Barack on the Issues

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SOVEREIGNTY AND TRIBAL-FEDERAL RELATIONS

An Indian in the White House - Appointment of a National Indian Policy Advisor:Tribes must interface with an increasingly complex array of departments, bureaus, and programs within the administration. As a result, comprehensive American Indian policy has been hard to implement and tribes must spend their limited resources navigating government bureaucracy. The need to foster a coherent approach and organize the efforts of the various agencies is particularly crucial to tribes because of the profound role of government programs in Indian peoples’ daily lives. In order to better serve tribes, ensure that their issues are given proper consideration, and promote a more cohesive approach to Indian affairs, Barack Obama will appoint a National American Indian Policy Advisor to serve as a member of his White House staff and create the National American Indian Advisory Council.

The Advisory Council will be chaired by the Policy Advisor and include the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the various heads of Indian programs in other executive departments, and appointed individuals knowledgeable and experienced in Indian policy. The Advisory Council will be charged with developing and implementing Obama’s American Indian policy initiatives, and coordinating the activities of the many offices in the administration that deal with Indian affairs.

Agency Appointments: Tribal peoples know best how to best serve their own communities. Obama is committed to appointing American Indians to pertinent government positions who maintain close ties their communities, and possess firsthand experience and knowledge about issues affecting Indian country.

Annual White House Tribal Nations Summit: The federal government’s trust responsibility to the First Americans means more than merely administering programs to help tribal nations develop. The trust responsibility also means maintaining open lines of communication from one government to another. Regrettably, past administrations have failed to or only halfheartedly lived up this obligation. As president, Obama will host an Annual White House Tribal Nations Summit to meet with tribal leaders about how his administration can better serve tribal communities.