Three Native American plaintiffs from a voting rights lawsuit against the state will now be honored by the state with an awards banquet at the governor’s mansion on Saturday.
Ralph Burns and Jimmie James of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and Johnny Williams Jr. of the Walker River Paiute Tribe were three of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Washoe and Mineral counties as well as Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske. The three, along with their tribes, sued the state for better access to polling locations on the reservations.
The counties initially denied the tribes’ requests for early voting and Election Day polling places while Cegavske’s office said they weren’t responsible. A federal judge ruled against all of those claims and ordered polling locations at Nixon for the first time ever as well as early voting for the first time ever in Schurz.
Despite fighting the state, Burns, James and Williams will now receive the American Indian Community Leader of the Year award from the Nevada Indian Commission. The three will be honored at a ceremony at 5 p.m. Saturday at the governor’s mansion in Carson City.
“We didn’t look at it that way,” said Sherry Rupert, executive director of the Nevada Indian Commission. “We looked at the courage these individuals had and the way they were able to provide a good service to their community and really open doors to other tribes to have that access that we all enjoy.”
The website for the American Indian Achievement Awards states the award is based on several criteria. They must have demonstrated leadership abilities, be a positive role model and have contributed to the advancement of native peoples in Nevada.
Stacey Montooth, a spokeswoman for the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, was one of the people who nominated the three men and said them receiving the award was an obvious choice.
“Furthermore, the truly authentic Native Nevadans–Burns, James and Williams–have laid the foundation for another 1.7 million American Indian people to finally enjoy this essential right,” Montooth said in her nomination. “Because this legal decision took place in the Ninth Circuit of Appeals, this powerful injunction will reverberate in the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Washington, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana and Oregon, home to 172 federally recognized tribes.”
James remained humble about the award, saying he felt the lawsuit was the right thing to do. This was the second time James had tried such a lawsuit, the first coming unsuccessfully in 1964, he said.
“I don’t feel like I should be honored or anything,” James said. “It just happened that way. When I was told, I was surprised more than anything.”
Williams said much of the same, adding he was also surprised they were receiving anything.
“I guess we did our part,” he said. “We won. It was really a good thing here. We had a lot more voters than what we normally had. More people got concerned about voting. We had a pretty good turnout in our little town.”
Burns did not respond to a request for comment.
Oliver Semans Sr., executive director of the Native American advocacy group Four Directions that oversaw the suit, said in a statement the three men absolutely deserved to be honored.
“Their willingness to fight for what is right is the very core of leadership,” he said. “The Nevada Indian Commission chose wisely in honoring these leaders.”
Washoe County Registrar Luanne Cutler said adding polling places in Nixon undoubtedly had an effect on turnout there. Turnout was up to 79 percent this year compared with 57 percent in 2012, when 102 total votes were cast of 180 registered voters in the Nixon and Little Nixon precincts. That increased to 184 of 233 registered voters this year.
Bret Healy, a spokesman with Four Directions, said there were also 169 early votes from Wadsworth, 40 from the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and 20 from Sutcliffe at the Nixon site.
Turnout numbers from Schurz were not available from Mineral County Clerk-Treasurer Chris Nepper, who could not be reached for comment, but figures from Four Directions showed an increase from 2012 as well when 254 votes were cast at Schurz compared with 303 from 2016. Early voting accounted for nearly one-third of the 434 registered voters in the precinct, or 141 votes total.
A member of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s office will not be in attendance at the ceremony, but a member of U.S. Sen. Dean Heller’s staff will be to award the three men a certificate.
“This is an annual event that Senator Heller sends a representative to in order to recognize those who have made contributions to the Native American community,” said Neal Patel, spokesman for Heller.
Cegavske and Mineral County Clerk-Treasurer Chris Nepper did not respond to request for comment. Sandoval and Cutler declined to comment.
Source: Reno Gazette-Journal; 11.18.16
