Visit a Native American tribe

Biden promised to visit a Native American tribe. He's finally going, in a swing state

Ximena Bustillo

President Biden on Friday heads to the Gila River Indian Community, just outside Phoenix, marking the first time that as president he has visited a Native American tribe.

The landmark move, which comes less than two weeks before the election, fulfills a promise Biden made to tribal leaders two years ago — vowing to pay a visit to Native American lands.

Biden on Thursday said the visit marks an attempt to address historic wrongs, as he becomes the first president to formally apologize for the federal Indian boarding schools that ran for over 150 years, until 1969, separating American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children from their parents in order to assimilate them, and exposing them to abuse or even death.

"This is part of the president's legacy," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday, when asked about the timing of the apology. She said the president had been wanting to make this trip for a while. "This apology is historic, it's impactful."

A report from the Interior Department found at least 973 children died in the schools. The Interior Department report also called for an official apology, among other recommendations.

But the timing of the visit — and the apology — also comes less than two weeks before Election Day, as Vice President Harris is locked in what appears in a tight presidential contest against former President Donald Trump. The Gila River reservation, which is home to the O’odham and Pee-Posh people, partly sits within the boundaries of Maricopa County — one of the counties that may decide the results of the 2024 presidential race.

As Election Day draws closer, Democrats are hoping Native voters in key swing states like Arizona help secure the White House. Harris has won endorsements from the leaders of at least 17 of the 22 federally recognized tribes — including the Gila River Indian Community. Other Indigenous tribes have published voter guides that lean Democratic on candidate information.

“We talk about the Blue Wall, but there is a Native voter wall,” said Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis. The Blue Wall refers to the states in the Midwest like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that have traditionally supported Democrats but are now considered swing states. Lewis noted the significant Native voters in key states like Arizona, Montana and Wisconsin.

“These very well could determine the results up and down the ballot in these razor-thin races," he said.

Biden will use the visit to discuss his administration’s record “delivering for tribal communities,” including keeping the promise for the visit, the White House said.

Republicans seized on the timing of the Arizona trip as a political gambit from the White House, as they also seek to appeal to Indigenous voters.

"A visit from Joe Biden to the Native American community with less than two weeks before an election is nothing more than a photo op," said Halee Dobbins, the Republican National Committee's communications director in Arizona, saying Republican policies would better support that community.

Not the first high-profile visit

Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz both held events earlier this month on Gila River land, with an introduction from Lewis.

Arizona is broadly home to over 200,000 voting-age Native Americans, and voting advocates and political parties have been working all year to turn out their vote.

Over the past few months, the Harris campaign has ramped up their efforts to court Native American voters. The campaign has boasted having the most “expansive” effort to mobilize Native Democrats by hiring over 20 staff members dedicated to reaching the state’s 22 federally recognized tribes and buying ads throughout the election via tribal media.

“It means so much to be back with the Gila River Indian Community,” Harris said during her visit in early October, noting that last summer she was the first vice president to visit that tribe.

“I strongly believe that the relationship between tribal nations in the United States is sacred — and that we must honor tribal sovereignty, embrace our trust in treaty obligations and ensure tribal self-determination.”

Walz is already preparing to head back to visit Arizona’s tribal members. Just after Biden leaves, the vice presidential candidate will arrive in Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation, which stretches from Arizona into New Mexico and a bit of Utah.

Former President Donald Trump also visited the state on Thursday, though he has yet to visit Native American communities specifically.

The Arizona GOP, on the other hand, has been working to make inroads into Democrats’ support from Native American voters by hosting tables at tribal events, meeting with members of Navajo Nation and running an ad on tribal radio to urge voters to “vote Republican.”