Obama: A full partnership with Indian country
By Barack Obama
That will change if I am honored to serve as president of the United States.
My American Indian policy begins with creating a bond between an Obama administration and the tribal nations all across this country. We need more than just a government-to-government relationship; we need a nation-to-nation relationship, and I will make sure that tribal nations have a voice in the White House.
I’ll appoint an American Indian policy adviser to my senior White House staff to work with tribes, and host an annual summit at the White House with tribal leaders to come up with an agenda that works for tribal communities. That’s how we’ll make sure you have a seat at the table when important decisions are being made about your lives, about your nations and about your people. That’ll be a priority when I am president.
Here’s what else we’re going to do. We’re going to end nearly a century of mismanagement of the Indian trusts. We’re going to work together to settle unresolved cases, figure out how the trusts ought to operate and make sure that they’re being managed responsibly – today, tomorrow and always.
| We need more than just a government-to-government relationship; we need a nation-to-nation relationship, and I will make sure that tribal nations have a voice in the White House. |
Now, I understand the tragic history between the United States and tribal nations. Our government hasn’t always been honest and truthful in our dealings. And we’ve got to acknowledge that if we’re going to move forward in a fair and honest way.
Indian nations have never asked much of the United States – only for what was promised by the treaty obligations made to their forebears. So let me be absolutely clear – I believe treaty commitments are paramount law, and I will fulfill those commitments as president of the United States.
That means working with tribal governments to ensure that all American Indians receive affordable, accessible health care services. That’s why I’ve cosponsored the Indian Health Care Improvement Act in the U.S. Senate, and that’s why I’ve fought to ensure full funding of the IHS so that it has the resources it needs.
It also means guaranteeing a world-class education for all our children. I’ll work with tribal nations to reform No Child Left Behind and create opportunities for tribal citizens to become teachers so you can be free to educate your children the way you know best. We’ll increase funding for tribal colleges. And I will make Native language preservation and education a priority.
To give families in our tribal communities every chance to succeed in a 21st century economy, I will cut taxes for 95 percent of all workers, invest in job training and small business development, and put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads, schools and bridges.
And I will never forget the service and sacrifice that generations of American Indians have given to this country. We have to keep our sacred trust with Indian veterans by making sure that no veteran falls into homelessness, and that all our veterans get the benefits and support they have earned.
Let me just close by saying this. I was born to a teenage mother. My father left when I was 2 years old, so I never knew him well. I was raised in Hawaii by a single mother and my grandparents, and we didn’t have a lot of money – we even turned to food stamps at one point just to get by.
Where I grew up, there weren’t many black families. So I know what it feels like to be viewed as an outsider. I know what it’s like to not always have been respected or to have been ignored. I know what it’s like to struggle.
Every president is shaped by his own experience. These have been mine. And so I want you to know that I will never forget you. The American Indians I have met across this country will be on my mind each day that I am in the White House. You deserve a president who is committed to being a full partner with you; to respecting you, honoring you and working with you every day. That is the commitment I will make to you as president of the United States.
Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois is the Democratic candidate for president.
Is Obama’s election a ‘New Day’ for Native Americans?
President Barack Obama’s election is a New Day in America. Some see him fulfilling the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. Others see a new FDR, taking on tough economic times, or a new JFK, inspiring the next generation.
For Native Americans, Obama is the hope for a New Day when America honors Native American human rights and respects the sovereignty of Native nations.
In an unprecedented effort, Obama met with tribal leaders in South Dakota, New Mexico, Oregon, Wisconsin, Montana and Minnesota to deliver his campaign message to Indian country. He dedicated his administration to work with Native nations on a “government-to-government,” “nation-to-nation” basis. Describing this as “a relationship of equals,” Obama pledged to “honor Indian treaties” and “respect Indian sovereignty.”
As a student of the Constitution, Obama understands the profound significance of his words. Even before there was a United States of America, Native nations were independent sovereigns, with territorial integrity, self-governing communities and self-sustaining ways of life. As the colonists fought for American independence, the fledgling U.S. entered its first treaties with Native nations, establishing military alliances to secure the service of Native warriors in defense of liberty.
Later, in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, Congress declared: “The utmost good faith shall always be observed toward the Indians, their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and in their property, rights and liberty, they never shall be invaded or disturbed. …”
In 1789, the U.S. Constitution was ratified, and the sovereign status of Native nations was reaffirmed as an immutable fact in “the Supreme Law of the Land.” Existing treaties were approved and Indian tribes specifically recognized as governments, along with states and foreign powers. At the end of the Civil War, the U.S. repeated its original recognition of tribal members and Indian sovereignty in the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
Despite the high ideals articulated in the Constitution, as every school child knows, the U.S. has strayed grievously from the principles of “honor” and “respect” when it came to Indian nations. Warfare, genocide, land theft, deception, forced removal, relocation, and termination are realities that shadow America’s past.
Modern federal Indian policy has moved forward by fits and starts. Roosevelt launched a “New Deal” for Native Americans in 1934, rejecting forced assimilation and seeking to revitalize tribal self-government. Lyndon Johnson energized tribal governments through civil rights legislation and the war on poverty.
