Personal Insights on Tribal Nations Conference - Laverne Beech |
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Date Posted: 11/10/2009 Description: WASHINGTON, DC - For many tribal leaders, the day with the President and his Administration started before sunrise. One Alaska Native leader in the front row said he got to the Department of Interior at 4 a.m. to get in line for the first come, first serve seating in the Department of Interior Auditorium for the 9 a.m. conference. Other tribal leaders heard about line standers for hire and were willing to pay upwards of $35 an hour to pay someone to stand in line for them so they could catch a few extra hours of sleep. (The cost not listed for hiring a line stander: dirty looks from those standing in line on their own.) I arrived by taxi about an hour and a half before show time. The taxi driver from the Cameroon (seems most taxi drivers in Washington D.C. are from Africa) said he was excited that the President was meeting with tribal leaders. He keeps his promises, he said in his accented voice. Even to the Indians. In front of the Department of Interiors main building, a TV satellite truck was positioned next to the White House VIP / Press tables. Across the street, a group of mostly non-Indian protestors were holding Free Peltier signs. Its been more than 30 years since hes been unfairly imprisoned, said one of the protestors. We hope President Obama will do the right thing and let him go. Standing by the DOI doorway looking official was Shoshone-Bannock tribal member Brenda Racehorse, who has worked a better part of 20 years in Washington DC. With the confirmed list of tribal leader attendees in hand, she looked like part of the greeting committee. As taxi by taxi drove up with tribal chairs exiting, it felt like the premiere of a new movie, minus the red carpet. I viewed the list of tribal attendees, which was supposed to be limited to one person per tribes. A lot of tribes have two representatives on the list, she pointed out. Most tribes who only sent one elected official to the conference would have been disappointed to hear that addition tribal officials were allowed in. Inside the auditorium, it was mostly suits and ties with a few headdresses dotting the seating landscape. Lots of tribal leaders were gathering for small group shots. Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Larry EchoHawk was standing in front of the stage so that tribal leaders could speak to him and get photos with him to send home. The anticipation seemed to build as the time neared for President Obama to address the group. Secret Service started clearing the auditorium aisles and encouraging people to take their seats. They had the press upstairs on the balcony. And I was fortunate to get a press pass at the last minute to be able to cover the event for the Sho-Ban News! Two young Lakota men in black ribbon shirts remained in the aisle, Steven Pourier and Jerome Gutierrez, and stood by to sing a Lakota flag song during the posting of the colors by the Navajo code talkers color guard. I asked how they were chosen to sing during the event and they both shrugged their shoulders at the same time. As people stood for ceremony, all those in the back could see were the tops of the flagpoles moving into place in the sea of people. Cameras were raised into the air and began flashing to catch the activity at the front of the room. Following the opening ceremony, it was announced on the speaker system in a stately presidential voice, Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the&. The group silenced, expecting the president to be announced, and then laughed as the announcer concluded the introduction National Congress of American Indians Jefferson Keel. Keel was there to introduce the president. He might have used that false introduction as an opportunity to make a joke or apologize for letting people down because he wasnt President Obama, but he looked too nervous for that. Comments were later overheard among tribal leaders in the hall that someone else should have been selected to introduce President Obama since Keel himself was only the lieutenant governor for the Chickasaw Nation. But he is NCAI president after all& Several anxious minutes passed as the hushed auditorium waited for the president to arrive. I saw two Alaska Native women leaders in their traditional cloth parkas napping, obviously still jet lagged from the long flight from Alaska. We knew the president was close by when the White House press pool, with zoom lens cameras and video cams in tow, paraded into the cordoned off area in from the stage. I continued to watch the open aisles. But President Obama never did enter the room from one of the auditorium aisles. Miraculously, he just appeared on stage. The crowd jumped to its seat, many holding their cell phones and digital camera in one hand to catch the moment. While I had my tribal Nikon in hand, I felt I needed to capture the moment too on my Blackberry and sent the photo to my Facebook page. No matter that President Obama was just this dot underneath the American and Department of Interior flags on stage in my shot. I WAS THERE. Im sure many others were doing the same. As the crowd cheered, the President calmly told everyone to take a seat. I was surprised to see Brenda along with a few other Indian employees wed met