Obama promises to include US Indians in 'American dream'

[babsbunny]

Obama promises to include US Indians in 'American dream'
AFP
Published: Thursday November 5, 2009


http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Obama_promises_to_include_US_Indian_11052009.html


US President Barack Obama on Thursday told a gathering of US tribal leaders in Washington that he was committed to giving Native Americans an equal chance at the "American dream."

Few US groups "have been more marginalized and ignored by Washington for as long as native Americans," Obama told the leaders of 564 tribes that the federal government recognizes and who were invited to Washington for the event.

[CreekDog]

1. I think a better term could have been thought of in this venue

certainly better than "American Dream"

hmmm. not a big deal to me, but still.

[theoldman]

2. A lot of Native Americans do not own a house and a car.

I always though that was the American dream.

[CreekDog]

5. It's just a loaded term to use at a venue for "Sovereign" nations

that's all i'm saying.

[elocs]

3. Well, Native Americans know about promises, and how they are broken. n/t

[Number23]

10. You got that right. Only group who have had it worse than blacks in this country imo

What has happened to them and their culture is a shame that this country should never recover from.

[polichick]

4. I'm glad he's going to bat for them - but they're better off staying away from...

...the "American Dream" of more stuff, bigger debt and sick values.

[gerenimox]

6. American Native Genocide

will he recognize the American Native Genocide?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

11. Will REAL history be taught concerning native Americans?? Will

the trail of tears be required reading???

http://www.amazon.com/Trail-Tears-Rise-Cherokee-Nation/dp/0385239548/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257464108&sr=8-1
One of the many ironies of U.S. government policy toward Indians in the early 1800s is that it persisted in removing to the West those who had most successfully adapted to European values. As whites encroached on Cherokee land, many Native leaders responded by educating their children, learning English, and developing plantations. Such a leader was Ridge, who had fought with Andrew Jackson against the British. As he and other Cherokee leaders grappled with the issue of moving, the land-hungry Georgia legislatiors, with the aid of Jackson, succeeded in ousting the Cherokee from their land, forcing them to make the arduous journey West on the infamous "Trail of Tears." Popular history for public libraries. Mary B. Davis, Museum of American Indian Lib., New York
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Will it be required viewing??



http://www.amazon.com/Trail-Tears-Cherokee-Legacy/dp/B000ELJ3E4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1257464108&sr=8-4

My family watched the DVD last night and it is a great film. It is everything we expected it to be. It really evokes some strong emotions (my daughter started crying), and it delivers this legacy of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw tribes and other indian people of the area in a frank, straight forward manner.



Wes Studi does a wonderful job, and speaks the Cherokee language eloquently as the story of the Cherokee trail of tears unfolds in a long over-due examination of this Cherokee legacy. James Earl Jones' presence is a strong statement in itself, not to mention his unique way of making almost anything interesting and he adds a feeling of authenticity to the film. The closed captioning is a definite plus and the beauty of the scenery in the Cherokee's ancestral homelands was breathtaking.



A big thanks go to the Cherokee Tribe and to Rich-Heape Films, Inc. for granting Public Performance Rights to schools and libraries. I will be sending a copy to my sister today. She is the principal at the Wakpala Indian School in South Dakota. She puts the videos and music into the School Library system where they are made available to the students who check them out like they do books.

[Clio the Leo]

19. And while he's at it.......

.... can he PLEASE move Andrew Jackon's portrait OUT of Abe Lincoln's old office!!!?

That's just wrong on so many levels.



Thank you for the info on the DVD ..... Red Clay .... one of the departure points is about 20 miles from here and I was fortunate as a child to have been able to visit it several times in school.

[damntexdem]

7. "It's an American dream. That includes Indians true."

But if they have to wait for a WARM San Francisco night, it'll be a while.

[cherokeeprogressive]

8. Someone must have studied exit polls from last November and decided that

not enough Native Americans voted for Obama.

With the right words, he's sure to do better next time.

[Peacetrain]

9. Really now.. hmmm.. you got that from what?

[cherokeeprogressive]

12. Um, the visible result of hundreds of years of promises?

Nah, that couldn't be it, could it?

Historically, a promise made to Native Americans hasn't been worth the paper it was written on. So you'll excuse me if I'm more than a little skeptical of our new president when he makes more promises, right?

I have immediate family who still live on a reservation in OK. Tell THEM he made promises today and they'll laugh, just as I did.

[Peacetrain]

14. Hundreds of years of broken promises are Obama's fault?

[cherokeeprogressive]

20. No. I didn't say that. I WILL say this though. One Obama promise doesn't mean SHIT to me

as an American Indian. I'll hold my props on this one until he MAKES it happen.

Today, his words are just that: Words.

Let him turn them into deeds, and then I'll cheer him on.

[Cha]

16. Yeah, I wonder where..

<snip>

"Obama Adopted by Native Americans"

By Jeff Zeleny

CROW AGENCY, Mont. – As the Democratic presidential campaign has moved from season to season over the last 16 months, the political rallies and the town meetings often have taken on a similar feeling and a familiar flavor.

Not so today, here on the Crow Indian Reservation.

<more>
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/obama-adopted-by-native-americans/

<snip>

"Native American Times endorses Barack Obama"

Awhile back I chastised all the Democratic candidates other than Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel for ignoring the Native American vote, a vote that can be critical in the West and even has proven critical in states like Pennsylvania, where efforts by Native American groups helped flip the State legislature from Repub to Dem.

Seems Barack Obama has done a lot to make up for past neglect. The Native American Times, impressed with outreach from his campaign, has endorsed Barack Obama for President:

<more>
http://www.culturekitchen.com/mole333/blog/native_american_times_endorses_barack_obama

<snip>

"For such a homogeneous state, the county-by-county results show a striking polarization, especially in the western portion of the state. McCain is winning 61.64% of the vote in Fall River County (the bottom left one); directly to the right, Obama is winning 88.69% of the vote in Shannon County. One would expect to see such results in a racially divided area; places like Detroit or Louisiana.

One certainly would not expect Obama to win 88.69% of the vote in any county located in the vicinity of the Dakotas. Shannon County’s result certainly surprised me.

As it turns out, Shannon County is smack in the middle of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation; more than 90% of the population is Native American. There is an extremely strong correlation between Indian reservations and Obama’s share of the vote in South Dakota. In fact, the only dark blue county not located within an Indian reservation (Clay County) is home to the University of South Dakota."

<more>
http://thepolitikalblog.wordpress.com/2009/10/04/south-dakota-and-the-native-american-vote/

[One of Many]

15. Interesting

As "sovereign nations" they vote? I need to read up on how they and the US are really structured.

[mikekohr]

18. Yes they vote, and are the Democratic Party's Most Loyal Demographic

Two sitting senators, Maria Cantwell WA and Tim Johnson SD, owe their seats to dramatic voter support by American Indians. And the case of Johnson, the Bush White House extracted a pound of political flesh in retaliation:
read full post: http://www.brotherhooddays.com/HEROES.html#PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:

I wish all other Democrats were as stalwart as our friends on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

mike kohr

[Oregone]

13. Theyll be allowed to mortgage their reservations, have their industries outsourced and be laid off?

[xchrom]

17. well i hope they fare better than gay folks have. nt