Michelle Obama Delivers Hopeful Message at Interior

Wrapping a traditional shawl around the First Lady's shoulders, Bedra Darling, a spokeswoman for the office of the assistant secretary for Indian Affairs and a member of the Pottawatomie tribe, Ms. Darling assured Michelle that the lavendar shawl  “will provide her strength and courage and duration through her tenure and beyond.”

via WhiteHouse.govAmerica's First Lady was greeted by hundreds of workers at the Interior Dept and celebrated with a traditional Native American "Honor Song".

In her speech before workers at Interior, Mrs. Obama announced that the President will soon appoint a White ouse policy adviser, with a focus on tribal issues such as sovereignty, health care and education and a top-level mission of prioritising “the well-being of Native American families and the prosperity of tribes all across this country.”

In what may be a Washington "first", President Obama also intends to hold an annual White House summit with tribal leaders.

In yet another example of the full-court press, Obama charm offensive, Michelle Obama assured workers assigned to protect the rights of Native Americans that "you have a wonderful partner in the White House right now.”

"Few have been ignored by Washington for as long as American Indians," Obama wrote last October in an American-Indian news outlet. "Too often, Washington pays lip service to working with tribes while taking a one-size-fits-all approach with tribal communities across the nation."

Many Americans believe that American Indians have suffered more neglect than any socio-economic group in the U.S. I'm surprised to read that there are 562 federally recognized tribes and Alaskan bands remaining in the country.