Obama pledges support for Indian tribes

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration Thursday reiterated broad support for American Indian social and economic aid programs and policies, including one that would restore tribes' right to acquire new land. But for the newly recognized Shinnecock tribe, the wait for help continues.

After enduring a 32-year process for federal recognition of their tribe before receiving it in October, Shinnecock leaders ventured here this week for a conference of the nation's 565 federally recognized tribes as much for ceremonial reasons as practical ones.

Last-minute challenges to their federal recognition status this summer locked them out of the 2011 federal budget cycle, and so their hopes for funding for government infrastructure, law enforcement, education and health care programs have been left in limbo until 2012.

"We missed it," said Shinnecock tribal chairman Randy King. "We're in a gray area. Actually, it's black and white."

At a ceremony Wednesday, Shinnecock trustees presented the tribal flag at a gathering attended by Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk and Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton). Gordell Wright sang a victory song, and trustee Lance Gumbs presented the flag for display near a podium where President Barack Obama spoke yesterday.

Echo Hawk said he met with the Shinnecock leaders privately Wednesday to discuss the tribe's concerns about missing the funding boat. He said the Interior Department was considering making "discretionary funds" available to the tribe, but he was worried that political pressures in Congress could squelch that.

Gumbs, who is also regional vice president for the National Congress of American Indians, said he made the rounds with other tribal leaders to the offices of more than 20 lawmakers, seeking help to fix a 2009 Supreme Court decision that exempts tribes recognized after 1934 from securing private land for tribal purposes in federal land-in-trust arrangements.

Obama expressed support for legislation that makes clear that the secretary of the interior can take land into trust "for all federally recognized tribes," reversing a major impediment to Native American tribes' ability to secure off-reservation land for casino and other projects.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the Obama administration "is working overtime to deliver a fix that will restore the authority and allow tribes to continue their important work of restoring their homelands."

For the Shinnecock tribe, the issue is another hurdle in front of its plan to open casinos on Long Island, since the tribe has said it won't open one on its 600-acre Southampton reservation. The tribe must also negotiate a compact with New York State.