from the new west blog

Video: Obama Visits Montana Indian Country

By Matthew Frank, 5-20-08

Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama visited Montana Indian country Monday for a rally at the Crow Reservation, and the Obama campaign has posted an eight-minute video of the talk on YouTube:

Obama said, in part:

My Indian policy starts with honoring the unique government-to-government relationship between tribes and the federal government and ensuring that our treaty obligations are met and ensuring that Native Americans have a voice in the White House. I’ll appoint an American Indian policy adviser to my senior White House staff to work with tribes. I’ll host an annual summit, at the White House, with tribal leaders to come up with an agenda that works for tribal communities, because that’s how we will make sure that you have a seat at the table when important decisions are being made about your lives, about your nations, about your people. That’s going to be a priority when I’m president of the United States of America.

As Becky Shay of the Billings Gazette reports, Obama was adopted into the Crow Tribe and given the Indian name, “One who helps people throughout the land.” Click here for the Gazette’s photos from the event, by James Woodcock.

Mary Hudetz, writing for RezNet, has a great piece detailing the reaction from Crows, who were thrilled to have the spotlight on the Crow Nation. “Somebody finally recognized us enough to come an extra few hours,” Beverly Big Man, a Crow Agency Elementary School teacher tells Hudetz. “We’re always the forgotten ones.”

In an AP story, Matthew Brown reports that tribal representatives from across Montana said it was the first time such a high-profile candidate had appeared on one of the state’s reservations. The closest precedent, they said, was a visit to the Crow Reservation by first lady Lady Bird Johnson in the 1960s.

“Here’s a gentleman who could be president of the United States who is putting his hand out to us,” Roger Running Crane, vice chairman of the Blackfeet Tribe of northwest Montana, told Brown. “It’s great to see someone take an interest and see what is really happening with Indians today.”

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.