TAMA, Iowa — There are about 15,000 Native Americans in Iowa, according to census estimates. One population center is the Meskwaki Nation, here in Tama County. It’s an area in need of help: The poverty rate among Iowa’s Native American population was 33.2 percent in 2013, versus 12.7 percent in the rest of the state. In the same year, 19.1 percent of Native Americans in Iowa were on disability, compared to 11.7 percent for the rest of the state. Name any other economic indicator, and the situation is pretty much the same.
The area would seem an obvious place for presidential candidates seeking to sell their economic recovery plans, but no candidates have come by in recent years — until Bernie Sanders visited the Meskwaki Tribal Center today, to a welcome by drums:
Talking to attendees, it was clear that, while there were plenty of Sanders supporters, a lot were drawn simply by curiosity to see a presidential candidate who bothered to visit what is called the Settlement. By the end of it — Sanders delivered the same message he has everywhere else — more people seemed inclined to support him. Which shows one more time that in politics, just showing up is a huge part of the game.
