"Only 17 percent of congressional representatives are women, and only 4 percent are women of color. But women comprise 54 percent of the voters. The discrepancies are similar at the state level. While there are no laws directly inhibiting female advancement in politics, there is a basket of cultural issues affecting everything from precinct caucus experience to fundraising success to attitudes of voters at the polls.

In Minnesota's Ojibwe communities, the political gender gap has evaporated. Today 57 percent of the top elected officials are women, including Erma Vizenor at White Earth, Karen Diver at Fond du Lac, Melanie Benjamin at Mille Lacs, and Carrie Jones at Leech Lake."

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Anton Treuer: Tribal politics (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 10/8)