WATCH: How North Dakota Native Vote Mobilizes Co-op Member-Owners

Nicole Donaghy, ED of North Dakota Native Vote, speaks in the recent “Spirit Lake” documentary.

Whether it’s the environmental and health effects of nuclear mining in Diné (Navajo) territory, the bitter contentions around the Dakota Access Pipeline in the tribal territory of the Standing Rock Sioux, or the mining for copper on a sacred Apache site, it is clear that there have long been troubling issues at the nexus of Indigenous peoples and the United States’ energy infrastructure. 

Despite the building blocks of our legacy energy system often being located in Indigenous territories, “Native American communities have higher rates of energy insecurity, while paying higher prices for the energy that is provided to our communities,” says Nicole Donaghy, the executive director of North Dakota Native Vote (NDNV). 

NDNV educates and activates Native communities to get more engaged in democratic processes and gets out the Indigenous vote. NDNV was founded in 2018 to push against a voter ID law that disproportionally disenfranchised Native voters.

NDNV’s work and tribal traditions are the subject of “Spirit Lake”, a new short documentary from The Story of Stuff Project, Rural Power Coalition (RPC), and Shareable.

As we know in the RPC, democratic governance is not just for government alone—a wide range of institutions can be democratic, governed by elected representatives.

Rural electric cooperatives—also known as electric membership corporations—are institutions of this sort, with great democratic potential at their core. For those serviced by an electric co-op, ratepayers are members who collectively own their utility, and who can be elected to serve on the board of these utilities.

Although these co-ops are democratic on paper, in reality, they often fall short of expectations. “A lot of our community members that we surveyed did not know that they could vote for the governing board,” says Donaghy. “We believe it is by design, by the [rural electric cooperative] so they can maintain levels of power.”

Only one out of fifty-five seats on the governing board of the local energy co-op is Native American, according to Donaghy, despite all tribal lands in North Dakota being served by electric co-ops.

But that may be changing. “We’ve created a task force that is sitting around 125 members that are interested in rewriting the narrative as to what energy production in North Dakota should be,” says Donaghy. “Including getting involved in the governance structure of rural electric cooperatives.”

“Spirit Lake” documents how North Dakota Native Vote is mobilizing Native communities to better represent Indigenous voices in co-op utilities, and to re-democratize these electric cooperatives.

You can also watch and share it on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

Take Action

At the time of writing, rural communities are facing significant threats from those who represent them in Congress — with the Senate considering a bill that would undermine the health and well-being of rural residents.

North Dakota Native Vote has a timely call to action here:
https://secure.everyaction.com/1Z60dr83u0i4rh03eGr1aQ2

If you’re interested in following the fight to secure a resilient, modern energy future for rural America, visit the Rural Power Coalition (of which NDNV is a member) and find ways to make your voice heard by telling the Senate to defend key energy programs