Crows Thrilled to Be Obama's 'Brothers and Sisters'

Sen. Barack Obama greets supporters on his visit Monday to the Crow Reservation. (Click here or on the photo above to see a slideshow of April Gregory's photos from the Obama event).

Story by Mary Hudetz | Photos by April Gregory
reznetnews.org

Some Crow tribal members waited in line more than
six hours to ensure they would have a good view when the first
presidential candidate to visit their reservation stepped to the stage
to speak.

Others spent those hours braiding their hair and fastening the ties
of their traditional outfits so they would look their best when
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama took the microphone and
explained his stance on issues that affect hundreds of Native American
tribes throughout the country but often go unmentioned by candidates
running for national office.

"Somebody finally recognized us enough to come an extra few hours,"
said Beverly Big Man, a Crow Agency Elementary School teacher. "We're
always the forgotten ones."

Big Man, 73, was among the first dozen people to arrive and stake
out a place in line around 8 a.m. for the 2:45 p.m. event. Once a
Hillary Clinton supporter, Big Man said she decided to vote for Obama
after hearing him mention Native Americans on television. She called
Obama's visit to the reservation "a once-in-a-lifetime event."

Obama, the front-runner in a race with Sen. Clinton for the
Democratic presidential nomination, became the first presidential
candidate to visit the Crow Reservation Monday. He spoke to a crowd of
several thousand people gathered at the Apsaalooke Veterans Park.

To welcome Obama, Crows showered his family with gifts that included
a beaded medallion for him to give to his wife, Michelle, and beaded,
doll-sized cradleboards for his two daughters, Sasha and Malia. Sen.
Obama was adopted into the tribe's Whistling Water clan and given a
Crow name, "One who helps people throughout the land."

Joe Medicine Crow, who at 94 is one of the tribe's eldest members
and a tribal historian, commented on the historic day.

"This man is the first presidential candidate who has made a stop
here with the Crow people," he said. "I consider that an honor not only
for Crow Indians but for Indian Country."

As the crowd waited for Obama to arrive from Billings, where he held
a morning town hall-style meeting, the Black Whistle Singers sang
powwow songs and a score of tribal members wearing traditional clothing
danced on the lawn of the park that lies just to the south of the
Little Bighorn River, which winds through town.

Medicine Crow stood watching, bouncing his knees to the music's beat and smiling.

"It is my prayer that he will go all the way," he said of the
candidate who often evokes the word "hope" on the campaign trail. "His
door will be open to Indian people. He's going to change things
around."

During an 11-minute speech here, Obama vowed to bring change to
Indian Country if elected president. While the speech was shorter than
the 40- to 50-minute talks the Illinois senator often gives during
rallies held in larger venues, he said the Crow Agency stop marked one
of the campaign's most important events.

He promised to improve the Indian health care system and noted that
he co-sponsored the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, a bill approved
by the Senate last February. Clinton and John McCain, the presumptive
Republican presidential nominee, co-sponsored the bill, too.

Obama also said he would make sure children on the nation's Indian
reservations received a "world-class education" and he would end
"nearly a century of mismanagement of Indian trust."

"Too often Washington has paid lip service to working with tribes,
while making a one-size-fits-all approach with tribal communities
across the nation," he said. "That will change under my
administration."

The pledge drew cheers from the mostly Native crowd as
eagle-feathered fans and the Obama campaign's blue "Change We Can
Believe In" signs waved in the air.

Susan Quilt, a 36-year-old Lodge Grass resident who came for the
event, said she hoped that if Obama wins his party's nomination and
beats McCain in November, he would keep the promises he made as a
candidate.

"Hopefully some of the tribes' needs will be fulfilled," she said.
"Past elected officials and past presidents haven't done anything about
that."

Before he stepped down from the stage to shake hands with
supporters, the Illinois senator pledged that an Obama administration
would deliver on the promises he made to Native Americans.

"I will never forget you," he said. "Since now I'm a member of the
family, you know that I won't break my commitment to my own brothers
and my own sisters."

A group of teenagers chanted "Obama" as the senator made his way
toward his bus, shaking hands and embracing supporters before moving on
to his next stop in Bozeman.

When he reached for the last hand and waved goodbye, Darrin Old
Coyote, the tribe's vice secretary, called out to Obama to tell him
Crows say "Shianuk," a Crow expression for "I'll see you later." For the
Crows, there is no word that translates to goodbye.

"Shianuk," Obama answered before turning away and climbing aboard his bus.

Editor's note: This story originally appeared on Reznet and is published here with permission.