The photo above is the inauguration for the tribal council.
For the Mescalero Apache people, their culture is a very big part of their life. What I mean by this is that when the tribe has tribal elections for the tribal council or for the office for president or for vice president the candidates that are running for those positions each put up booths, and what these booths are is just simple canopies that are used for when you go camping. Now you might be wondering why I added why the Mescalero Apache people bring their culture into elections for president, vice president, and for the tribal council. It is because in the booths that the candidates are at, they give out free food to those that stop by their booth and at this time when people are at their booth this is the time when the candidates get to talk to those who stopped by. This is how the culture is woven into events such as tribal elections. The reason on why they give out free food is because when a girl from the tribe becomes a certain age (around teenage years) that girls family holds a ceremony for her becoming a young woman and during this ceremony the family gives out free food to those that attend this four-day ceremony, and I believe that this is where the idea for giving free food comes from. (Also, free food is always good to get) Most of you know about the presidential elections for the U.S.have campaigns and those campaigns start two years before election starts, but for the tribal elections candidates they only have a week to campaign. before elections close. Elections are held in the first part of October and inauguration is the first part of January, just three months after elections are held. You can say that the elections for the U.S. president and the elections that are for the tribe are somewhat similar but also different at the same time. What I mean by this is that the elections for the U.S. president are held in November, and the elections that are in Mescalero are held in October.
Questions
1: From my examples similar is it between other cultures to when it comes to campaigning and getting involved with people?
2: What role does food represent for the candidates?
3: The presidential elections for the U.S. and the elections for the tribal government how would you say they would differ?
4: For the upcoming generation how might cultural practice and politics change from those who are in office now?
5: What can be done to maintain relations between cultural practices and politics for the future?