Lisa Finley-DeVille, District 4A House Candidate, Statement on District 4A Election Results

MANDAREE, N.D. — I want to first, acknowledge my opponent, State Representative Terry Jones for the years of service that he has given to the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara people.

We did it Fort Berthold, we opened the opportunity for our children and other Native Americans to run for North Dakota State Legislature.  The work begins today, I will continue to work with our people to find upstream solutions for our communities. 

I want to thank the voters of District 4A, you put your trust in me to lead and bring our issues to Bismarck this coming Legislative session. Thank you to my family and the many people who contributed and supported my campaign. Thank you for the many endorsements we received, I appreciate you.

Indigenous/Native people need to be at the decision-making table in every level of government.  For centuries, decisions have been made on our behalf, this needs to change, and it starts here with my tenure.  Lawmakers must not assume they know what we need without our input. 

How can we have representation when leaders know nothing about us?

We are 100^th generation people still residing on our original homelands. Our beliefs are ancient, withstanding the test of time, but we are also very similar to our non-Native neighbors, 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 federally-recognized tribe in the state. This will ensure that 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.

I will work to promote funding for education and to ensure a safe and healthy environment for future generations.   I believe in protecting not only our woman and children, but the lands in which companies conduct their business on, the lands in which we continue to live and protect. I’ve worked for more than 12 years to protect North Dakota, I’m ready to take that advocacy with me to Bismarck. The work continues for our future generations.