Maybe the first step in giving N and S Dakota back to the Indians

[larrymeyer]

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-11-05-voa45.cfm

Obama Holds His 1st American Indian Summit
By Kent Klein
The White House
05 November 2009


U.S. President Barack Obama has followed through on a campaign promise to hold an annual meeting with American Indian leaders. The president says he wants to reverse the government's history of marginalizing the native peoples.


Audience members raise their hands to ask Pres. Barack Obama a question at the Department of Interior in Washington, 05 Nov 2009
President Obama says Thursday's meeting is the largest gathering of tribal leaders in U.S. history. And he says he is determined to be a good partner with the 564 American Indian tribes represented at the gathering.

"You will not be forgotten as long as I am in this White House," said the president.

The gathering at the Interior Department in Washington is the first time in 15 years that a president has met with leaders of the American Indian tribes.

Mr. Obama opened the meeting by acknowledging the government's history of mistreating the Indians.

"It is a history marked by violence and disease and deprivation. Treaties were violated. Promises were broken," he said. "You were told your lands, your religion, your cultures, your languages were not yours to keep. And that is a history that we have got to acknowledge if we are to move forward," he added.

Six cabinet secretaries and several members of Congress were taking part in the day-long meeting.



Pres. Barack Obama signs memorandum for closer consultation between Native American tribes and federal government at the Dept. of Interior in Washington, 05 Nov 2009
Before taking questions from tribal leaders, the president signed a memorandum asking every cabinet agency to give him a detailed plan to improve the government's relations with American Indians.

"You may be skeptical that this time will be any different. You have every right to be, and nobody would have blamed you if you did not come today," he said. "But you did, and I know what an extraordinary leap of faith that is on your part. And that is why I want you to know that I am absolutely committed to moving forward with you and forging a new and better future together," he stressed.

Officials at the summit planned to discuss issues that Indians face, including poverty, housing, health care, education and public safety.

Mr. Obama says it is only the first of a number of meetings to address those issues.

"Today's summit is not lip service. We are not going to go through the motions and pay tribute to one another and then furl up the flags and go our separate ways. Today's sessions are part of a lasting conversation that is crucial to our shared future," he promised.

The president has also fulfilled a campaign promise to appoint an American Indian policy adviser to his senior White House staff.

Administration officials at Thursday's summit were expected to promote the $787 billion economic stimulus program. About $3 billion of the economic recovery money has gone to the tribes.

[PocketProtector]

When do ya think he'll give the government back to the people ??

[••SpraynPray••]

Like we need more casinos.... they just opend two new ones on the reservation behind my house and built a 4 lane road leading to them from the highway.

They plan on making it a vegas style set up with 4-5 casinos on the rez.

good times!

[kunsunoke]

Having lived in western New York I can comment on some of this.

I think if you asked them most Iroquois would tell you their biggest issue is with taxation from the state. A lot of 'em make a living from selling stuff without sales tax. Why should they be punished just because other residents of the state have to foot the bill for irresponsibility that takes place in the capital?

Best approach is just to get the hell out of the way and let them make money. Of course Captain Blunderful will try to turn more of them into entitlement slaves, though.

[eXceLon]

Maybe the first step in giving N and S Dakota back to the Indians

And you base this claim on what, exactly?

What is it with people who sit around and dream up the most nefarious scenarios that they can imagine every time Obama does something.

"Tonight on Glenn Beck: Obama seen drinking a cup of coffee. All part of his master plan to turn American sovereignty over to the Colombians?"

[larrymeyer]

Originally Posted by eXceLon

And you base this claim on what, exactly?

What is it with people who sit around and dream up the most nefarious scenarios that they can imagine every time Obama does something.

"Tonight on Glenn Beck: Obama seen drinking a cup of coffee. All part of his master plan to turn American sovereignty over to the Colombians?"

Because he's an ass wipe. He may be your president but he'll never be mine so get over it. If you don't like what I have to say about the man put me on ignore. But unlike your President I don't apologize for what I believe

[Fetus]

Originally Posted by larrymeyer

He may be your president but he'll never be mine .

This .


however the title of this thread is pretty silly .

[larrymeyer]

Originally Posted by Fetus

This .


however the title of this thread is pretty silly .

Your right and it was meant as a joke I was going to put Maybe the first step in giving NY ,PA and NJ back to the Iroquois

[larrymeyer]

What started as a joke may not turn out to be a joke

http://64.38.12.138/News/2009/016687.asp


Sioux tribes meet over Black Hills settlement
Friday, September 25, 2009
Filed Under: Law | Politics

Sioux tribes in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Nebraska are holding meetings to discuss a potential settlement to the status of the Black Hills.

Treaties recognized the Sioux Nation's ownership of the Black Hills. But the Indian Claims Commission said the tribes lost the land to non-Indians and awarded them $106 million in 1980.

