Digital Get Out the Vote Powwow: Native Voter Event
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A digital get-out-the-vote powwow is an online intertribal gathering that pairs Native music, comedy and talk with voting help, like NDN Collective’s 2020 Sko Vote Den.
In October 2020, then-Representative Deb Haaland and Representative Sharice Davids joined NDN Collective and NativesOutdoors for Sko Vote Den Virtual Intertribal, an event aiming to engage Native voters ahead of election day. The elected officials joined Indigenous organizers, artists, and entertainers to discuss voting challenges, and to educate people about the complexities and importance of voting in Indian Country.
You can watch the full, recorded livestream below.
As Indigenous-led organizations we know that voting is a complex issue for Native people and communities. Therefore, we wanted to embrace and talk about the complexities, while inspiring and educating our people about the importance of voting in the 2020 election.
A play on the intertribal social dance powwows where Native people and powwow goers visit casually while enjoying culture and building relationships, the Sko Vote Den Virtual Intertribal was designed to build political awareness and joy around getting out the vote in Indian Country.
During the Sko Vote Den Virtual Intertribal, with the help from emcees and moderators, we framed up conversations from an Indigenous lens, sharing political analysis about the 2020 election, and also providing helpful resources on how and when to vote.
“I recently learned that 11,000 new Native voters were recently registered across the country. This could not have been done without local work on the ground,” said then-Representative Deb Haaland.
“I’m an organizer. For nearly two decades, I registered voters, knocked on doors, and made phone calls in Indian country all across New Mexico.
“It’s not easy work, but my experiences showed me that Indian country is the strongest when we work together.”
We learned from organizers about the barriers that exist in Indian Country when it comes to voting and how we overcome voter suppression by working together and building unity and strong grassroots groups and coalitions.
“Voting helps impact who is at the decision making table,” said Representative Sharice Davids.
“My job now, as an elected, is to listen to people. For too long, we didn’t have people in office who were listening to folks.
“Native people don’t need someone else to be our voice; we need people who are in decision making positions to be listening.”
What the SKO-VOTE-DEN Virtual Intertribal signaled was that Native People from the U.S./Mexico border to the Arctic, are ready and more than prepared to work with and build with elected officials to foster justice and equity in our communities, towns, states, and country and we are determined to put decision makers into office who will listen and be accountable to our people and who will honor tribal sovereignty.
What this event also signaled is that while we work diligently to get out the vote in Indian Country, we are also committed to other forms of building Indigenous power, like grassroots organizing, direct action, and resourcing Indigenous frontlines communities and movements.
Watch a 10-min highlight video of the event below.
How we produced the digital powwow
NDN Collective wanted a TV-style livestream with live panels, music, comedy and keynotes. Its speakers and viewers lived all over Indian Country, so we planned around distance, bandwidth and sound.
Speaker coaching: group and one-on-one sessions on audio, video and interactivity.
Graphic design: an event logo and graphics for outreach and social media.
Live production: walkthroughs, backstage prep, animated lower thirds and clean audio for the musicians, part of our virtual event production work.
We recorded the musical performances ahead of time and played them between the live panels.
That gave viewers variety, and it gave our producers time to prep the next speakers while the music played.
Most speakers had only minutes backstage, and we couldn’t run every dry run. So we stayed close to the emcees on each transition and kept checking light, sound and bandwidth.
The livestream drew nearly 9,000 Facebook views and 569 comments.
That’s one part of a bigger story: many Indigenous organizations on the ground built the 2020 Native vote.
Line-up of panels and guests, in order of appearance
Host drum: Mile High Singers, Denver, CO
Emcees: Tonia Jo Hall and Tatanka Means
Keynote speaker: Rep. Deb Haaland
Keynote speaker convo: Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective President and CEO, and Rep. Sharice Davids
Panel 1, Building Collective Power: Sarah Manning, Amber Starks, Layel Camargo, Nicole Yanes
Entertainment: Mic Jordan, Musician and Hip Hop Artist
Planning a digital gathering for your community?
We & Goliath produced the Sko Vote Den livestream for NDN Collective in 2020. We work across every format, from virtual to hybrid to in-person.
The SMART Event Method™ starts with strategy: goals, audience, format and how you’ll measure results, before production begins. Book a strategy session to talk through your next event.
We & Goliath is an award-winning, top 100 worldwide event agency known for increasing conference attendance by 7X and profits by 3X through beautifully designed virtual, hybrid, and in-person events. Since 1999, their team of innovative strategists and creative designers has worked with global enterprises, SMBs, non-profits, and other organizations to engage audiences and exceed expectations.
