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President Obama met with Indian leaders on November 5th, and promised the over 400 in attendance that he would make sure First Americans, along with all Americans, get the opportunities they deserve.
"The first step should be a commitment by the Administration to respect and promote our most fundamental rights as Indian nations and individuals - something that the United States has refused to do up to now by refusing to endorse the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples," says Lucy Simpson, a senior staff attorney with the Center.
Listen to Lucy's full reaction to the White House Tribal Nations Conference. Joe Kennedy, chairman of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe of the Western Shoshone Nation, and Ben Shelly, vice president of the Navajo Nation, who both attended the meeting with the President also share their thoughts.
"Adoption of the UN Declaration by the United States would be a formal commitment to respect the most basic rights to fairness, equality before the law, respect for treaty commitments, rights to our lands and resources, rights to education and cultural preservation, and perhaps most importantly self-determination for Indian peoples."
Lucy Simpson, Navajo, Senior Staff Attorney with the Indian Law Resource Center.
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 Las Vegas Review Journal photo by Gary Thompson. |
"The Obama administration should enforce the right to property, due process of law, and equality under the law."
Joe Kennedy, chairman of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe of the Western Shoshone Nation, reflects on the White House Tribal Nations Conference held November 5, 2009.
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"What Obama told us about partnership, collaboration, consultation and sovereignty ... was music to my ears."
The issues mentioned by Ben Shelly — self-determination, control over resources, economic development and self-sufficiency — are important for all Indian and Alaska Native nations and are included in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
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White House transcript of President Obama's remarks and the Q & A.
Official White House Videos:
President Obama Opens Tribal Nations Conference (includes interactive discussion)
Public Safety and Housing Panel
Education, Health Care and Labor Panel
Economic Development, Natural Resources, Energy, Environment and Agriculture Panel
On youtube:
Closing remarks of the Tribal Nations Conference
Read/Listen to what Indian leaders were saying prior to the White House meeting:
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"When President Obama meets with Indian and Alaska Native leaders on November 5th, he should announce that he will embrace the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and work to adopt an American Declaration on the human rights of Native nations." Read Robert T. Coulter's Op-Ed: Meeting with Obama and the US Commitment to Native Rights |
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Armstrong Wiggins, director of the Center's Washington, D.C. office and a Miskito Indian, says President Obama should address the U.S. position on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which, among many rights, details indigenous peoples' rights of self-determination and protects them from being forcibly removed from their lands. |
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gaiashkibos, board member of the Indian Law Resource Center and a former president of the National Congress of American Indians, says tribal leaders should hold the Obama administration to the campaign promises made to Indian communities. |
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Susan Masten, chair of the Indian Law Resource Center and former chair of the Yurok Tribe, says tribal leaders should ask the administration to address the U.S. position on the United Nations Declaration, which the U.S. and Canada have refused to support. |
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Jefferson Keel, the newly elected president to the National Congress of American Indians, says he hopes the November 5th meeting between President Barack Obama and tribal leaders will result in future partnerships. |