Barack Obama Quotes

Everyone who's born in the Western Hemisphere is a Native American. We are all Native Americans.

Native American activists have been present as long as the Europeans have been working to colonize us.

What we have done with the American Indian is its way as bad as what we imposed on the Negroes. We took a proud and independent race and virtually destroyed them. We have to find ways to bring them back into decent lives in this country.

Five hundred years later we're still doing it. This is a moment where we're either going to reaffirm that's what we do [with Native Americans ], that's who we are, or we're going to start moving toward change. A change won't come easy, because there's a lot of big money that doesn't care about any of this.

I'm Cherokee, and there were times when social expansion was something that is needed by a cultural group or a national group.

I'm a member of the American Indian Movement, and I'm from the indigenous nations of the Western Hemisphere.

In the end, there is no absence of irony: the integrity of what is sacred to Native Americans will be determined by the government that has been responsible for doing everything in its power to destroy Native American cultures.

We are seeing healing among the stolen generations, and initiatives which are enabling Indigenous people to make their distinctive contribution to our national life.

And Americans realized that native people are still here, that they have a moral standing, a legal standing.

Whether or not our system of Indian management has been a success during the past ten, fifty, or hundred years is almost answered in the asking.

I support the indigenous people anywhere in the planet.

On the Native American front, we have turned a new page in the 400-year history of the interface between the American settlers of this country and the nation's first Americans. That's included a new relationship where the sovereignty of tribes is in fact recognized.

The most important thing is the indigenous people are not vindictive by nature. We are not here to oppress anybody - but to join together and build Bolivia, with justice and equality.

An Indian tribe is sovereign to the extent that the U.S. permits it to be sovereign.

We owe an historic debt to American Indians. They have a unique set of concerns that haven't been addressed, and I'd like to stand with them. Also, I'd like to get their views on immigration.

I am deeply committed to the cause of Indigenous Australians, and not just because of the Apology, but the big challenges which lie ahead in closing the gap.

The more I heard, the more I've learned, and the more I saw, the more resolved I became about helping to address the challenges that plague the Native American community.

The Constitution does not apply to the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation predates the Constitution.

I don't think the approach is to simply give them [the Indian tribes] money, because too much money has disappeared in Indian country, too much has been mismanaged. The history of Indian country is the disappearance of money.

The conscience of the people demands that the Indians within our boundaries shall be fairly and honestly treated as wards of the Government and their education and civilization promoted with a view to their ultimate citizenship.

[Tribal] Sovereignty is just a means to an end. The end is healthy, happy and safe communities.

The proper treatment of the original occupants of this land—the Indians is one deserving of careful study. I will favor any course toward them which tends to their civilization and ultimate citizenship.

An Act To Prevent Outrages Against The Indians

The white man expelled the Indian, took his possessions, developed the unexplored resources, and now he devotes a portion of his accumulations to establish institutions where the red man learn the secret and method of his power.

Indians should teach Indians; … Indians should serve Indians, especially on reservations.