Candidates' attention
gives tribal leaders hope

By Terry Woster
Sioux Falls Argus Leader

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Leaders from two South Dakota tribes left a meeting with Sen. Hillary Clinton here thinking national candidates are listening to Native American concerns.

"It might not seem like much to them, to spend some time listening to Indian people, but to us, it means everything," Carol Crazy Thunder O'Rourke of the Oglala Sioux Tribe's council said. "We're finally being heard by someone who might someday be in a position to do good things."

After a speech Wednesday in Kyle, Clinton met with tribal leaders in the Little Wound School. A campaign staffer said representatives from each of the nine South Dakota tribes were invited.

Not all of those at the meeting supported Clinton's presidential bid. Rover Moore, a Rosebud Sioux council member, favors Sen. Barack Obama but said the issues in Indian Country transcend political parties or candidates.

"We were talking about life and death issues for us in there," Moore said. "That's far beyond parties and candidates. We had a chance to talk about education and housing and health care."

Moore says tribal leaders must look past the coming election.

"Whether Senator Clinton or Senator Obama win (the nomination), and whether they win or Senator John McCain does, what we have to keep in mind is that after November, one of the three will be in the White House, and the other two will still be in the United States Senate," Moore said. "All three will remain in positions of influence, so any attention they pay now could help us later."