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Abstract
In recent years, there has been a concerted effort by Native advocates to increase the number of Native elected officials and appointees, with the expectation that these individuals may serve as proxies for tribal interests in American political institutions. Native people–American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Indigenous peoples across U.S. territories - have consistently faced policies of termination and disenfranchisement by state and federal governments, effectively lowering their representation and power within the political process. In these projects, I examine how Native representation matters in terms of (1) elected officials; (2) appointees; and (3), advocacy efforts. Over three empirical chapters, I focus on the unique goals of politicians who identify as Native American or Indigenous, the conditions of their success, and the public response to these policymakers in supporting policies that impact tribal sovereignty. My findings indicate that Native officials, both elected and appointed, do in fact spend a great deal of political capital on representing the interests of Tribal Nations, a phenomenon that holds despite political party. Moreover, I find that the general public can be swayed to support policies that are championed by Native leaders when presented by a non-partisan, Native American messenger. These findings add important insights to the nascent subfield of Native American politics, and to the extant literature on representation, legislative behavior, bureaucracy, and public opinion.