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Obama Draws Crowd of 1,500, Addresses Indian Issues in Wyoming

By Brodie Farquhar, 3-07-08

The Barack Obama campaign came to Casper this afternoon, before it heads to
the University of Wyoming Arena-Auditorium for what is likely to be the
biggest crowd of the day.

Obama’s performance in Casper, before a 1,500-person crowd, covered most of
the bases of his standard campaign speech, but still elicited half a dozen
standing ovations from an appreciative audience.

In a question and answer session, Senator Obama was asked “What hope can I
take back” to the Wind River Reservation, by Lander resident Michelle
Skinner. She said the reservation is plagued by poverty and the twin
scourges of alcoholism and methamphetamine addiction.

“I’ve talked to tribal leaders all over America,” Obama said, noting that
Native Americans faced deeply rooted problems that have emerged from a
tragic past. While problems can’t be erased overnight, he warned, Obama
said he wanted to make sure that Native American health services are of the
best quality, with a strong emphasis on disease prevention starting with
children and pre-natal care.

Any health service program on a reservation must include mental health and
substance abuse programs, Obama said, not only to treat the problems at
hand, but preventive care to avoid problems in upcoming generations.

Like children in the inner city or the barrios, Native American children
need after school and summer programs to help them catch up with
middle-class children, he said. Incentives need to be found and developed
to bring the best teachers to reservations, and keep them there.

Obama said that jobs and improved long-term prospects are necessary to keep
children focused on a pathway to hope, emphasizing the need for vocational
education, community colleges, universities and continuing education.