Tribal Justice?
President Obama tells tribal leaders that he knows what it is to be ignored and forgotten.
At an Interior Department summit President Barack Obama told hundreds of different tribal leaders that he knows what it means to feel “ignored and forgotten” and pledged to work with them on various issues that he promised was not “just lip service” including energy development and climate change. “You will not be forgotten as long as I’m in this White House,” Obama said to a standing ovation. “Tribal nations do better when they make their own decisions,” he said. “That’s why we’re here today.” He acknowledged a history of abuse and neglect suffered by tribal people. “Treaties were violated,” he said. “Promises were broken. You were told your lands, your religion, your cultures, your languages were not yours to keep.”