Indianz.Com > News > Aaron Payment: It’s time for a tribal delegate in the U.S. Congress
Our Time Has Come for a Native American Delegate to Serve in the US Congress
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
I’m in a unique position to write this: I’m a former tribal leader with a federal Indian policy background. I had the privilege of calling former Cherokee Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller a friend. I also count as a friend, Kim Teehee, the Cherokee Nation’s delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives pursuant to an 1835 treaty the Cherokee signed with the U.S. government.
My friendship with Chief Mankiller dates back to my graduate education in public administration. I worked in the Native Services office at the university I attended and had the privilege of being her host for a campus visit. I learned so much from her including her insights on the Trail of Tears, her family’s forced relocation, her protest on Alcatraz Island, and her challenges becoming her Nation’s first women chief. I was so inspired that I immediately wrote half of my thesis on federal Indian policy right after that visit.
What struck me the most as I was writing my Master’s thesis was the notion of a Native American voice advocating for us in Congress. At that point, only Ben Nighthorse Campbell was in the House of Representatives and he eventually became a U.S. senator. Today, we have several American Indian and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) in Congress but what we don’t have is a voice in Congress to speak to our unique interests. Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas), for example, does an excellent job representing Native interests, but she must balance this with her congressional district constituents’ priorities.

Dr. Aaron A. Payment, served for 22 years in elective tribal office, including in several leadership roles with the National Congress of American Indians, several tribal advisories, and as a former university faculty member teaching political science and Native studies. He currently serves as a Presidential appointee on the National Advisory Council on Indian Education.
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