You won’t see single-issue voters on Indian issues except us.

There’s a vague pro-Indian sentiment in areas far from reservations. In border towns, there’s not much vagueness. Some settlers understand they are settlers and get along with the original residents and some are flaming racists. On the federal level, which is where Indian policy lives, only one anti-Indian talking point has had legs: the status of Indians is unfair to white people. Tribal governments stand in the way of e pluribus becoming unum.

It’s a great talking point because it’s simple while the extra-constitutional status of Indians is complicated. Most lawyers don’t understand it. Lawyers who do understand it have significant disputes among themselves. Salient issues need to be simple.

The United Nations troops are coming in the black helicopters to take our guns away and put us in FEMA camps. Now, that’s simple.

Without pushing simple politics down to the politics of simpletons, I must still observe what the salience of electoral issues teaches Indians. All successful Indian politics on the electoral level are going to be coalition politics. We’ve got a bloc vote for issues that are salient to us, what we call the sovereignty issues.