The memorial at the former site of the Tekakwitha Orphanage on the Lake Traverse Reservation near Sisseton, South Dakota. Children from nearby communities were taken from their families and brought to the orphanage for decades. (Photo by Mike Lakusiak/News21)

AGENCY VILLAGE, S.D. – Dustina Gill approaches young people roaming around the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Wacipi – commonly referred to as a powwow.

Clipboard in hand, Gill asks them whether they’re 18 and if they have registered to vote.

She’s part of a voter registration effort targeting potential voters in South Dakota. Gill and some other volunteers hit the Wacipi, which takes place each Fourth of July weekend outside of Agency Village on the Lake Traverse Reservation. The grounds sit eight miles south of Sisseton.

Dustina Gill (Photo by Mike Lakusiak/News21)

Gill has worked for nonprofits and youth programming on the reservation for years. She said she relies heavily on young people from the community for her voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts.

“The youth I work with are the kids who aren’t straight-A students,” she said. “They’re the kids who miss school, the kids who’ve been to treatment, those kids that are never eligible for leadership opportunities because of the criteria.”

She said while the issues facing Native American youth on reservations have drawn national attention, young people still fall through the cracks.

“One of the things some of those kids really liked is getting out the vote and registering people,” she said. She described how they gathered across from polling places with signs reading “honk if you voted” on Election Day.

“It was their outlet,” she said. “During election year, they were straight, knocking on doors. I’m like, ‘I’ve tapped into something.’”

“It makes them feel involved in the process. … If I can make these kids growing up feel they’re part of some part of good history, imagine what they could be as adults.”

While taking a break at the Wacipi, she highlights the importance of voting and building more of that “good history” – especially given some of the atrocities Native Americans have faced.

She mentions a park the tribe recently built along the road from Sisseton. The park is the former site of the church-run Tekakwitha Orphanage, which operated between 1931 and 1986.

“They stole children,” Gill said. She described how the children housed there were not actually orphans, but they were taken from their families and traditions in an effort to assimilate them into American society.

There were many allegations of physical and sexual abuse at Tekakwitha, some of which were the subject of a lawsuit against the local Catholic diocese in 2010.

Gill’s grandmother was taken from her family at a young age and sent to Tekakwitha.

“She waited until it got dark, and she ran back,” Gill said. “Imagine a 4-year-old running for miles. She made it back home. They came the next day and took her again. Four times she did that.”

“Anytime in my life when I thought it was hard, I always thought of that little 4-year-old running in the dark.”

“If my grandma can do that so we’re here, I can survive whatever it is I’m going through. And there’s a lot of families that think like that.”

Come back Aug. 20 to see the full News21 report on “Voting Wars.”

Youth counselor on Pine Ridge reservation stresses importance of voting from News21 on Vimeo.

PINE RIDGE, S.D. – Yvonne “Tiny” DeCory was out until 3 a.m. on a rainy morning in July counseling a young woman.

“I had a girl last night, she cut her arms pretty good,” DeCory said. “She just didn’t want to live.”

DeCory runs a youth support organization in the heart of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

“My everyday is keeping kids alive,” she said. “I tell them, ‘Your struggle is real, but we can deal with it.’”

The village of Pine Ridge is quiet, the roads muddy, and most of the activity takes place around the gas station at the town’s main intersection and the health center.

Youth outreach worker Yvonne “Tiny” DeCory stands in the “Bear Cave” – a youth center in Pine Ridge Village, South Dakota.

“Look around here, there’s a lot of poverty. And now we’re back at No. 1,” DeCory said, referring to the latest poverty rankings. “I’m not proud about that.” Oglala Lakota County, which makes up most of the reservation, was the poorest county in the country, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data.

The poverty level is just one of the factors connected to the reservation’s high number of youth suicides, according to experts.

The crisis here has been written about for years, and DeCory said journalists routinely contact her about visiting the reservation.

But she said there’s no point in drawing more attention to the issue from outsiders who parachute in to report on tragedy. Today, she wants to talk about voting.

“It’s tough living here for these kids, and they see that,” she said. “But there’s hope. There’s really a lot of good here.”

DeCory views voting as important and empowering for Native American youth. Turning 18 and being able to cast a ballot is a major milestone for them.

“I can’t wait until they’re 18,” she said. “We want them to get out there.”

“If everybody gets out there to vote, we can be the deciding factor,” DeCory said. She explained that the population of Pine Ridge is young and convincing young people of the importance of voting is sorely needed.

“I want you to register, and I want you to exercise your vote. No one can take that away from you.”

Come back Aug. 20 to see the full News21 report on “Voting Wars.”

The Wisconsin Capitol Building in Madison. (Photo courtesy of Jordan A Richmond/ Flickr)

PHOENIX – Wisconsin’s new voter ID laws – among the strictest in the nation – were enforced statewide for the first time in April during the spring presidential primaries.

Historically, the state had a reputation as an easy place to vote, sometimes cited as a contributor to high turnout over previous election cycles.

But opponents say the new laws may change that. Gov. Scott Walker signed the bill into law more than five years ago, but groups – including the American Civil Liberties Union – have challenged the laws in court. The latest trial wrapped up last month.

One Wisconsin Institute, an advocacy group based in Madison, spearheaded the latest legal challenge trying to strike down the laws. The trial concluded May 26, and a verdict is expected in July. It’s unlikely there will be any change to the law ahead of the Aug. 9 partisan primary for some congressional and state seats.

One Wisconsin’s Deputy Director Mike Browne said even if the decision goes in their favor, appeals are likely.

Another suit in 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals brought forward by the ACLU on behalf of two plaintiffs was ordered back to federal district court in April.

The laws require voters to turn up to the polls with state-issued photo ID, military ID or a passport. If voters lack these types of ID, they may use an unexpired veterans’ photo ID, certificate of naturalization issued within the past two years, a student ID provided it expires no more than two years after it was issued, or a state voter ID card.

Critics have said the state voter ID card, while free, is only available if someone has adequate supporting documentation like a Social Security card or birth certificate, which can be difficult or expensive to obtain or replace if lost.

The focus of both the One Wisconsin and ACLU lawsuits is on the burden people – especially minorities – face in obtaining acceptable forms of ID simply to vote.

One plaintiff in the ACLU suit, Ruthelle Frank, an 89-year-old longtime village board member in Brokaw, Wisconsin, could not easily obtain valid ID because of an error on her birth certificate, according to the ACLU. Frank has voted in every election since 1948.

The law has had wide-ranging impacts this election year.

Milwaukee Elections Commission Executive Director Neil Albrecht said recruiting poll workers has been especially difficult lately, due in part to the complicated nature of the laws.

“I think because politics have become so contentious, polling places can be perceived as battle grounds,” he said. “Whether a person supports or opposes voter ID (laws), there is some agreement that it creates a more complex layer of responsibility for election workers.”

There have been media accounts of confusion and frustration among voters and poll workers on what forms of ID are acceptable.

“There are complexities to the photo ID law around expiration or proof of residence. It’s a pretty complex landscape for people who only do the work – at most – about four times a year,” Albrecht said. “I would not be surprised if errors are occurring.”

Follow the reporter on Twitter @Lakusiak.