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Dean only one to mention Natives during debate
Monday, January 12, 2004

On Sunday, Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean was the only candidate to mention Native Americans at a debate meant to highlight issues of race.

Much of the talk at the "Black and Brown Forum" was was about African-Americans and Hispanics. Dean brought up Native Americans when asked, by rival Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), about preventing minorities from abusive and predatory lending practices.

"And what you get is respectable banks owning finance companies of subsidiaries that go into African-American and Latino neighborhoods -- and they also do this, I might add, with Native Americans, who we haven't talked about at all tonight," Dean responded. "It's a minority group that's in serious trouble in this country, because of the way our structure is."

Get the Story:
In Iowa, Dean Is Again Target (The Washington Post 1/12)
In Final Debate Before Caucuses, Democrats Tangle on Race Issues (The New York Times 1/12)
Username: indianzcom, Password: indianzcom

Relevant Documents:
Complete Transcript: Iowa Brown and Black Presidential Forum (FDCH e-Media January 11, 2004)

Related Stories:
Dean forced to explain stance on state taxation (12/08)
Dean serves up Indian Country agenda at NCAI (11/20)
Democrat presidential hopefuls eye Indian voters (11/18)
Abenaki chief wants NCAI to know Dean's record (11/20)
Lieberman joins race for president in 2004 (01/14)

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NAPEW

Dean who and who cares.

sarah_sarah_sarah

Nap wakeup! He's a democratic cnadidate who will hopefuly beat out bush. He's got my vote.

ndnwmn21

:Thumbs All I can say is this: At least someone is thinking of us NDNs, you know Bush sure didn't.

Gache

he never had a minority person in his office for 12 years what makes you think he really gives a damn. After all you can't get anymore WASP then him. He comes from the whitest state in this country he barely knows what a minority even looks like

uniquek3

i guess that was nice,,but...look what i found ...

http://www.sover.net/~auc/gov.htm


Abenaki press for recognition by Vermont
January 19, 2002

(from the State section)
BY DAVID GRAM The Associated Press

MONTPELIER — Advocates for Vermont's Abenaki Indians, including the tribe's chief, called on lawmakers Friday to pass a resolution offering them official recognition.

“We're the only race in the United States that has to prove who we are,” said Abenaki Chief April Rushlow.

Rushlow and others said the new push for recognition came after a school official in northwestern Vermont reported last month that Abenaki students had been taunted in a school yard by other children.

“Abenaki school children had been scornfully told that they were not Indians ... because the government said so,” said Frederick Wiseman, a professor of history and archaeology at Johnson State College.

He and others said that attitude was the result of the state's stance that the Abenakis do not constitute a formally recognizable Indian tribe, and they attributed that stance to racism.

The comments came a day after Gov. Howard Dean told reporters he was urging lawmakers to be very careful before endorsing a resolution saying the Abenakis should be granted limited state recognition.

Dean said even such a limited government endorsement could lead to much more powerful federal regulation for the state's estimated 1,700 Abenakis. He said that could lead to extensive legal battles over Abenaki land claims and possibly allow the Indians to build casinos in Vermont.

Participants at Friday's news conference scoffed at these concerns. “These lies are red herrings and easily disproven by anyone with a transient knowledge of federal Indian law or the Abenaki community,” said Wiseman.

Sen. Julius Canns, R-Caledonia and a key sponsor of the pro-Abenaki resolution, said it was now being bottled up in committees — at the governor's behest — despite support from all 30 Senators and 110 co-sponsors in the House.

The resolution first “recognizes the tribal status of the Abenaki people,” and then tries to respond to the concerns voiced by Dean by adding:

“That, while this recognition is not intended to confer any special rights upon the Abenaki people, such as claims to Vermont lands or privileges not extended to other minority groups, it is intended to ensure that the Abenaki people receive the same recognition and privileges extended by the state of Vermont to any other minority group.”

Dean's fear of unintended legal consequences for such recognition drew support in a letter sent to lawmakers Friday from William Griffin, chief assistant attorney general.

Griffin wrote that, “The real thrust of this ‘recognition' resolution would be to foster the creation of a distinct tribal nation within Vermont, a nation entitled to a government-to-government relationship with the state and federal governments.”

Abenakis then “would have special privileges not available to Vermonters generally or to any other minority group in Vermont,” Griffin said.

In an interview, he rejected charges that the concerns stemmed from racism. He said the attorney general's office has successfully pursued complaints of discrimination against Abenakis several times in recent years.

Those at Friday's news conference sought to shift the focus away from worries about the consequences of federal recognition, though Rushlow and others said the Abenakis want that recognition.

Wiseman said the limited recognition offered in the state resolution would improve the chances that Abenaki children would be found eligible for scholarships set aside for minorities.

For her part, Rushlow refused to offer any guarantee that if the Abenakis won federal recognition some time in the future, they would not seek to assert the sort of land claims Dean said he feared. “We would have to put that to a vote of our people,” she said.


:dontknow:

Wakalapi

The Democrats are not going to take this election as seriously. Oh sure, they will jab one-liner quips at George W. Bush, but if they elect a candidate in his place then they won't be able to run Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2008. I think they'd rather sacrifice another four years if it means electing their "god" at the right time.

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One Hot Mama

Geez, I despise politicians! Seems like they're all liars and hypocrites, with fewer morals than an alley cat. Remember that movie Bruce Almighty? If I could trade places with God just one day, I'd zap every last one of them so that they could only speak the truth(and the WHOLE truth at that). The entertainment alone would beat anything on tv hands down.

Trouble with the Dems is that they have no moral compass, and the GOP think they write policy for God. Most of them, regardless of party, have no grasp of reality for the regular person, let alone "minorities". All they do is look to see who they can exploit for votes, with no intentions of following through on whatever promises they've made. And they have NO SHAME about it whatsoever!

Think I'll go shower and scrub. Even thinking about these slimeballs makes me feel like I've been wading in muck.