Reznet

Two people stand in front of a mural by artist Shepard Fairey of Sen. Barack Obama at the Manifest Hope Gallery in Denver.AP Photo by Matt Sayles

Native Section of Democratic Platform Stresses Sovereignty

By Victor Merina

DENVER — On a night of high drama with Ted Kennedy's reemergence and Michelle Obama's poignant words for her husband's candidacy, much of the important business at the Democratic National Convention had taken place hours, even months earlier.

Far from the glamor of prime-time speeches and showy newscasts, party delegates broke into separate caucuses and met Monday — as they will do Tuesday and Wednesday — to refine, rewrite or merely ratify their piece of the Democratic platform.

With their words helping to lay the foundation for the Barack Obama and Joseph Biden campaign, the delegates from Indian Country huddled in a meeting room at the Colorado Convention Center and shaped their part of the Democratic platform.

Frank LaMere, a Winnebago from Nebraska and chair of the Native American caucus, said his goal is "to establish from the outset a unity of purpose over the next few days."

"We are going to have to come together to make an impact on this political process," LaMere said.

Now at his sixth convention, LaMere presided over the First Americans Council — as the gathering was called — and told the group he has never seen as many Native delegates as the more than 100 who crowded into the room.

Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean appeared and told the audience that this was the first caucus he had attended at this year's convention. He also basked in the numbers.

"I know you already know this by the size of this room and how many people are in it," he told the crowd. "This is the largest participation of Native Americans we have ever had."

Dean's remarks drew a thunderous applause and he, in turn, credited Native voters in states such as Washington and South Dakota for statewide victories for Democrats and for helping boost several senators into office or to hold on to their seats.

"We have an awakening movement in Indian Country," Dean said.

But all the fanfare and congratulations later took a back seat to discussions about the proposals that would be included as a section to strengthen the tribal communities.

Mark Macarro, tribal chairman of the Pechanga Band in California and a member of the Democratic Platform Committee, said the party platform will be more impressive than those in 2000 and 2004.

In part, he said, that is because of a stronger plank on sovereignty.

"There are some direct statements about the need to acknowledge, promote and strengthen tribal sovereignty," he said, "and the recognition that tribes have had sovereignty before."

Although Macarro and other platform committee members refined the exact wording, he said the real work had been done months earlier by such tribal leaders as Ron His Horse Is Thunder, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe of North and South Dakota, who also served on the Democratic Platform Committee.

Meanwhile, in outlining their proposals, the Native delegates said tribal issues "have suffered from inattention" during the transition from one administration to the next and called for a list of priorities addressing the needs of the Native community.

They include the need for:

• Trust reform and better management of tribal natural resources

• Adequate funding of tribal governmental services for education, health care, transportation and law enforcement

• The development of new resources to reduce crime on Indian reservations, especially to combat drug trafficking, domestic violence and sexual assault

• Strong leadership in the White House on tribal sovereignty and treaty rights

The issue of health care and providing enough money for Indian Health Services to assist Natives who are physically or mentally ill as well as in need of preventative programs are especially important, Macarro said.

"That has been a mantra for us," he said of tribal leaders who have long lobbied for such funding. "This is important to Indian Country. We have tried to make that resonate and keep that message alive. And we got that in [the platform]."

Meanwhile, Native delegates also indicated that they want the appointment of a White House adviser on Indian Country and the naming of a Secretary of Interior "who is knowledgeable and [supportive] of Indian Nations and is not solely focused on federal lands management."

The opening day of the convention was not without drama with the appearance of Dean at the First Americans Council and the evening performance of Sen. Kennedy and Michelle Obama.

Kennedy, the Massachusetts senator who has brain cancer, underwent surgery in June and was considered unlikely to show up in Denver. But he did and was greeted warmly as he told the cheering crowd that it is "a season of hope" for justice and fair prosperity with the Obama candidacy. Later, Michelle Obama spoke about her husband in a speech laced with personal remembrances and fond references to their family — and punctuated at the end by a visit onstage by the couple's two daughters speaking to their father who made a video appearance.

Tonight the focus will be on Hillary Clinton, who is expected to release her delegates to join the Obama coronation or to vote otherwise, if they choose to.

On Monday, Clinton received a rousing ovation as she appeared before the Hispanic Caucus in a ballroom a short distance from where the First Americans Council had gathered. Later, one Native delegate, and a Clinton supporter said she has not made up her mind what to do with her vote and called it a difficult decision.

"I have no opposition to Obama," said Jeanette Wolfley, a Shoshone Bannock from Idaho. "I hope he really gets down to the issues."

Victor Merina is reznet's senior correspondent and special projects editor. A former Los Angeles Times investigative reporter and finalist for the Pulitizer Prize, he also is a senior fellow at the USC Annenberg Institute for Justice and Journalism. Merina is a visiting faculty member at The Poynter Institute, where he leads seminars on cross-cultural reporting and writing about race.