Obama Leads Conference With Tribal Leaders Marking American Indian Heritage Month

November 5, 2009 9:05 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - President Barack Obama leads a conference with tribal nations on Thursday, a day after Congress held a hearing examining the "broken process" of granting federal recognition to American Indians. The Interior Department last week put an end to the two-decade application of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana, saying the group did not meet requirements to be acknowledged.

The President delivers remarks to open the White House Tribal Nations Conference at the Interior Department. He then holds discussions with leaders from the 564 federally recognized tribes, and closes the conference late in the afternoon.

The event is part of Obama's "sustained outreach to the American people," according to the White House, and coincides with National American Indian Heritage Month. It was announced earlier this month, and received with praise by the National Congress of American Indians, which opened its Embassy of Tribal Nations in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.

"I commend President Obama for setting this precedent for his Administration's Nation to Nation working relationship with tribes, "NCAI President Joe Garcia had said. "Tribal leaders are very satisfied that President Obama is fulfilling his promise to meet with tribal leaders on a regular basis during his term in office."

The conference comes a day after a hearing by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs about the government's recognition of tribes.

"Securing formal, federal tribal recognition is vital. Once federally recognized, a tribe has access to federal benefits and programs," Committee Chairman Byron Dorgan (D-ND) said in a statement before the hearing. "The acknowledgment process is broken and has been since it was established in 1978."

"Tribes routinely wait decades without getting a decision. Some tribes have been stuck in the federal acknowledgment process since 1978 with no decision," he added, referring to the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

The Interior Department had said in its decision on Oct. 27 that there was "insufficient evidence to acknowledge" the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

According to Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs George Skibine, the group, which consists of 4,332 members inside and outside of Montana, did not satisfy three of the seven criteria for federal recognition.

The unmet criteria were:

• that the tribe has been identified as an Indian entity on a continuous basis since 1900
• that it comprise a unique community since historical times and maintain significant social relationships and interaction with the larger society
• that it maintain political influence over a community of members.