Native American voting block
We talk to Native Americans, and listen to their views on the presidential election.
This week Inside USA travels across America to speak to the Lakota Sioux, the Western Shoshone, and the Navajo.
The Native American voting block in swing states like Arizona and New Mexico can be crucial.
But what happens when Native Americans want to opt out of the US altogether?
That is what is happening in South Dakota, where just a few months ago, a group of Lakota Sioux declared independence from the US, declaring a sovereign “Republic of Lakota”.
Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota was the site of the Battle at Wounded Knee – the last major armed conflict between the Lakota Sioux and the United States. For some the wounds of 1890 still run deep.
As do the social problems on the reservation- many Lakota Sioux say the US government is failing them. They are among the poorest people in the country. Life expectancy for men on the reservation is just 44 and the child mortality rate is the highest in the US.
Filmed in Arizona, New Mexico, South Dakota and Nevada, Inside USA gives a voice to Native Americans, and listens to their views on the presidential election.
This episode of Inside USA aired from Saturday, March 1, 2008.