Any DU imput on where the candidates stand on Native American issues??

[Bobbieo]

That is where my activism lies and there are almost 4 million INDNs in the country and about 400 separate tribes and nations.

Know Richardson was pro-Native but he is out now.

[LostinVA]

1. Well, since apparently anything BILL did reflects on HRC as President

per some posters: he's the only President to ever visit Pine Ridge.

[goldcanyonaz]

2. Hillary Clinton's Remarks to National Congress of American Indians Annual Convention

Unfortunately, the United States has not always honored its obligations to Native Americans -- and Indian Country still feels the effects every single day. During the past seven years, the situation has only gotten worse. We've seen funding cuts and failures to honor tribal sovereignty. President Bush has discontinued the tribal government liaison position within the White House and Intergovernmental Affairs Office -- a position started by my husband. Five of the eight U.S. Attorneys fired by Attorney General Gonzales were leaders in prosecuting violence on Indian lands.

Well, I believe it's time for a new beginning. It's time for our government to work together as partners again, like we used to. I'm proud of what we accomplished together during the 1990s.

I was honored to visit reservations during my time as First Lady and to work with tribal leaders to support my husband's initiative to train and fund 1,000 new Native American teachers. And as President, I will restore that partnership and renew our shared mission to lift up our families and build the future our children and grandchildren and future generations deserve.

I will start by fully supporting tribal sovereignty and honoring the government to government relationship between tribes and the federal government -- not just with talk, but with action. I'll sign an Executive Order that commits our government to regular and meaningful collaboration with tribal governments. And I will always honor our federal trust responsibility -- it's not just a law, it is a fundamental moral obligation, nothing less.

More here:

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/speech/view/?id=4186

[demnan]

3. Kucinich has the most comprehensive issues website

It's too bad he's too short has big ears and once may have seen a UFO.

http://www.kucinichonline.com/pdfs/Kucinich_Native%20Americans.pdf

:rant:

[DURHAM D]

4. I know she could at least answer a question about the meaning

of "soverninnntity". Unlike George Bush.

Think I will shot over to youtube and catch that video again.

[FrenchieCat]

5. Here...

Indian Country Friendly to Obama
<>
Sen. Barack Obama talks about all of the above, but 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.

''First Americans for Obama is a community of people dedicated to bringing positive change to American politics and breaking the cycle of partisan ideology,'' according to the First Americans for Obama page on his Web site http://tribes.barackobama.com/page/content/firstamshome . ''Perhaps more so than any population, American Indians are painfully aware of the need for change. Tribes have experienced firsthand the lack of progress under prior administrations. Please use this Web site to learn about Obama's policy initiatives supporting tribal peoples, to spread the word, and to involve your family, friends and community. Together, we can bring in a new generation of politics - one based on respect, honor and unity.''

''As a tribal member, I was greatly impressed with Senator Obama's willingness to discuss the finer points of tribal sovereignty and his awareness of issues that impact the daily lives of American Indians. I left the event feeling a sense of hope for the future of Federal Indian Policy. More importantly, I felt that we finally had a friend in Washington that we could count on,'' Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle wrote on the First Nations blog on Obama's Web site.

Obama supports a ban on dumping nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain, a sacred site to the Western Shoshone and Paiute tribes, and land that was guaranteed to the tribe by treaty. 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.

Obama co-sponsored the Indian Health Care Improvement Act of 2007, which was recently rescheduled for a vote in January after the Christmas and New Years recess.

When the bill passed out of the Senate Finance Committee in September, Obama issued a statement in which he said, in part: ''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. We must ensure our tribal health care programs are adequately prepared to provide preventative health care as well as treatment for substance and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and mental health issues. Native Americans also deserve the same high quality health care professionals that care for families throughout the country.''

....more
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=fad733d66b7a172620bf68d105c5e272

Indian Health Care Improvement Act of 2007-Obama statement
http://obama.senate.gov/press/070912-obama_statement_83/

In reference to non factual Native-American times article
http://nativenews.wordpress.com/2007/08/25/native-times-allegations-of-barack-obama-not-factual-native-american-times/

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/group/NativeAmericansforObama

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=157800313

[RuleOfNah]

6. What about Native American stands on Native American issues?

Lakota land, casinos, Abramoff, that stuff.

[Bobbieo]

10. For Native stands on Native issues check out my blog

http://nativeunity.blogspot.com. I update it every other day.

