Bernie Sanders Calls For Rights To Be Restored For Native Americans

Can't say I'm really a Bernie Sanders follower but he did say something to grab my attention.
Addressing the problems of Native America on March 17th, and income inequality drew cheers for Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders Thursday night at a rally attended by thousands at Twin Arrows Navajo Casino east of Flagstaff, he had this to say:

“From the first day that settlers came to this country, the Native American people have been lied to, they have been cheated, and negotiated treaties have been broken,” Sanders said. “We owe the Native American people so, so much.” (Bernie Sanders)

And: “Often, Native American people have not been heard on issues that affect their communities. They have been told what to do, they have not been involved in the process.”

He also touted a bill he sponsored to take land that would become part of a copper mine and return it to tribes that say it contains sacred sites. Sanders' wife Jane visited one sacred Apache site last week in Arizona.

Sanders spoke before an overflow crowd of thousands at a casino owned by the Navajo Nation outside the college town of Flagstaff. Dignitaries from the tribe told the crowd that Sanders was the first presidential candidate to visit their land, and the Vermont Senator took the unusual step of altering his stump speech to talk widely about Native American concerns.

Sanders was clearly glad to be in the West after a series of losses in the Midwest and South.  "We think that the climate is a little bit friendlier to us," Sanders said. "We think we've got a path toward victory."

When a candidate talks on Native issues, it always gets my attention. So let's wait and see what the other's will say before I decide who gets my vote in this Presidential Fiasco!

On another note from March 12th:

Two Arizona congressional representatives are angry that President Barack Obama has intervened to prevent sacred Apache land from being sold off to foreign business interests, according to Tucson Weekly.

Republican Congressman Paul Gosar had joined forces with Democratic U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick in an effort to sell off the ancestral Native American land, known as Oak Flat or Chi’chil Bildagoteel to the Apache community, to mining firm Resolution Copper, owned by an Australian-British corporation. According to the New York Times, it would have been the first time in history Native American lands would have been handed over to a foreign company by Congress.

The land was set to be handed over due to last-minute language added to a must-pass military spending bill. But according to the Weekly, the Obama administration prevented that from happening. The site has long been used for Apache coming-of-age ceremonies, particularly for girls
Kudos to you President Obama!