Joe Biden makes a long-awaited visit to an Arizona reservation

PHOENIX (AP) — President Joe Biden is finally heading to Indian country, making a long-promised visit to an Arizona reservation that Democrats hope could boost Vice President Kamala Harris’ turnout efforts in a key battleground state.

Biden’s visit Friday to the land of the Gila River Indian Community on the outskirts of metro Phoenix will be his first visit to Indian country as president, something he promised tribal leaders he would do nearly two years ago.

During the visit, Biden intends to officially apologize Native Americans for US Government’s Role in Native Child Abuse and Contempt Sent to Federal Court boarding schools to assimilate them into white society, according to the White House.

But it’s also a chance for Biden to highlight his and Harris’ support for tribal nations, a group that has historically favored Democrats, in a state he won by just 10,000 votes in 2020.

The race between Harris and former President Donald Trump is expected to be just as tight, with both campaigns doing everything they can to boost turnout among “core” supporters.

“Right now, the turnout in the race is on,” said Mike O’Neill, a nonpartisan Arizona pollster. “The trend lines were surprisingly stable. The question is which candidate will be able to win over voters in what appears to be a close race.”

Joe Biden could help Kamala Harris with Native American voters in Arizona

Harris and other Democrats used Biden sparingly on the campaign trail after he ended his campaign in July.

But analysts say Biden could help Harris in her appeal to Native American voters, a group that lags behind others in turnout.

In 2020, voter turnout on some Arizona tribal lands increased as Biden beat Trump to become the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state since Bill Clinton in 1996.

Biden is making the visit in his official capacity, and a formal apology — something the tribes have long sought — seems certain to draw the attention of Native Americans across the country.

At least 973 Native American children died in the violent U.S. residential school system over a 150-year period that ended in 1969, according to an Interior Department investigation that demanded an apology from the U.S. government.

At least 18,000 children, some as young as 4, were taken from their parents and forced to attend schools that sought to assimilate them.

“President Biden is to be commended for finally addressing this issue and other issues affecting society,” said Ramona Charette Klein, 77, a boarding school survivor and charter member of the Turtle Mountain Orchestra in Chippewa. “I think it will reflect well on Vice President Harris, and I hope that momentum continues.”

She added that whoever becomes the next president should take concrete action and begin to compensate for the damage done to the tribes by residential schools.

Democrats intensified work with Indian communities.

Both Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz, met with tribal leaders in Arizona and Nevada this month. And Clinton, who has served as a key surrogate for Harris, met last week in North Carolina with the chief of the Lambie tribe.

The Democratic National Committee recently launched a six-figure advertising campaign targeting Native American voters in Arizona, North Carolina, Montana and Alaska through digital, print and radio ads.

Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is running against Republican Kari Lake for an open Arizona Senate seat, has visited all 22 federally recognized tribes in Arizona.

Harris opened a recent campaign rally in Chandler, near the Gila River Reservation, by shouting out the tribal chief.

She also reminded the crowd that she was the first vice president to visit the Gila River Reservation. She and husband Doug Emhoff visited the community last year.

“I strongly believe that the relationship between tribal nations and the United States is sacred … and that we must respect tribal sovereignty, accept our trust in treaty obligations and ensure tribal self-determination,” Harris said.

The White House says that over the past four years, Biden and Harris have gained significant experience working with Native Americans.

He designated the sacred Avi Kwa Ame, a desert mountain in Nevada, and the Baaj Nwaawjo I’tah Kukweni Footprints of the Ancestors in the Grand Canyon in Arizona as national monuments and restored the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah.

In addition, the administration directed nearly $46 billion in federal spending to tribal nations. The money helped electrify a reservation that never had electricity, expand access to high-speed Internet, improve sanitation, build roads, and more.

Biden selected former New Mexico state representative Deb Haaland as his interior secretary, the first Native American appointed to a cabinet position. Haaland is a member of Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico.

She, in turn, in June 2021 ordered a comprehensive review of the troubled legacy of the federal government’s residential school policies, prompting Biden to issue a formal apology.

“He made commitments to Indian Country, and he fulfilled every one of those commitments,” Haaland said.

Tom Reilly, co-director of the Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy at Arizona State University, said the Harris and Trump campaigns — and their allies — have made significant efforts to microtarget Arizona.

Harris, Reilly noted, also focused on reducing Trump’s advantage among Mormon voters in the state, a group that has historically favored Republicans. Meanwhile, Trump has focused on young men as the campaign tries to narrow the Democratic lead at the expense of young voters.

“They’re pulling out all the stops to see if they can wring a few more votes here and there,” Reilly said. “The Indian community is one of those groups that Harris hopes will step up and help make a difference.”