A year ago this week, President Barack Obama held the first-ever White House Tribal Nations Conference.

Obama promised to work closely with tribes and consult them on issues that affect them. Since then, he has signed the Indian Health Care Improvement Act and the Tribal Law and Order Act and has reached settlements in the Cobell case and the Keepseagle case.

"In all of these areas, tribal leaders across the country are not only being more engaged, but they're more informed," Jefferson Keel, the president of the National Congress of American Indians, told The Great Falls Tribune. "There is actually dialogue back and forth. It's constructive and it's productive."

One big issue still on the table is a fix to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar. Congress has failed to take action so the Obama administration plans to address the ruling through changes in regulation.

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A year after summit, Indians report progress in governmental dealings (The Great Falls Tribune 10/31)