Lt. Gov. Antone joins fellow Tribal Leaders on Capitol Hill

Emma Hughes

Gila River Indian News

Lt. Gov. Regina Antone joined the Inter Tribal Association of Arizona (ITAA) and represented the Gila River Indian Community in Washington on Capitol Hill on April 16-19.

ITAA comprises 21 tribes in Arizona and provides a forum for tribal governments in the state to combine their efforts and resources for shared goals.

These Tribal Leaders united in a powerful display of advocacy, coming together to champion their community’s needs and challenges while meeting with Congressional Leaders on Capitol Hill.

“It was an honor to meet other tribal leaders and listen to their concerns and challenges. It allowed me to understand that we all have the same struggles within our communities, and speaking up and advocating on Capitol Hill is the only way to get our voices heard for our communities,” said Lt. Gov. Antone.

She added, “The Gila River Indian Community will continue to fight in all areas needed for our Community, especially the appropriations supporting older adult programs, by strongly requesting for continued and increased funding to support the Older Americans Act and other aging services programs for older adults, caregivers, grandparents raising grandchildren, and individuals with disabilities.”

Lt. Gov. Antone held discussions with Congressman Greg Stanton – serving on Judiciary/ Transportation & Infrastructure committees; Senator Kyrsten Sinema – serving Appropriations/Commerce, Science, and Transportation/Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs/Veteran’s Affairs committees; Congressman Ruben Gallego – serving Armed Services and Natural Resources committees, Senator Mark Kelly – serving; Armed Services/Environment and Public works committees, and Staff Representative for Raul Grijalva – serving on the Education and the workforce/Natural Resources committees.

Sen. Sinema was gifted with a Pendleton blanket for all her help and assertiveness at the Senate level in support of Native Communities.

Fellow Tribal leaders joined Lt. Gov. Antone in addressing topics affecting all Native people and communities, including the Native American Voting Rights Act, by establishing State-level Native American Voting Rights task forces to address the unique voting issues within Indian Country, such as improving access to voter registration, polling locations, and drop boxes on Tribal lands, and the acceptance of Tribal identification by outlawing the prohibition of Tribal IDs when voting.

Tribal leaders urged more education to the general public and non-native committees that house polling sites to better understand and accept Tribal IDs.

“These are just some of the areas of concern that needed to be heard,” said Lt. Gov. Antone. “It was a long week, but all Tribal Leaders pushed their concerns and held strong. A memorable quote was ‘If you’re not at the table, don’t expect to be served.’”