At the Alaska Federation of Natives convention last week in Anchorage, no one could barely move a few feet without encountering a pro-choice message.

Daniella Tebib worked at the craft market on the first floor.

“Hello! Are you planning on voting this November?” she asked passersby

“In November?” a man answered somewhat hesitantly. “Everyone’s going to vote, right?”

“I hope so. That's the goal,” Tebib said, holding out a brochure. “Would you like more information?”

Tebib, a volunteer for Congresswoman Mary Peltola's re-election campaign, sweetened her appearance with invitations to spin the prize wheel at the Peltola booth to win T-shirts, hats and other campaign gifts.

The AFN Congress takes place in October and in election years the focus is always on voting. But this year, AFN co-chair Joe Nelson said Congress is particularly focused on encouraging a strong Native vote.

“Yes, because we know there are forces at play that seek to marginalize our communities,” he said.

For Nelson and other AFN leaders, the attempt to suppress Indigenous voices became clear this month when two Republican lawmakers were guests on a conservative talk radio show. House Speaker Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, told host Michael Dukes that she and her fellow Republicans rejected a bill that would have eliminated the witness signature requirement on mail-in ballots, which she said was a barrier to rural voters represents.

“The changes in this bill would have definitely tilted the election toward Mary Peltola, to be quite honest,” Tilton said during the broadcast.

Tilton did not respond to an interview request for this story.

Nelson said Alaska Native voters need to show up in large numbers to overcome hurdles like signature requirements. He cares about the re-election of Peltola, the first Alaska Native elected to Congress – and also Nelson's ex-wife. He also voted “no” on Ballot Measure 2. This is the measure that would repeal Alaska's open primaries and ranked-choice voting. Nelson said Alaska's current voting method helps eliminate partisan gridlock and benefits most Alaska Native voters, who he described as moderates with common sense.

“We are, you know, about 17 percent of the population, more than 120,000 Alaska Natives,” he said. “If we actually agreed on all of our things and came to the polls, there would be no denying that our vote actually counts.”

The No on 2 campaign was one of the sponsors of the convention this year, so the message was featured on banners, pencils, buttons and brochures.

(The Yes on 2 campaign was not present at the convention, but repeal advocates say ranked-choice voting is confusing and that the open primary is unfair to conservatives.)

Some of the get-out-the-vote efforts were general and did not promote any particular candidate.

Shelley Cotton, chief strategy director of United Tribes of Bristol Bay, used an impartial approach to attract buyers at the AFN craft market. She asked voters to sign a campaign pledge, with checkboxes to indicate they would welcome reminder messages or translation services.

“It's really important to us that Indigenous people decide who is best for our people and that those people are in the right position so that we can work with them in our advocacy as well,” she said.

Cotton said United Tribes of Bristol Bay has 11 interns in their region to engage communities and ensure everyone knows when and where to vote.

Above, Michelle Sparck beamed as she handed out Indigenous pins that read “I Vote.”

“Let’s go,” said Sparck, looking at a young family. “This is for your baby: 'future Alaska Native voter.'” Yay.”

Sparck leads the bipartisan “Get out the Native Vote.” She has largely worked alone in recent years. Not this time. Several Alaska Native organizations joined in so she could hire 30 people to spread the message during election season. And, Sparck said, they are determined not to see a repeat of what happened in the primaries, when polling stations in some rural villages were not opened due to a lack of poll workers.

“In fact, we are prepared to fly our volunteers to any at-risk county that does not have a registered or employed poll worker or will be absent before Election Day on November 5th,” she said.

A few feet away, convention attendees crowded around a Sealaska table decorated with Native American-style voting stickers and signs. “Auntie’s Choice” was particularly popular.

“We're not endorsing any candidates here, we're just making sure that Alaska Natives have a plan to get to the polls and vote,” said Christian Ḵaat'aawu Gomez of Juneau, “because we know that our votes.” we need to be heard and that we have a big impact.”

Near him, a poster summarized the claim: “Voting is our way of life.”