[goldcanyonaz]

7. Hillary Clinton presents plan for Native America.

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Clinton made her most concerted bid yet for the nationwide Native vote in next year's presidential primaries Nov. 6, announcing endorsements from some fourscore tribal leaders and individuals and detailing a platform of support for tribal sovereignty, government-to-government consultation, and the federal trust responsibility toward tribes.

In addition, the Democratic presidential candidate and senator from New York pledged to appoint American Indians, with their on-the-ground grasp of Native issues, to key posts within government, including her own direct liaison to Native communities; nominate judges who respect tribal sovereignty and the government-to-government relationship; elevate the director of the IHS to assistant secretary ''so that he or she can advocate more effectively for Native American health care needs''; increase Indian Head Start and educational funding; promote alternative energy sources among tribal governments and ''work to fund the weatherization of all low-income homes in Indian country''; and bring more resources and better data to law enforcement in Indian country.

http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096416086

[Bishop Rook]

8. Clinton's the only top-tier candidate

with a Native American issues page, so far as I've seen. I honestly don't know of any quotes from any of them.

[FrenchieCat]

9. But she isn't....

http://tribes.barackobama.com/page/content/firstamshome

[Bobbieo]

11. One of the most pressing problems for all Westerners these days is

is the renewed interest in uranium mining when the old mines have never been cleaned up and All Americans are suffering for that as the still existing radioactivty slowly moves across the country.

[troubleinwinter]

14. You are so right.

I am very pleased that Tom Udall is running for Senate from New Mexico. He has done a lot of work on uranium cleanup on Navajo lands.

[slipslidingaway]

16. Energy Development...

From the link posted above by demnan # 3

http://www.kucinichonline.com/pdfs/Kucinich_Native%20Americans.pdf

"6. Energy Development

The Federal government has failed in its responsibilities as a guardian of Indian
resources and as a treaty partner; the mismanagement of Indian mineral rights is
appalling. The mineral resources owned by tribes and tribal members are theirs to use
as they deem necessary. By protecting tribal sovereignty and the trust fund, tribal
governments will be able to use these resources free from the injustices of the past.


I would like to emphasize, however, the legacy of health and environmental problems
from the extraction and production of uranium and fossil fuels. I am not in favor of
building more nuclear power plants and more coal fired power plants at this time. I
believe that we should launch a national program to maximize energy conservation and
renewable energy systems to eliminate the need for these polluting facilities that harm
the health of local people and the environment, and contribute to global warming. The
U.S. must ratify the Kyoto Treaty on global warming. Uranium, oil and coal reserves
should be held in reserve for times of real need; this is not the time..."


http://www.prezontherez.org/

"On Thursday, August 23, 2007, history was made in Indian Country. On that day we saw the culmination of nine months of hard work by our talented and dedicated staff, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, and our supporters throughout the nation: three presidential candidates and Governor Howard Dean assembled on Indian land in front of Indian faces addressing Indian voices.


...Never before has the nation and its aspiring leaders turned its attention on one single day so completely to Indian Country. Governor Bill Richardson, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, and Senator Mike Gravel each promised to protect and promote tribal sovereignty, to ensure the reauthorization of the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act, and to bring our First Americans into the highest levels of the executive and judicial branches.

The presence of these candidates highlighted also the absence of the "Big Three." The shortsighted refusal of Senators Clinton, Obama, and Edwards to participate in Prez on the Rez did not go unnoticed by the leaders of Indian Country. And as we've said for months, our tribal leaders and Indian elected officials - with 300 present and 75 Indian Nations represented - refused to let the front-running candidates dictate the times and terms of our participation in the democratic process..."

[Bishop Rook]

17. That isn't an issues page

What I meant was a page directly linked from the candidates' platform/position statements on the website. Hillary's got a direct link straight from her issues page, Obama doesn't, at least not that I saw.

Thanks for pointing this one out, though. I wonder what other gems like this are buried in there.

On edit: AHA. It's linked on the "People" menu instead of the "Issues" menu. That 'splains it. That's also where the LGBT stuff is. Guess I'll remember that for next time.

[Lucinda]

12. I did a little searching...Have you seen either of these? (Clinton)

http://www.rlnn.com/ArtNov07/HillaryClintonsNativeAmerAgenda.html
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096416086

[Bobbieo]

13. Thank you very much for the input - I shall pass the info on to my readers.

[troubleinwinter]

15. Have you also asked in the Native American Group forum?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=312

[Recursion]

18. They stand where every mainstream politician stands

On the bones of millions of Native Americans.