Nixon ended the threat of forced termination and promoted Indian self-determination. Reagan pledged to restore tribal self-sufficiency and signed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Clinton made government-to-government relations the hallmark of Native policy at a White House meeting with Native nations and traveled to Indian lands to create jobs and promote tribal economic development.
Now President Obama has the challenge to take the next great stride forward. This president, who so personifies the spirit of democracy and the transcendence of human rights, has the opportunity to lead America’s Native nations into a new era of equality, self-determination and full participation in the American family of governments.
Now it is time for America, which aspires to stand for justice, freedom and human rights for all nations around the world, to apply those principles to the Native Americans here at home.
For President Obama, the great stride forward begins with some important initial steps. The first step will be a White House meeting between the president and the elected leaders of our Native nations.
At that time, Obama should issue a new executive order explaining the constitutional nature of our nation-to-nation relationship as a relationship between equal sovereigns. To use his term, “a relationship of equals” means cooperation based on mutual consent, respecting the fundamental human right of Native Americans to our original democracies.
The second step will be to affirm the United States’ continuing obligation to honor our Indian treaties and other treaties that protect Indian rights, including the Louisiana Purchase Treaty, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and the Russian Treaty of Cession for Alaska. Others may ask, “How long will these treaties last?” The answer is simple. They will last as long as our Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
The third step will be for the president to direct the Office of Management and Budget and each cabinet department to establish a tribal government office to work directly with Native nations on a nation-to-nation basis. Later, the cabinet officers should convene a meeting with Native nations to accomplish the goals established by tribal leaders during the White House meeting.
Finally, Native nations must be included in every legislative program and initiative that Congress enacts for the states. Tribal governments have the same needs as states for education, health care, police and fire protection, clean water and sanitation, housing, transportation and homeland security. Tribal needs for infrastructure improvement, economic development and government aid must be addressed just as states’ needs are addressed. Native nations do not want a hand out. We want respect for our constitutional rights of sovereignty and self-determination as recognized governments.
We do not believe this is too much to ask. Native nations gave America its earliest vision of representative democracy in the form of the Iroquois Confederacy. As the first members of the American governmental family, we deserve continuing respect.
From us, America received the land the people walk on. As the first guardians of mother earth, our sacred lands and reserved homelands deserve permanent recognition.
When President Obama pledged to work with tribes on a nation-to-nation basis, to honor our treaties and respect our sovereignty, his pledges had great weight and meaning.
As we look to the future, we respectfully request that President Obama keep in mind Justice Hugo Black’s statement on Indian treaties: “Great nations, like great men, should keep their word.”
Chairman Ron His Horse Is Thunder
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
Chairman Stanley Crooks
Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community
President Theresa Two Bulls
Oglala Sioux Tribe
Chairman Kevin Leecy
Bois Forte Chippewa
Chairman, Minnesota Indian Affairs Council
President Rodney Bordeaux
Rosebud Sioux Tribe
Chairman Marcus Levings
Mandan, Hidatsa & Arikara Tribes
Chief Barbara Lazore
Chief Monica Jacobs
Chief James W. Ransom
St. Regis Mohawk Tribe
Chairman Richard Marcellais
Turtle Mt. Band of Chippewa
Chairwoman Myra Pearson
Spirit Lake Dakota Nation
Chairman James Steele Jr.
Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes
Chairman Robert Cournoyer
Yankton Sioux Tribe
President Levi Pesata
Jicarilla Apache Nation
Chairman Mike Selvage
Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe
Governor Bruce Sanchez
Pueblo of Santa Ana
Governor Anthony Ortiz
Pueblo of San Felipe
Governor Chandler Sanchez
Pueblo of Acoma
Governor Ivan R. Pino
Pueblo of Zia
Governor Marcellino Aguino
Ohkay Owingeh
Governor Richard Mermejo
Pueblo of Picuris
Governor George Rivera
Pueblo of Pojoaque
Governor Walter Dasheno
Pueblo of Santa Clara
Governor Leon Roybal
Pueblo of San Ildefonso
Governor Ruben Romero
Pueblo of Taos
Governor Mark Mitchell
Pueblo of Tesuque
Governor Ernest Mirabal
Pueblo of Nambe
President Joe Garcia
National Congress of American Indians
Chairman, All Indian Pueblo Council
Vice Chairman Gregory Ortiz
All Indian Pueblo Council
President Joe Shirley
Navajo Nation
Chairman Ernest L. Stevens Jr.
National Indian Gaming Association
Chairwoman Karen R. Diver
Fond Du Lac Band of Chippewa
Chairman Samuel N. Penney
Nez Perce Tribe
Chairman Robert Salgado Sr.
Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians
President Robin Danner
Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement
President Julie Kitka
Alaska Federation of Natives
Chairman John Berrey
Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma
Chairman Bruce Two Dogs Boszum
Mohegan Tribe
Chairman Mel Sheldon
Tulalip Tribes
Chairman Richard Milanovich
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians
Principal Chief James R. Gray
Osage Nation
Chairman Greg Abrahamson
Spokane Tribe
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