Lisa Finley-DeVille, Mandaree

I want to first, acknowledge and congratulate, my opponent, Senator Jordan Kannianen, for winning his re-election in District 4.

Although we didn’t win this race, we won by showing our children what is possible for all of us. The work doesn’t end today, we continue to work together to find upstream solutions for our communities.

I want to thank the voters of District 4, during this pandemic, it hasn’t been easy for any of us. Thank you to my family and the many people who contributed and supported my campaign. Thank you for the many endorsements we received, we appreciate you.

Indigenous/Native people need to be at the decision-making table in every level of government. For centuries, legislative bodies, continue to make decisions on our behalf, this needs to change. Legislative bodies must not assume they know what we need.

How can you represent the Indigenous/Native people when you don’t want to take the time to get to know us?

We are 100th generation peoples still residing on our original homelands. Our beliefs are ancient, withstanding the test of time, but we are no different than the non – Natives, in that we are someone’s daughter, mother and wife and that we all deserve a safer and stronger North Dakota.

We, as Tribal Nation citizens, need our own legislative district for each Tribal Nations headquarters which are located within the exterior boundaries of the Indian Reservations. This will ensure we have adequate representation who fully understand the challenges we face and will advocate to the fullest in order to live a healthy and prosperous life.

We believe in protecting not only our woman and children, but the lands in which you conduct your business on, the lands in which you reside on. The work continues for our future generations.