Indian Leaders Object to Exclusion from Clinton's Speeches Story-Date: 12:34 p.m. PST Sunday , September 28, 1997 ------------------------------------------------------------ Indian Leaders Object to Exclusion from Clinton's Speeches By Sarah Trimble-Cuny, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News WASHINGTON, D.C.--Sep. 29--American Indian leaders have spoken many times to the government, but they have never been heard or acknowledged by the President. President Clinton created an advisory board for "One American in the 21st Century," a year long initiative set to "promote a national dialogue on controversial issues surrounding race," according to the Office of the Press Secretary. Yet, the President has never addressed American Indians in any of his speeches. Many have asked how can we be one nation if we are left out? The answer is we can't. "It's an astonishing act of racism by omission on the part of the Clinton Administration, which has a lot of support from American Indian Nations," said Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, a well-known writer and retired professor of American Indian studies at Eastern Washington University. President Clinton has heard the complaints and the outcries from American Indians across the nation to include them in the advisory board and has set the Executive Director, Judith A. Winston, into action to seek an American Indian representative for the board. "There has been great concern in the American Indian community about the advisory board not including an American Indian," said Ms. Winston. American Indians were not the only ones asking for equal representation. South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle, Senate Minority Leader, wrote to President Clinton: "I am disappointed that you have not chosen any American Indians to participate in this important dialogue about race." Ms. Winston addressed those concerns and is presently seeking members for the advisory board. American Indian consultant Laura Harris, Comanche, is the executive director for the Americans for Indian Opportunity, a project designed to empower current leadership and emerging leaders. Ms. Harris was unavailable for comment about her new position as a consultant to the initiative at press time. The initiative will try to bridge the gap between races in America in three different areas: policy planning and research, outreach and program development, and communication. The policy planning and research team will coordinate the initiative's efforts to provide the public and the advisory board with social and economic data by racial groups to analyze the current situation and make policy recommendations to the White House and other federal agencies. "It will provide information to better understand what the history has been and the treatment of people of color," said Ms. Winston. The outreach and program development team will organize historical data about race relations in America and encourage leadership at the federal, state, local, community and individual levels to help bridge racial divides. The communication area will keep the media informed of the initiative's progress and give the end result to America. Many American Indian leaders have mixed reactions to the initiative. Some American Indians are very pessimistic of the whole idea of a race dialogue and feel insulted at being left out, not only in President Clinton's speeches, but also by not having an American Indian appointed immediately when the board was announced. "I think this initiative reflects the kind of omission that is damaging to American Indians and damaging to the whole idea itself. It's as though you can ignore the First Nations of America," said Mrs. Cook-Lynn. "Republicans tore at the heart of tribal sovereignty for 12 years while they were in the White House, it's a lot better than it was. No other Republican president would've had an initiative," said Steve Emery, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe's Attorney General. Both well known American Indian leaders agreed that the end product is up to the people. "It's up to the American Indian people to do the right thing and continue on in spite of the foolish ideas people come up with every now and then," said Mrs. Cook-Lynn. "If we care enough to make our voices heard it will work," said Mr. Emery. Ms. Winston says there are currently 17 staff members on the board and it's set for a staff of 25-30 people. She also says they will be happy to receive resumes for those positions. ----- Visit Indian Country Today on the World Wide Web at http://www.indiancountry.com/ ----- (c) 1997, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. ------------------------------------------------------------