May 19, 2008 7:02 PM
Obama Reaches Out to Native Americans
Posted by Maria Gavrilovic (CBS)
From CBS News’ Maria Gavrilovic:
CROW AGENCY, MONT. — As he continues to reach out to new voting blocks, Barack Obama made a campaign stop at an Indian reservation today, where he told Native Americans that, as an African-American, he identifies with their struggles.
“I know what it’s like to not always have been respected or to have been ignored and I know what it’s like to struggle and that’s how I think many of you understand what’s happened here on the reservation,” Obama said. “A lot of times you have been forgotten, just like African-Americans have been forgotten or other groups in this country have been forgotten.”
Obama was adopted as an honorary member of the Crow tribe today, a ceremony that the campaign says is reserved for special dignitaries. Obama entered the rally at the Crow reservation with his honorary parents, Sunny and Mary Black Eagle. Obama was dressed in a dark suit with no tie, while his parents wore traditional Native American attire.
Obama thanked his new parents during his remarks and said he is fond of his new name, Barack Black Eagle. “I like my new name Barack Black Eagle,” he said. “I mean that’s a good name.”
The chairman of the tribe presented Obama with gifts for his “wives” and children, a point which Obama quickly corrected. “I don’t want to get in trouble when I get home,” he joked. “I can have new parents but no new wives.”
He duped them.