The trust fund has since grown to nearly $900 million. The tribes refuse to accept the money although some individual members want to take it.

“The consensus is that they will never take the money,” Gay Kingman, the executive director of the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association, told The Rapid City Journal.“It’s the land that matters.”

On the campaign trail, President Barack Obama promised to resolve the issue. Tribal and spiritual leaders have already met twice and will meet again next month to discuss potential solutions.

“It’s the age-old issue of consensus,” Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Chairman Michael Jandreau told the Journal. “What do the tribes want? How do they want this handled? The tribes have to come up with some consensus on this. The onus is really on them.”
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http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news...dee2ee032.html



Sioux leaders work on Black Hills lands proposal for Obama
StoryDiscussionKevin Woster, Journal staff | Posted: Thursday, September 24, 2009 11:00 pm | (0) Comments

Font Sizeefault font sizeLarger font sizeSympathetic signs from President Barack Obama have inspired hope among Sioux spiritual and government leaders that some federal land in the Black Hills might one day be returned to Native American control.

Leaders for Sioux tribes in the Dakotas, Montana and Nebraska are holding meetings to shape a proposal on Black Hills land for the Obama administration, one they hope will be better than the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1980. That forced settlement was about millions of dollars, not acres of land, and it has consistently been rejected by tribes of the Great Sioux Nation.

"The consensus is that they will never take the money," said Gay Kingman of Rapid City, executive director of the Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association. "It's the land that matters."

It's also the White House that matters, and the man who occupies it. Obama made an effective outreach to Native Americans during his 2008 campaign. He also showed an inclination to listen when representatives of the Sioux tribes asked for real justice - to them, meaning land - in the long-simmering Black Hills dispute.

The official version of U.S. justice was the financial settlement awarded at $106 million in 1980 and since swollen with interest to almost $900 million.

Some eligible tribal members have filed a class-action suit to force the settlement money to be distributed. But most spiritual and governmental leaders among Sioux tribes oppose the monetary settlement. They're holding out for the land instead.

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe reflects the position of other tribes on the issue.

"The Rosebud tribe has taken a position that the Black Hills are simply not for sale," former tribal councilman Robert Moore said. "And the tribe itself will not endorse any financial compensation for the land, based on previous settlement and interest."

With Obama in the White House, many believe there is more hope than ever before that at least some unoccupied federal lands in the Black Hills could be returned to Sioux control. That's why they have picked up the pace of meetings aimed at finding consensus among Sioux tribes in four states.

The tribes must meet that challenge before they reach out to Obama for help, Moore said.

"It's the age-old issue of consensus," he said. "What do the tribes want? How do they want this handled? The tribes have to come up with some consensus on this. The onus is really on them."

Michael Jandreau, who has served as chairman of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe for 30 years, agrees that consensus among the tribes is crucial to finding a long-sought land settlement option that the president would consider. But it's a difficult process that can't be delayed or rushed, Jandreau said.

"Before they can come up with a document that is agreeable, it's going to be a little bit of work, which is good," he said. "They need to sort things out."

The sorting process began officially in July with a meeting of medicine men, elders and tribal government leaders at Green Grass on the Cheyenne River Reservation. Another meeting followed at Lower Brule last week. And the next will be hosted Oct. 19-20 in Flandreau by the Santee Sioux tribes in Flandreau and Nebraska.

The idea is to build off a meeting that tribal representatives had with Obama during the 2008 campaign. They came away believing that he was serious about trying to find a settlement beyond the 29-year-old U.S. Supreme Court award.

Moore, who worked with Obama on a national tribal advisory group, said Obama and his staffers are clearly interested in "learning more about the Black Hills, its legal and political history, about what could be possible."

It's an old issue, filled with emotion. There have been previous attempts to return land taken by the federal government to the Sioux, including the most-notable bill by New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley in the mid-1980s. The Bradley bill made headlines and caused controversy in South Dakota but fell flat in Congress.

At that time, few South Dakotans beyond the Native American community supported the Bradley bill and its intention to return to the Sioux about 1.3 million acres of unoccupied federal forest and some park lands in the hills.

Jandreau doubts there's much more support among white South Dakotans now. Nor does he know who might pick up the charge in Congress for Bradley, who left the U.S. Senate more than 12 years ago. None of South Dakota's three congressional members has shown an interest in supporting a rerun of the Bradley bill, almost certain to be a political liability in a statewide campaign.

Republican Sen. John Thune has said he's not inclined to open up an issue that was ruled on by the courts years ago. Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson and Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin have not committed either way.

Obama hasn't come out publicly about the Black Hills lands issue. But Moore, Jandreau and Kingman believe he is serious about listening. And the tribes are serious about talking, just as soon as they can figure out exactly what to say.

[mcmcallister]

unfortunately we cant have our freedom from the "legion of doom", does anyone thing that native tribes will?