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- By Levi Rickert
Native Vote 2024. Milwaukee — The Baird Center in downtown Milwaukee was filled with enthusiastic attendees who welcomed some 760 dancers into the arena during the grand entropy of the 2024 Hunting Moon Powwow on Friday night.
Milwaukee has been home to the Hunting Moon Powwow for over a decade. The powwow attracts Native American dancers and drummers from throughout the Great Lakes region and beyond.
With just over two weeks before the November 5 election, Get-Out-the-Vote (GOTV) efforts were present at two different tables set up among vendors who were there selling handcrafted Native American beadwork, clothing, among other goods.
Wisconsin Native Vote handed out stickers, pins, and posters that reminded Native Americans their votes matter. One sticker’s message read: “I vote for the seventh generation.” Staff at the table said the group is a nonpartisan group that encourages Native Americans to vote. Another sticker says: “sko VOTE den.” The term skoden across Indian Country means "let's go." The group was handing out yard signs that encouraged Native Americans to vote on or before November 5.
The Stockbridge Munsee Band of Mohican Indians, located in Bowler, Wisconsin, had a booth where powwow attendees could get a free t-shirt that was designed by a Native student for the National Congress of American Indians with the “Sko VOTE Den” message.
“Our goal is to ensure that Native Americans are registered now so that they can vote in the November election,” Stockbridge Munsee President Shannon Hosley said to Native News Online. Hosley said the tribe ordered 1,500 t-shirts to be given out throughout the powwow weekend.
The Hunting Moon powwow continues all weekend.
Photos by Levi Rickert
https://www.nativenewsonline.net/currents/get-out-the-vote-efforts-at-the-hunting-moon-powwow#sigProId595240cae2
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