Blog Posts Related to the Native American Community

A New Webpage for the Native American Community

The White House is pleased to announce the launch of “Winning the Future: President Obama and the Native American Community.”  This webpage is meant to serve as another tool to help Indian Country navigate the federal government and learn about how the President’s Agenda is helping to win the future for Native Americans.

Since his first day in office, President Obama has worked to strengthen the government-to-government relationship between the United States and tribal governments in order to improve the quality of life for all Native Americans.  Working with tribal leaders through meaningful consultation, the Administration and Indian Country have made significant progress in several areas.  We made sure the Recovery Act included many job-creating investments for Indian Country.  Our health care reform permanently authorized the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, and the President signed into law the Tribal Law and Order Act, which will help fight crime in Indian Country.  Furthermore, the Administration finally settled the longstanding legal claims in the Cobell litigation and the lawsuit brought by Native American Farmers against the United States Department of Agriculture.  To mark the launch of this webpage, we are highlighting a guest blog post by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on the recent court approval of the historic settlement in the Cobell lawsuit, “A Historic Step Towards True Trust Reform.”

All of these accomplishments have provided more opportunity and security for Native Americans, but they are just part of our ongoing effort to create stronger tribal communities throughout Indian Country.  This new webpage is designed to be a centralized forum to share information about those ongoing efforts, while continuing to improve our government-to-government relationship.

SAIGE 2011 Conference Brings Together Current and Future Group of Public Servants

Director of the Office of Personnel Management John Berry meets with young leaders at the Society of American Indian Government Employees (SAIGE) 2011 Conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma, June 14, 2011. (Photo by Jeff Barehand, SAIGE)

I’m in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the Society of American Indian Government Employees (SAIGE) 2011 Conference.  One of my favorite parts of serving as Director of OPM is the opportunity to work with so many amazingly dedicated, talented Americans who have chosen to work as public servants.

Many of our Federal public servants are American Indians and Alaska Natives, and I came to share information with them and seek their input.  I also got to meet some of the young people attending the conference and I hope they will become Federal – and SAIGE – leaders of tomorrow.

OPM is engaged in meaningful consultation with American Indian and Alaska Native leaders about how to best add tribal employees to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.  This exciting new opportunity, created by the Affordable Care Act, will be a great new benefit for tribal workers and their families.

First Lady and American Indian Kids Plant White House Kitchen Garden

Cross-posted from the Let's Move! Blog.

Last Friday, just a week after the launch of Let’s Move! in Indian Country, First Lady Mrs. Obama and American Indian kids spent the afternoon in the White House kitchen garden planting the “three sisters” crops (corns, beans, and squash). The kids also helped Mrs. Obama harvest crops in the garden, including lettuces, rhubarb, chard, kohlrabi, sugar snap peas, turnips, broccoli and herbs – some of which will be used in Tuesday’s State Dinner in honor of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

First Lady Michelle Obama participates in a Garden Harvest Event with children and members of the American Indian community, in the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn of the White House, June 3, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)

This “three sisters” traditional Native American planting technique grows crops in a mutually beneficial manner: the corn provides a structure for the beans to climb, eliminating the need for poles; the beans provide the soil with nitrogen that the other plants use; and the squash spreads along the ground, blocking the sunlight and preventing weeds.

“Today’s a big day for us in the garden because it’s the first time we’re going to use native seeds of corn, beans and squash in the way they’ve been planted for thousands of years,” Mrs. Obama said. “We’re all pretty excited to continue this tradition.  This is another example of a fun, easy way that we all can work together to be healthier.  And that’s what we’re trying to accomplish with Let’s Move!”

Let’s Move! in Indian Country comes as a response to the current obesity trend within the American Indian community. American Indian or Alaska Native children between the ages of two and four have a higher prevalence of obesity (20.7% in 2009) than any other racial or ethnic group. Let’s Move! in Indian Country, in an effort to stem the tide of childhood obesity, brings together federal agencies, communities, nonprofits, corporate partners, schools and tribes to focus on four areas:

• Early childhood development
• Healthy learning communities
• Physical activity
• Increasing access to affordable, healthy foods

Check out the video of Friday’s garden event here.