the day before standing behind the handicapped aisle, and grinning at one another for fooling the security that they were part of the staff. I grinned back since I was supposed to be on the upper balcony with the rest of the press. Instead, I tried to blend in with them so I wouldnt get herded upstairs. Official Indian groupies. I figured if anyone asked Id tell them I was there with the chairman of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, but I realized that would probably mean nothing since there were more than 400 tribal leaders in the room. He was up in the second row, along with all the other early birds. During the standing ovation, the president had his calm and graceful way of having the tribal leaders sit back in their seats, which he immediately followed with a joke. You know, a couple of summers ago, I had the opportunity to visit the Crow Nation in Montana. And while I was there, I was adopted into the nation by a wonderful couple, Hartford and Mary Black Eagle. And I know what they're saying now: Kids grow up so fast, said Obama. (LAUGHTER) Only in America could the adopted son of Crow Indians grow up to be the president of the United States. The tribal representatives held on the presidents every word, he made us laugh, he made us cry, but mostly he made us feel like we are part of what makes this country great. Sometimes I sense our tribal leaders feel a great frustration when they go to the state capital or Washington, DC, and feel they have to constantly start the conversation with politicians and bureaucrats with Tribes 101. It is a given for Native people that the federal government has a trust responsibility to tribes to provide health, education, social services and law enforcement as part of the governments trust responsibility. It is not a given, however, that every federal government office or politician knows that, or much less believes that. But Obama does. As he told tribal leaders Thursday, he gets it. And he expects his administration to get it to. There are many important things Obama had to tell tribal leaders Thursday, but his mere presence there for the 45 or so minutes he spoke and listened to tribal leaders spoke volumes. As he opened it up for questions, a few tentative hands in the room went up. Somebody shouted something about coming to Alaska. No shouting now, said Obama, (laughter) But I would love to come to Alaska. About that time, I noticed that the two sleeping Alaska women were stirring. One of them yawned and then shouted Ya, Barrow, come to Barrow. Everyone around them laughed. As Obama began picking out raised hands from the crowd, it was obvious that those guys with the headdresses had a distinct advantage. They were also the ones landing in the news photos the next day. Good strategy, except for the complaints from those sitting behind them. It became apparent as people were selected from the crowd that no one had communicated to the president that there were designated tribal leaders from each region who were to ask questions and make comments that represented the collective position of leaders in that region. As tribal leaders saw that the plan wasnt being followed, more and more hands shot up. Most tribal leaders called upon used the opportunity to advance their issues rather than ask meaningful questions about the way Obama planned to do business with the tribes. While self serving, it also worked. If you work for Obama and he says he will look into something thats under your responsibility, you look into it. And fix it. Suddenly, hands were up all over the room. Some jumped up and down, others yelled. It was suddenly like a White House press conference. Obama decided to get a womans question in. The first female tribal leader called upon wanted to say hi to Obama on behalf of an elder who worked at Safeway in her community. About that time, my phone started vibrating. Text message from a friend. I just saw you on TV stop looking so serious. I text back, Thats my official face, but try to smile more since Im on TV Another woman raised her hand and wanted a hug after his speech. Soon Q and A was over. It was rumored that the President would have stayed longer if the tribal leaders would have actually asked questions. After that, the questions and comments during the day were more orderly: the conference facilitator, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar actually called on the designated tribal leader spokespeople first. As the president left the auditorium, he strode in front of the stage to shake a few hands and give the woman who asked a hug. Chairman Coby was closed enough to the stage to get a hand shake from the president. I missed the photo op. As Obama left the building, an elated crowd of tribal leaders basked in the historic moment. Interior Secretary Salazar invited HIS Director Yvette Roubideaux and BIA Secretary Larry EchoHawk to the stage to move to the next agenda item. Not wanting to miss the moment, Larry stepped to the podium. I hope Im not out of line here, he told the tribal leaders. But I feel it appropriate to just take 20 seconds of silence to acknowledge what has happened here. He maybe needed to explain to his boss, Secretary Salazar, but he didnt need to explain to the tribal people there. It was perfect. No words needed.
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