"Looking to end decades of government negligence of Native people, President Barack Obama spoke Nov. 5 to tribal leaders gathered from across the nation for the White House Tribal Nations Conference.

The conference, which was held in Washington, D.C., at the Department of the Interior, gave tribal leaders a chance to interact with Obama and his administration and gave the president a chance to present his agenda as it relates to Native people.

The event also gave the president a chance to tout his achievements so far in fulfilling campaign promises he made to tribes across the country.

The list of achievements Obama recited – accomplishments Native people have, thus far, only witnessed in bits and pieces – was impressive. The appointment of Native leaders like Larry EchoHawk and Kimberly Teehee to prominent and influential positions within the Obama administration. Efforts to take policymakers to tribal communities to listen to tribes’ concerns. And, of course, hosting the Tribal Nations Conference, an event Obama promised while on the campaign trail.

Tribes, by and large, expressed their support for Obama early in his presidential campaign. The Black Eagle family of the Crow Tribe of Montana even adopted candidate Obama into their family, a fact the president acknowledged with his signature eloquence.

“Only in America could the adoptive son of Crow Indians grow up to become President of the United States,” he said."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Obama making good on promises (Indian Country Today 11/6)

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