美国国家公共电台 NPR Record Number Of Native Americans Running For Office In Midterms

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

Come November, voters in New Mexico could elect the country's first Native American woman to Congress. Deb Haaland is one of a record number of Native Americans running for statewide and federal office this year. NPR's Leila Fadel has the story.

DEB HAALAND: I'm just reaching out to you today to let you know that we won our primary election.

LEILA FADEL, BYLINE¹: On a recent afternoon, Deb Haaland sits with a big stack of paper in front of her, calling donors² to thank them and to ask for more money for her run in November. After winning her primary, Haaland, a member of the Pueblo³ of Laguna, is running for the U.S. House in a strongly Democratic district in New Mexico. Now, she's not new to politics. She's the former chair of the state's Democratic Party. This year, Haaland ran because of President Trump's policies, but also...

HAALAND: I identified with so much of what people go through in his district in and this state. Half of our population is Medicaid eligible⁴. So a lot of single moms. So many people are paying off their student loans.

FADEL: She's a single mom, went to public schools, lived on food stamps. And she's cast herself as a working-class candidate.

HAALAND: I just feel like, I don't know, this is the year. A lot happened - right? - this year. Maybe we just all said separately, it's time for us to, you know, take the next step.

FADEL: When she says all, she means the record number of Native American women running who could become firsts themselves. Not all of them will win this fall, but the sheer number matters, says Mark Trahant. He's the editor of the website Indian Country Today, and he's been counting Native American candidates for the last six years.

MARK TRAHANT: There really is a record year this year. It's extraordinary. You see folks running for such a variety of offices.

FADEL: There are two Native American men in Congress right now, both Republican. But the list of candidates this year has grown. Trahant expects as many as 10 Native Americans will be on the congressional ballot⁵ this fall, double the number in 2016. As for statewide offices, there are more Native Americans running for lieutenant⁶ governor alone - six candidates - than the number that ran for statewide offices across the country in 2016. Trahant says some of this is a reaction to the current political climate, but it's also the fruit of years of work by Native American organizers and politicians. And the candidates, he says, are dismantling⁷ stereotypes⁸ with campaigns that show the diversity of Indian country. There's Tatewin Means, who recently lost a primary for attorney general in South Dakota but had a groundbreaking political ad.

(SOUNDBITE OF POLITICAL AD, "TOGETHER")

TATEWIN MEANS: (Speaking Lakota).

FADEL: It was in Lakota, which Trahant says is the first time he's seen a political ad in a Native language.

(SOUNDBITE OF POLITICAL AD, "TOGETHER")

MEANS: (Speaking Lakota).

FADEL: There's also Sharice Davids, a lesbian ex-MMA fighter who is running for Congress in Kansas.

(SOUNDBITE OF POLITICAL AD, "FIGHTING FOR PROGRESS")

SHARICE DAVIDS: It's 2018, and women, Native Americans, gay people, the unemployed⁹ and underemployed have to fight like hell just to survive.

FADEL: She wears a T-shirt that reads strong, indigenous¹⁰ and resilient as she pounds a punching bag. Again, Trahant.

TRAHANT: I think what's important about those ads is it will change people's perceptions about Native Americans in general, not just the political campaigns but how people perceive the Native community.

FADEL: It's galvanizing Indigenous voters, who are often sidelined by voting laws and distrustful of a government that has taken so much from them.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Congratulations, Deb.

HAALAND: Oh, thank you so much.

FADEL: That's clear when walking around with Deb Haaland in Albuquerque. All kinds of people walk up to congratulate her on her primary win, but it's different when the supporter is Indigenous. At a minor¹¹ league baseball game, Robert Piper greets her.

ROBERT PIPER: As a native Hawaiian, I'm very proud of you. I've been following your race.

HAALAND: Oh, thank you so much. Thank you.

FADEL: One of Haaland's interns¹² gets emotional as she explains why she's working on the campaign. Dechellie Gray is Navajo.

DECHELLIE GRAY: I see, like, my family in her family. And I think that's something that's really important that I've never seen before. So it's just, like, really emotional to me 'cause it means so much.

FADEL: There's a lot of energy around this year's crop of candidates. But the question is, will that translate into more Native Americans showing up at the polls? Historically, Indigenous voters have had some of the lowest turnout rates of any group in the country. Leila Fadel, NPR News, Albuquerque.

(SOUNDBITE OF EVENINGS' "STILL YOUNG")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 pueblo   

n.（美国西南部或墨西哥等）印第安人的村庄

参考例句：

• For over 2,000 years,Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States.在长达2，000多年的时间里，印第安人统治着现在美国西南部的大片土地。
• The cross memorializes the Spanish victims of the 1680 revolt,when the region's Pueblo Indians rose up in violent protest against their mistreatment and burned the cit

4 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

5 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

6 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

7 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

8 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

10 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

11 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

12 interns   

n.住院实习医生( intern的名词复数 )v.拘留，关押( intern的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Our interns also greet our guests when they arrive in our studios. 我们的实习生也会在嘉宾抵达演播室的时候向他们致以问候。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• The interns work alongside experienced civil engineers and receive training in the different work sectors. 实习生陪同有经验的国内工程师工作，接受不同工作部门的相关培训。 来自超越目标英语 第4册