HELENA – When Alissa Snow began working as a lobbyist in the 2015 Montana Legislature, she was the only American Indian lobbyist in the building.
Tribal nation representation within the members of the Montana Legislature has grown exponentially over the past 30 years. In 1995, there was one American Indian lawmaker in the Capitol – 0.6% of the 150 members of the House and Senate, according to the Montana Legislature’s website.
Today, 11 tribal members make up 7.3% of the Legislature. But even as representation among lawmakers has grown, Snow said, there’s still a need for representation of tribal nations among the organizers, lobbyists and advocates who also fill the Capitol every session.
This is what Snow and Patrick Yawakie set out to do when they created Red Medicine LLC, an organization providing professional civic engagement services to tribal communities. Their mission has been to connect and engage with tribal nations to bridge the gap between what’s happening at the Capitol and what’s happening on the ground in tribal communities. They’re part of a growing group of lobbyists and organizers at the Capitol who are members of Montana’s Tribes.
“A huge part of our work over the years has been bringing this world to our people back home – connecting into it,” said Snow, an enrolled member of the Pikuni, (Blackfeet), and Aaniiih, (Gros Ventre), tribes in Montana.
At the 2025 session, Red Medicine represents the Blackfeet Tribe, the Fort Belknap Indian Community and the Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy.
“What I've always been told is even on days that you don't want to be here, you better show up, because we need you here. It's about taking up space. And a lot of times we may be the only Native Americans in the room,” said Yawakie, who is enrolled in the Zuni Pueblo, (New Mexico), and the White Bear Nakota Cree, (Saskatchewan), and descended from the Turtle Mountain Anishinaabe, (North Dakota), and Fort Peck Dakota Nakota, (Montana), tribes.
Yawakie and Snow say they know they have education and lived experience that can help connect to the people in the tribal nations in Montana and help legislators understand how their bills will affect those communities.
“Every vote is a process:” Red Medicine’s on-the-ground efforts
With the pandemic in full force in 2021, Yawakie was the only organizer to go door-to-door in Indian Country, trying to connect with people in even the most remote locations. He contracted COVID 8 or 9 times during that year.
Because citizens of tribal nations only gained the right to vote in the ’60s and ’70s, Snow said there isn’t as much political experience passed down within tribal communities, so often the conversation starts with basics, like how to register to vote.
“This is why you can't have … a certain cookie-cutter approach to it, because traditional campaign organizing does not work in Indian country,” Snow said.
Yawakie and Snow emphasized the importance that citizens of tribal nations lead these efforts.
“We have to have our own approach,” Snow said. “And these have to be well funded too, because it is an investment, and it's worth the investment when you get Natives to vote.”
Snow and Yawakie have incorporated traditional feeds at all of their events to bring in more people, and they are able to navigate challenges that come up on the road.
Yawakie said along with the intangible barriers that tribal communities face to voting, like policies, socioeconomic barriers, and lack of trust of the U.S. government from broken treaties, there are often physical barriers too — long distances to travel from remote areas, lack of transportation, and in some cases, unsafe areas.
Snow said for many of the individuals they visit in Indian Country, their priorities are not on long-range policy. These people are focused on paying rent and having food to put on the table for their families, so Red Medicine’s job is to connect the dots and show them how voting can make a difference for them and their families.
“We're connecting those everyday issues to the long-term solutions, you know, by the simple act of voting,” Snow said. “And so that's what we do. And so when we connect them to that, they feel that, it’s like it lights of fire within them, right? They feel empowered and they want to participate.”
Yawakie said their grassroots efforts are more than just canvassing. It’s about connecting to Indian Country to heal and encourage people to participate in the process.
“Some may call it ‘get out the vote,’” Yawakie said. “But what we're really doing is healing a lot of these traumas.”
“Government-to-Government Relations:” Connecting those needs to the Capitol
In the 2025 session, Yawakie and Snow are using this insight to help inform the Montana Legislature of the needs in Indian Country and increase the presence of tribal nations when it has historically been scarce.
“We're providing direct, government-to-government relations,” Yawakie said. “And also realizing the lack of education that legislators are receiving about Indian issues.”
They’ve testified at about 120 committee hearings this year, Snow said. Their goal is to identify the bills that affect Indian Country, even if the bill text doesn’t explicitly address tribal nations.
Sen. Mike Yakawich, R-Billings, said Yawakie comes to testify on most of his bills, a presence he appreciates.
“It helps me understand my own bill with Indigenous people. But I think as he presents it to the committee, he ties in that the bill is relevant … he ties in his culture or the challenges of his culture into the bill,” Yakawich said.
And Snow and Yawakie are bringing this information at a time when American Indian representation in the Montana Legislature continues to grow, according to Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder. Windy Boy said Montana’s redistricting over the years allowed for this to happen.
“We've been having our backs in the corner for too long,” Windy Boy said. “And for the redistricting and for all of that stuff that's happened over the course of years, now we finally get to be front and center.”
The American Indian Caucus has seen strides in this session so far. In the Senate last week, Missoula Democrat Sen. Shane Morigeau’s bill to create Indigenous People’s Day passed the Senate 48-2. This was a promising step in a decade-long struggle that started as an anti-Columbus Day effort and morphed into a compromise in which both holidays are to be celebrated on the same day.
Willingness to compromise has been a growing trend, Yawakie said. He said he saw more and more Republicans in particular willing to cross party lines as hard-line conservative policies gained traction in 2023’s session. And that middle space is where the issues Red Medicine works on began to gain ground.
One important part of Red Medicine’s job is providing support to the legislators who go against the grain, Yawakie said. He said many of the legislators feel beaten down or trapped when they go against party lines, and they need support.
“That says that you have backbone, and that isn't anything to be ashamed of,” Yawakie said. “That's what Montana sent you here for, right? And so if it's giving them that support and those good words, that's what we're also providing.”
As the presence of tribal nations grows in Helena, Snow said it’s important for each person to speak up and make their presence known.
“A lot of times we may be the only Native Americans in the room,” Snow said. “And so it's really crucial that we're the loudest that we can be.”
Emma White is a reporter with the UM Legislative News Service, a partnership of the University of Montana School of Journalism, the Montana Broadcasters Association, the Montana Newspaper Association and the Greater Montana Foundation. White can be reached at emma.white@umconnect.umt.edu.
