As Native Americans across the U.S. gather Monday Indigenous Peoples’ Day To celebrate their history and culture and recognize the ongoing challenges they face, many will do so with a focus on the election.

From one voting meeting in Minneapolis with food, games and raffles for a public conversation on the Indigenous Voice at Virginia Tech, the holiday – which takes place approximately three weeks before Election Day – features a wide range of events focused on the mobilization and outreach of Indigenous voters, amid a strong recognition of the power of their voices.

More than 200 people were registered to vote within hours at the Minneapolis event, where volunteers handed out T-shirts, stickers and special posters created from designs commissioned by artists with tribal ties ranging from New York’s Onondaga Nation to the Karuk tribe in California. The theme was clear: make voting a tradition.

In 2020, Native voters proved decisive in the presidential elections. Tribal voter turnout in Arizona increased dramatically compared to the previous presidential election, helping Joe Biden win a state that had not supported a Democratic candidate in a White House election since 1996.

Janeen Comenote, executive director of the National Urban Indian Family Coalition, which is involved in at least a dozen such voting events across the country, said it is especially important to mobilize indigenous voters this year as the country chooses the president. But she cautioned that Indigenous people are by no means a monolith when it comes to how they vote.

“We are actually concerned with getting native voters to vote, and not with telling them how to vote. But some kind of understanding that you have a voice and that you are a democracy, a democracy that we helped create,” said Comenote, a citizen of the Quinault Indian Nation.

On Monday, the Democratic National Committee announced a six-figure ad campaign targeting Native voters in Arizona, North Carolina, Montana and Alaska. The majority of digital, print and radio advertisements were placed in local and national Native publications.

In Arizona, the Comenote coalition partnered with the Phoenix Indian Center to hold a town hall on Monday ‘Democracy is indigenous: the power of the indigenous voice’ with speakers and performances, along with indigenous artworks focused on democracy.

Local Navajo artist Richelle Key was commissioned to create a painting during the event. Her vibrant brushstrokes were intended to remind people to “keep our culture alive.” There was also a second painting on display with the message ‘Vote for our future’.

“It’s important to vote because we don’t want to be forgotten,” Key said.

In Apex, North Carolina, about 14 miles southwest of Raleigh, the coalition is working with the Triangle Native American Society on an event expected to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 and a booth with nonpartisan voter information and giveaways.

At a celebration in Arizona this weekend, Walter Murillo, a member of the Choctaw Nation and CEO of Native Health in Phoenix, also spoke about the anniversary of the federal law and the power of Native voters.

“That’s especially important in an election year,” he said, noting that the activities are aimed at getting people involved, registering them to vote and encouraging them to cast their ballots.

There were also dances and sunrise gatherings to mark the day at sites across the country, from the Santa Fe Indian School campus in New Mexico to San Francisco, where passengers boarded ferries to Alcatraz Island.

Alcatraz has served as a symbol of self-determination after it was taken over in the 1960s by indigenous students who demanded that the U.S. government recognize long-standing agreements with tribes.

Although not a federal holiday, Indigenous Peoples Day is celebrated by 17 states, including Washington, South Dakota and Maine, as well as Washington, D.C., according to the Pew Research Center. It typically takes place on the second Monday in October, the same day as the federal holiday of Columbus Day.

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Associated Press journalists Ross Franklin and Katie Oyan in Phoenix, and Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.