Interesing LTTE in my (Canadian) newspaper today re: Obama [View All]

[GirlinContempt]

Re: I got it bad, and that's good, Feb. 25.

Colleen Simard is not alone among a native people who are fans of Barack Obama. I, too, am impressed by the man who could become the first African American president of the United States. Obama has promised to meet regularly with American Indian leaders and to hold annual summits. This stands in contrast to Canada where neither Prime Minister Stephen Harper nor his Indian Affairs minister at the time, Jim Prentice, even showed face at the annual meeting of the Assembly of First Nations.

At one time, Native Americans (i think that is a typo, it should be Americans -gic) lagged behind Canada in terms of government attention. In the 1990s, Bill Clinton became the first president to visit an Indian reserve in six decades, which shows how deep the neglect went. Since that time, Canadian recognition of First Nations issues has deteriorated. Jean Chrétien's government basically refused to deal with two AFN national chiefs, Ovide Mercredi and Mathew Coon Come.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., both Obama and Hillary Clinton have developed extensive policy platforms on Indian issues. In addition to the promise of annual summits, Obama has made significant commitments in a number of areas including tribal sovereignty, jurisdiction over crime control, education, health, infrastructure development and wealth creation. That is the kind of talk that gives rise to genuine hope.

MORRIS J. SWAN SHANNCAPPO

Grand Chief

Southern Chiefs Organization
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/editorial/story/4133631p-4726245c.html

I just thought it was interesting to have a chief weighing in about the candidates, I'm not particularly familiar with their Native American platforms.