Thursday, November 14, 2013

Indian tribes get another wooing from Obama and his team

While President Barack Obama's popularity has slipped in public opinion polls, he found plenty of support Wednesday among one key constituency: the 566 leaders of federally-recognized Indian tribes. "I'd rank him as high as I can go --- a 10 really, to be honest with you," said Leo Lolnitz, first chief of the Koyukuk Native Village in Alaska. And Brian Cladoosby, chairman of Washington state's Swinomish Indian Tribal Community for the last 17 years, said Obama is "second to none" when compared to other U.S. presidents and their work with tribes. Tribal leaders consider the occupant of the White House one of their own: Barack Black Eagle Obama, who got the name in 2008 when he was formally adopted by a couple on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana. And on Wednesday, they got a chance to meet with him yet again, as Obama kept a campaign promise by hosting his fifth White House Tribal Nations Conference. The annual gathering at the Interior Department gives tribal leaders a chance to make pitches on what they want from Washington in the coming year. In 2014, tribal leaders want an end to the budget cuts known as sequestration and more authority to manage their own affairs, among other things. A dozen Cabinet officials met with tribal leaders, promising more help for such things as fighting crime, fixing schools and getting better health care...more

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