The White House announced to tribal leaders recently its launch of a webpage “Winning the Future: President Obama and the Native American Community.” The webpage is intended to “serve as another tool to help Indian Country navigate the federal government and learn about how the President’s Agenda is helping to win the future for Native [...]

At a White House Tribal Nations Conference on Thursday Dec. 16, President Obama told representatives of more than 300 American Indian tribal governments that his administration will sign the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. While not legally binding, the declaration “carries considerable moral and political force” in recognizing the legitimacy of [...]

President Obama congratulated the Senate on passing the Claims Settlement Act of 2010. The Settlement Act would fund the agreements reached in the Pigford II lawsuit, brought by African American farmers, and the Cobell lawsuit, brought by American Indians over the management of Indian trust accounts and resources. The bill includes settlements for four water [...]

The White House announced another tribal nations conference as part of President Barack Obama’s ongoing outreach efforts. The conference will be Dec. 16. Each of the 565 federally recognized tribes is invited to send one representative to the conference. The President and other top administration officials are expected to attend. “This will be the second [...]

Senator Sam Brownback, R-KS, has been introducing an apology resolution to American Indians in the Senate since 2004. It was nothing more than just a general statement of apology and did not create any potential for lawsuits oor offer to pay any form of reparations. Still, it took until December 2009 for the resolution to [...]

President Barack Obama signed the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act into law on Wednesday. The law prohibits the U.S. Postal Service from delivering cigarettes and certain tobacco products. The law effectively kills the tribal tobacco industry. The Seneca Nation had asked Obama to veto the measure, which was developed without tribal consultation. No hearings were [...]

President Obama has pledged to improve the lives of the country’s Native Americans. But he faces an enormous challenge. The president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge reservation describes where some of the tribal and Indian problems originate: “This is about how defeated our people feel. People across the US don’t realise [...]

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _____________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release November 25, 2009 Statement by the President on Native American Heritage Day “Tomorrow, Americans everywhere will observe our National Day of Thanksgiving. It will be a time of celebration and reflection as we gather with family and friends to count our blessings and [...]

You can watch on Youtube President Obama’s speech on Nov. 4 to tribal leaders from all over the U.S. who were invited to the White House to meet with the president and executive branch personnel.

The White House is inviting tribal leaders to Washington, D.C., for two listening sessions. They will take place August 31 at the White House. Each tribe can bring up to two persons. “The purpose of the sessions is to bring together tribal leaders and White House officials to engage in an informal dialogue on the [...]