"Welcome, Sen. Obama, back to Big Sky Country.

And welcome to Great Falls.

Montana has seven reservations and a sizable population of "landless" Native Americans. Four of those reservations and the largest concentration of the landless Indians are in the orbit of Great Falls.

Both you and Sen. Clinton have talked at length about the need for the federal government to live up to its obligations to the nation's first people, whether the handling of its trust responsibilities or the provision of adequate health care.

We agree with that and would put economic development on the reservations near the top of the list of priorities.

We're not talking about handouts; we're talking about providing the means for our neighbors — the Blackfeet, Chippewa Cree, Assiniboine, Sioux, Gros Ventre, and others — to bootstrap themselves out of the cycles of unemployment and related social ills that have plagued them for a century.

The list could go on, but we know you're busy."

Get the Story:
To Sen. Obama: Montanans have big stake in this race (The Great Falls Tribune 5/30)

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