Tribal Nations Conference

White House Announces 2014 Tribal Nations Conference

Kate Fort

The White House press release:

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 20, 2014

President Obama Announces 2014 White House Tribal Nations Conference

WASHINGTON, DC – On Wednesday, December 3, President Obama will host the 2014 White House Tribal Nations Conference at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC. The conference will provide leaders from the 566 federally recognized tribes the opportunity to interact directly with the President and members of the White House Council on Native American Affairs. Each federally recognized tribe will be invited to send one representative to the conference. This will be the sixth White House Tribal Nations Conference for the Obama Administration, and continues to build upon the President’s commitment to strengthen the government-to-government relationship with Indian Country and to improve the lives of Native Americans. Additional details about the conference will be released at a later date.

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Office of Public Affairs – Indian Affairs
Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C St., N.W., MS-3658-MIB
Washington, D.C. 20240
Main Phone: 202-208-3710
Press Line: 202-219-4152
as-ia_opa@bia.gov

 

Update on the White House Tribal Nations Conference

Ann Tweedy1 Comment

Here’s a link to watch the Conference live: www.doi.gov/live [or try here] I understand from friends at Swinomish that Swinomish Chairman Brian Cladoosby will be introducing President Obama at 1:30 EST. However, there have been a lot of corrections to the time of the introduction, so no guarantees on the time.

The earlier post on the conference is here: https://turtletalk.wordpress.com/2012/11/15/president-obama-announces-2012-white-house-tribal-nations-conference/

Tribal Nations Conference on Talk of the Nation

Kate Fort

A few days old, but here’s the transcript of the call-in show from just before Christmas.  The guest is James Ramos, Chair at San Manual.  Jill from LTBB called in to bring up President Bush’s flubbing of the definition of tribal sovereignty.  Here’s the excerpt:

CONAN: James Ramos is chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, with us from California. 800-989-8255. Email: talk@npr.org. We want to hear from American Indian listeners today: What challenges do you face from the federal government? Jill is on the line, calling from Grand Rapids in Michigan. Hello, Jill, are you there?

JILL (Caller): Hi. I’m here. Hello.

CONAN: Yeah. You’re on the air. Go ahead, please.

JILL: Okay. I just want to say that I was pretty flabbergasted when President George Bush was asked what tribal sovereignty was, and all he could say was that it meant to be sovereign. I think with Obama, things are looking a little better. But tribal sovereignty is something that’s fought very hard for. My tribe wasn’t recognized, I don’t think, until 1993 or 1994. And I’m so thankful for what they did. It really opened a lot of doors for me. And I was able to go to college and so.

CONAN: Well, which tribe is that, Jill?

JILL: Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Harbor Springs, Michigan.

BLT: DOJ Promises Increased Crime-Fighting in Indian Country

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From BLT:

The Justice Department announced today a renewed effort to improve law enforcement on tribal land through a partnership among Native American leaders and the federal government.

Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli, addressing more than 500 attendees at the National Congress on American Indians in New York, said the department later this year will convene a Tribal Nationals Listening Conference to address public safety concerns on tribal land. Click here for a copy of Perrelli’s prepared remarks, provided by the Justice Department.

The listening conference and a planned series of regional summits are expected to address, among other topics, federal prosecution in Indian country, development of tribal courts, domestic violence, substance abuse, civil rights and litigation involving tribes. The initiative, Perrelli says, is “tremendously important.”

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