Native American enthusiasm for Obama

That's the subject of Timothy Egan's column today in the New York Times. Egan says that Obama's ascent has led American Indians to "allow[] themselves to dream." Here's an excerpt from Egan's column reporting on Obama's response when asked in New Mexico about immigration.

Obama pointed to a handful of elderly natives in the front row of a high school gym.

“He said, ‘The only real native people in this country are sitting right in front of me,’ ” recalled Joe Garcia, who is president of the National Congress of American Indians. “You should have heard the applause.”

The Crow Nation in Montana has adopted Obama, giving him the name "Barack Black Eagle."

Diane Enos, President of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa offers this poignant observation about one reason Indians are attracted to Obama: “Obama’s life has been a journey to find identity ***That’s the Indian stuggle. And it starts with children.”

American Indian support for Obama was the subject of this earlier post, and has also been covered by the Daily Yonder. One such story is here.