Indigenous vote 2024. Former Vice President of the Navajo Nation Myron Lizer (of the Naałání or Comanche People Clan) has been a long-time supporter of President-elect Donald Trump. During his tenure as vice president of the Navajo Nation, Lizer visited then-President Trump in the Oval Office during the Covid-19 pandemic. He even spoke at the virtual 2020 Republican National Convention.
Now a consultant, Lizer remained active with Native American Republicans. He was on a panel at a Native American roundtable at the downtown Milwaukee Hilton during this year’s Republican National Convention.
During a campaign stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico in late October, Lizer was a speaker at a Trump rally.
Lizer’s name has been mentioned as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior in the new Trump administration, the position now held by Bryan Newland (Bay Mills Indian Community).
Lizer joined Nactive news online‘s Election Digest livestreamed late last week to provide advice to tribal leaders across Indian Country on dealing with newly elected President Trump.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.
What is your reaction to these elections?
I was on stage at a Trump rally in Albuquerque last week. I only had two, three minutes to really bring hope, to offer encouragement, and to let President Trump know that Indian Country is here, and we have a lot of valid issues. We have a lot of history of government failing us, and broken promises, broken treaties.
As a Republican and then Vice President of the Navajo Nation, our trajectory must always be upward, improving the quality of life in Indian Country, not only in the Navajo Nation, but in all 574 federally recognized tribes .
Have you been contacted by the Trump team to ask for your advice?
Yes, the contact is continuous, there is cooperation, and of course I am trying to bring more attention to all our issues, all the problems of the Indian country. To quote part of my speech in Albuquerque last week: the left wing and the right wing are from the same bird.
I fully expected Trump to win. I saw the tide turning and then it was revealed in those numbers. Even though we are 1 percent of the voting bloc in these great United States, 64 percent of Native Americans voted red and voted for President Trump.
To their credit, Biden-Harris has moved Indian Country a lot forward. And now Trump can go further. They’re queuing. Now it’s their time. We need each other, we need messaging and policy recommendations, we need to get rid of the hierarchy of layers and layers of federal bureaucracy that has hindered progress in Indian Country.
We have the land, we have the resources. If the federal government would give us easier access to that, we would be sovereign. Who out there would use our sovereignty? Who would want to use our sovereignty as an unfair or competitive advantage? That’s what I’m interested in. These are the discussions I am currently having.
Have you been offered a position in the Trump administration?
There are hints about this from several respectable and good sources. I am ready for what is to come. I will be a great supporter of Indian Country.
With Trump in power, what advice would you give to tribal leaders concerned about another Trump presidency?
I’m told Trump keeps the receipts of those who have supported him thus far. He’s really going to work with them, and I’m one of them. I’m one of probably the few who are still good seed. I will use these terms in a light-hearted manner, and it is not my intention to downplay the efforts of the tribes. And for me, my business card is relationships.
Through relationships you can certainly educate and re-educate, but you can certainly provide some correction, provide some opportunity for influence. I would encourage some tribes to go out and then work with the Vice President, as well as the President and the staff.
If everyone is saying let’s work together, if the healing is going to happen in the nation, we certainly have to put our heart into it, and with all my gifts, all my talents and my network, I will continue to advocate for Indian Country. We are left behind.
When I remember President Trump’s Indian Country platform in 2020, it was forgotten. We need to reinvigorate that, but we also need to add a little more meat to it, and then a little more authority and a little more insight.
About the Author: “Neely Bardwell (descendant of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indian) is a staff reporter for Native News Online. Bardwell is also a student at Michigan State University, where she is majoring in policy and minoring in Native American Studies .”
Contact: neely@nativenewsonline.net
