Obama, First Americans, and the Illusion of Inclusion

amcreynolds — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 22:10:20 -0600

While Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) "has registered the names of two Web sites with the express goal of attacking her chief rival," according to ABC News, Native Americans are logging Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) commitment -- on- and off-line -- to the first Americans.

"Of the three front-running Democratic presidential candidates, he's the only one with a permanent place on his Web site for America's indigenous peoples," writes Gale Courey Toensing in Indian Country Today.

"If Obama is elected president, will he be able to deliver on his promise of change within Indian country and the rest of the country?" asks Toensing. Put differently, is Obama creating an illusion of inclusion?

Regarding the future of Federal Indian Policy, Obama supports a ban on dumping nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain -- a sacred site to the Western Shoshone and Paiute tribes. "In October, he wrote to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer, asking them to officially abandon the proposed nuclear repository there," Toensing reports.

As co-sponsor of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, Obama said, ''While the U.S. government has a responsibility to provide health care stemming from treaty obligations, it is also this country's moral imperative to address the significant health care disparities between the Native American population and the American population as a whole."

At the very least, Toensing points out, "Obama pays homage to Indian country by acknowledging its existence."

0.3 percent of Iowans and 0.2 percent of New Hampshirans identify as American Indian -- 1.0 percent of the overall population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Obama, First Americans, and the Illusion of Inclusion