Hillary Clinton to head West River, again

Rapid City, Kyle appearances to focus on veteran’s care

By Kevin Woster, Journal staff | Wednesday, May 28, 2008

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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will highlight the problems of military veterans Wednesday during speeches in Rapid City and in Kyle on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

And with her visit to the reservation, she'll continue her campaign's outreach to Native American voters in the state, following four stops on four South Dakota reservations in the last two weeks by her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

Clinton will speak at the Little Wound School in Kyle at 12:30 p.m. Mountain time today, focusing on the sacrifices of Native American military veterans and how they are being shortchanged by the Bush administration in benefits. Clinton is expected to continue the veterans-care theme during her 6 p.m. appearance in Memorial Park in Rapid City.

Clinton supporter Tom Shortbull, president of Oglala Lakota College in Pine Ridge, said Tuesday that the string of reservation appearances by the Clintons shows how seriously they take reservation issues and Native voters.

"Their commitment to the South Dakota Native American community is evidenced by their repeated visits to our reservations," Shortbull said.

Clinton has invited representatives from all nine Native American tribes in South Dakota for an issues discussion following her speech in Kyle. Among those on the invitation list is Robert Moore, a tribal council member for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe who also serves on a steering committee for Clinton's Democratic primary opponent, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

Moore was unhappy Sunday when he was denied access to a back meeting room at Sinte Gleska University in Mission, where other tribal members were set to greet Bill Clinton prior to his speech. Moore said a Clinton campaign staffer told him he was not on a list of people scheduled to greet the president. He was eventually escorted out of the back room by the U.S. Secret Service.

Moore initially said he thought his previous endorsement of Obama, which he made known to the Clinton staffer, was part of the reason he was escorted out. But Tuesday, he said the incident was a misunderstanding and that he was looking forward to meeting with Hillary Clinton today.

"I'm very encouraged and honored to have been invited to a meeting with Sen. Clinton, to discuss issues that are important to all of Indian Country, especially our tribes in South Dakota," Moore said. "I understand there was some miscommunication about who was invited."

Moore endorsed Obama in early April, joining Rosebud Tribe President Rodney Bordeaux, Oglala Sioux Tribe President John Yellowbird Steele, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe President Joseph Brings Plenty and Lower Brule Sioux Tribe President Mike Jandreau in the endorsement and on Obama's tribal steering committee.

Moore said Tuesday that he continues to support Obama but believes it is essential to meet with Clinton on issues important to tribal people.

"I am hopeful that whoever our next president will be is mindful of how our issues often mean life and death in Indian country," Moore said. "And life and death issues do not care about candidates or party."

Former Rosebud tribal council member Cyril Scott of Mission said Tuesday that it was a mistake for Moore and other tribal leaders to endorse a presidential candidate. Although those endorsements were intended to be personal, they could imply a tribal endorsement that doesn't and shouldn't exist, Scott said.

The tribe should not be seen as endorsing one presidential candidate or another, when all three major presidential candidates -- Clinton, Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona -- will have the power to influence Native issues in the future, Scott said.

"No matter who wins, two of those senators will still be in Washington, D.C., and still have a vote. We stepped on toes and crossed a bridge that we shouldn't have crossed," Scott said. "As tribal leaders, they need to think of their people, first. This just is not good business."

Obama has not made a reservation stop in South Dakota, although he did visit the Crow Agency in Montana last week. The senator also met with tribal leaders from across South Dakota during a campaign stop in Sioux Falls.

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com