President Obama yesterday hosted a Tribal Nations Conference with representatives of 386 tribal nations at the White House.
He acknowledged the terrible historical record of the US government toward native Americans over the past centuries, and pledged a change in attitude and policy as long as he was President.
He called for greater participation by native American tribes in decision making that affected them, and set a 90 day deadline for recommendations to be submitted in how to improve the lives of the first Americans.
The conference was an encouraging first step and it is hoped that Obama will take greater action than other Presidents who gave lip service to the issues confronting native Americans, but at the end did next to nothing to grope with their problems and challenges.