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Obama makes pledge to Native American leaders

Marcus Levings, chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold in North Dakota, poses a question to US President Barack Obama at the White House Tribal Nations Conference at the US Department of Interior in Washington on Thursday. PHOTO: REUTERS

US President Barack Obama told an unprecedented gathering of tribal leaders Thursday that he was committed to giving Native Americans an equal shot at the “American dream.”

Addressing leaders of the 564 tribes recognized by the US government, Obama said few groups had “been more marginalized and ignored by Washington for as long as Native Americans.”

“It’s a history marked by violence and disease and deprivation. Treaties were violated. Promises were broken,” he told the gathering of Indian tribal chiefs, most in suits but some wearing traditional headdresses or cowboy hats.

Obama, the first African-American US president, who was also born to a teenage mother and raised by his grandparents, said he could empathize with the people he described as the “first Americans.”

“I know what it means to feel ignored and forgotten and what it means to struggle. So you will not be forgotten as long as I’m in this White House,” Obama said to great applause.

Many Native Americans live on tribal reservations run by largely autonomous governments where unemployment is high — 80 percent at some sites. Violent crime is more than 20 times the national average, and Native Americans face high levels of high school and college dropout rates.

The community also has an average life expectancy of 72.3 years — 4.6 years shorter than that of an average American, and suffers from alcoholism at a rate six times higher than the rest of the country.

Native Americans also contend with much higher mortality rates from tuberculosis and diabetes, and a suicide rate of 18 people per 100,000, compared with 11 per 100,000 nationally.

About one-quarter of all Native Americans live in poverty, said Obama, before signing a document giving US government agencies 90 days to submit detailed plans on ways to improve consultation with tribal leaders.

Obama, who was adopted as an honorary Crow Indian during a visit to a reservation in the state of Montana in last year’s presidential campaign, joked: “I know what they’re saying now: ‘Kids grow up so fast.’ Only in America could the adoptive son of Crow Indians grow up to become president of the United States.”

Since taking office, Obama has reached out to the Native American community, designating US$3 billion in stimulus money for Indian communities and naming a Cherokee tribe member to serve as White House advisor on Native American issues.

But members of the community called for more.

“Our children are sacred. We want the best for them and we ask that you help us to ensure a better education, a better life, well-being for our children because they are going to be the future leaders,” Teresa Tibulz of the Oglala Sioux said.

Obama said on Thursday he hoped better communication and consultation between the US government and tribes would improve the lot of the Native Americans.

“I know you’ve heard this song from Washington before,” Obama said. “I know you’ve often heard grand promises that sound good but rarely materialize. And each time, you’re told this time will be different.”

But this time it was different, the president said, stressing that he was “absolutely committed” to forging “a new and better future” for the country’s Native Americans.

“It’s a commitment to getting this relationship right, so that you can be full partners in the American economy, and so your children and your grandchildren can have a equal shot at pursuing the American Dream,” he said.

Leaders welcomed the president’s efforts.

“It’s a major undertaking; we’ve had meetings before with [former] presidents [Bill] Clinton and [George W.] Bush, but a meeting of this magnitude with so many leaders is unprecedented,” said Richard Milanovich, chairman of the Agua Caliente Bank of Cahuilla Indians.

There are 4.5 million Indians in the US, representing 1.5 percent of the total population.
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