Despite Native Americans comprising nearly 60% of the total population of Thurston County, officials adopted districts that discriminated against the Native vote.
In 2022, the Spirit Lake Tribe and individual voters filed a lawsuit against Benson County, North Dakota, for adopting a redistricting plan that violates the rights of Native voters.
The Walns asked the court to declare it illegal to ban Native American graduating students from expressing their academic achievement and religious beliefs through beaded caps and eagle feathers or plumes.