in 1957 every tribal member had the right to decide on the rules of STOF. What changed? I’m not sure of the exact number of non-resident tribal members we have in our tribe, but even one person not being able to vote in an election is a cruel injustice. Non-residents can only vote in half of our elections. Does this make them half a member of our tribe? And the elections they can vote in, non-residents can only vote for 2 candidates, while residents can vote for 3. We have people taking advantage of this rule by
throwing members who wouldn’t vote for them off the list or keeping members who would vote for them on the list. The list should include us all, living on a rez or not. We even had a candidate in office hire a private investigator to follow 12 tribal members around to prove they weren’t living on the rez.

I’ve heard the argument that people don’t want nonresidents decidingwhat happens on their reservation, which to me sounds like selfishness. My question to you: What do tribal members living on the rez receive that non-residents don’t? Are they not entitled to the same services as someone that lives on a reservation? Can they not use any of the amenities that are provided to Tribal members living on the rez? They use these same services. Everyone knows the strengths and weaknesses of each amenity and deserves an equal voice for voting, because nonresidents have less representation for their health, climate change, housing, and any other needs compared to Tribal members living on the rez. Again, why do we have to register to vote? To keep people from voting. Why can’t nonresidents vote in half our elections? To keep people from voting.

As Indigenous people living in a white-centric society, everything in our lives is political. As your skin tone skips further along the color spectrum from European white to Asian, Indigenous, or Black shades, your life becomes entrenched in politics whether you understand government or not. Minorities will always be affected by new laws, from life-changing issues such as the rights to childcare to small issues like speeding ticket prices. The former provides the foundation of education for our children and freedom to work and live for ourselves, and the latter gives law enforcement officers one more reason to pull over a person of color.

Voting is our fundamental right as citizens. For those who don’t like showing up to protests, talking to lawmakers about your wants or needs, or showing up to campaign dinners, voting is the easiest way to be heard. You silently wait in line, talk minimally to the voting booth volunteers and enter into the solitude of a voting booth – there’s nothing to it. Afterwards, you head back home to sit on the couch and put on a show to help you forget that you were outside your house for 30 minutes. Putting that ballot into the box is the easiest, most important thing you can do for your life each time the opportunity presents itself.

Through the history of voting laws in this country and our Tribe, it's apparent that politicians know how important your vote is to keep them in power. They’ve tried disenfranchising you, intimidating your parents and grandparents, or hiring a private investigator to strike you from the voting list. Politicians lie, cheat, steal, and stretch the truth all to convince you to vote for them. Your vote has power and life. Sustain that life by registering to vote in all elections and voting for candidates that have your Tribe’s or country’s best interest in mind. Your opinion is important and a vote is the documentation of your choice to better your county, state, country, and Tribe.