This Diné leader is using horses to bring ‘the greatest Native turnout ever’ to the polls

In Diné, or Navajo, culture, the horse symbolizes strength and resilience, as well as a connection to the earth. Cowboy culture is so relevant to Native communities, that horseback trail rides are used to draw awareness to issues within the community including suicide prevention, and alcohol and drug use, said Allie Young, a 34-year-old Diné grassroots organizer. This fall, Young has harnessed the trail ride to engage Diné voters for the presidential election: her group's voter-registration events will culminate with 100 Indigenous voters riding on horseback to a polling station in Arizona on election day.

"When one mounts a horse and is in rhythm with the horse, that reconnection happens," Young, founder of the Indigenous-led civic engagement program Protect the Sacred, told the Guardian. "So when we're connected with the horse, we're then reconnected to Mother Earth and reminded of our cultural values and what we're fighting for, what we're protecting."

Native American turnout is especially critical in the upcoming election, when tribal sovereignty could be threatened by the conservative blueprint Project 2025, which states that fossil fuel drilling should be facilitated on tribal lands. Political representation that brings needed resources into Native communities is particularly important on tribal lands, where 75% of roads remain unpaved. In part due to Young's advocacy, Native American voters are credited with flipping the historically red state of Arizona to Democrat during the 2020 election. That year, up to 90% of the roughly 67,000 eligible voters in the Navajo Nation voted for Joe Biden, according to data.

Young said she hopes that the success of the Ride to the Polls campaign in 2020 and 2022 will encourage "the greatest Native turnout ever" in the upcoming election. This year, the campaign has extended its reach with events such as skateboarding and bull-riding competitions, heavy metal and country music concerts.

"We're trying to communicate to our community that we need to protect our tribal sovereignty," said Young, "and with that, protect our sacred sites, protect our lands, our cultures, our languages, our traditions."

Young launched the Ride to the Polls campaign in 2020 in response to the rapid spread of Covid-19 infections in the Navajo Nation, where some counties saw the highest death rates per capita in the nation. She wanted to ensure that her community filled out the US census to receive the funding they deserved and to elect politicians who prioritize the concerns of Native communities.

"Our nation and many tribal nations across the country were devastated by the onset of Covid-19 because our system is being chronically underfunded," said Young, "which revealed to the rest of the world what we already know: that the government is not honoring our treaty, which says that we are to receive good healthcare and education." She began creating culturally relevant initiatives so that young Diné citizens who felt disenfranchised would see voting as a tool to "rebuild our power as a community".