Wisconsin Native Vote Says Supreme Court Election Outcome Important to Indigenous People

Anne Egan-Waukau

Wisconsin Native Vote

On April 1, Wisconsinites will elect a new justice to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. By voting, Indigenous people will have the opportunity to shape our future and the future of the generations to come.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court holds the power to make decisions related to environmental protections, Tribal sovereignty, abortion access, the Indian Child Welfare Act, and much more.

Native Americans must head to the polls to protect the work of past generations who fought to protect our families, our culture, and our future, because the Wisconsin Supreme Court may make decisions that are crucial to Indigenous people.

Such as:

Protecting our Native American children and families through the Wisconsin Indian Child Welfare Act (WICWA). WICWA protects the best interests of Native American children and promotes the stability and security of Wisconsin Tribes and families. WICWA ensures that Native children placed into the foster care system are placed into the custody of fit and willing Indigenous relatives. In the past, Native children were placed with white families, a practice that may have contributed to historical trauma.

Our sovereignty, which protects the inherent authority of tribes to govern themselves and allows tribes to honor and preserve their cultures and traditional ways of life.

Our right to clean water and the protection of our waterways that hold our wild rice beds, and ancient walleye and sturgeon spawning grounds that travel from Lake Superior and wind through the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin’s pristine Wolf River.

Beyond tribal concerns, the Wisconsin Supreme Court plays a vital role in upholding checks and balances within state government, ensuring that voters’ voices are heard.

Wisconsin Native Vote remains committed to protecting Indigenous rights, language, and

sovereignty. We encourage you to vote on April 1 – because our future, and that of the next seven generations, depends on it.