Conference on Democracy in Indian Country: Voting Rights and Freedom of the Press

This event is co-presented in collaboration with the Harvard Project on Indigenous Governance and Development, the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, the Harvard University Native American Program, and the Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.

Please note that this event is in-person only and will not be livestreamed or recorded. 

Agenda:

8:30 A.M. Registration/Breakfast

8:50 A.M. Welcome: Randall Akee, HPIGD and Archon Fung, Ash Center

9:00 A.M – 10:15 A.M. Panel 1: Pillars of Democracy - Freedom of the Press and Voting Press

This session will set the tone for why Freedom of the Press and Voting Rights are essential in Indian Country and how these issues are similar and different from mainstream American challenges.

• Moderator: 
  • Dr. Thomas Patterson, Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press with the Shorenstein Center at Harvard Kennedy School 
• Panelists:
  • Jodi Rave Spotted Bear (Mandan, Hidatsa and Mniconjou Lakota), Founder and Director of Buffalo’s Fire and the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance
  • Dr. Randall Akee (Native Hawaiian), Director, Harvard Project on Indigenous Governance and Development
  • Hon. Regis Pecos (Cochiti Pueblo), Former Governor of the Cochiti Pueblo

10:15 A.M – 10:45 A.M. Break

10:45 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. Panel 2: Voting Rights, Obstacles, and the Current View

This session will illuminate distinct historical, contemporary, and future voting challenges for Native America.

• Moderator: 
  • Tova Wang, Director of Research Projects in Democratic Practice, Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
• Panelists:
  • Dr. Melissa Rogers, Co-Director of the Inequality and Policy Research Center at Claremont Graduate University
  • Dr. Joseph Dietrich, Towson University

12:00 P.M. – 1:00 P.M. Buffet Lunch

1:00 P.M. – 2:15 P.M. Panel 3: Advocacy in Voting 

This session will highlight various advocacy initiatives focused on "Getting out the Native Vote."

• Moderator:

  •  Dr. Jean Schroedel, Professor Emerita of Political Science at Claremont Graduate University

• Panelists:
  • Jacqueline De León (Isleta Pueblo), Senior Staff Attorney with the Native American Rights Fund
  • Casey Douma (Laguna Pueblo/Tewa-Hopi), Attorney focused on Native Voting Rights in New Mexico

2:15 P.M. – 3:30 P.M. Panel 4: Pathways Towards Increased Press Access

This session will discuss how to maintain cultural values while codifying Freedom of Information and Press Access.

• Panelists:
  • Chris Mercier, Tribal Council Vice Chair at The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde

3:30 P.M. Closing Remarks