A record-setting snowstorm didn't stop about 20 Indian youth from attending a key meeting at the White House this month.

The group was in Washington, DC., for the United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY) mid-year conference. Most of their peers were unable to make it due to the weather, but those who came met with Kim Teehee and Jodi Archambault Gillette at the White House.

Teehee, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, serves as President Obama’s senior Indian adviser. She encouraged the youth to find their "passion."

"Surround yourself with people who are like-minded. It’s important to find people who can cheer you on and support you," Teehee said, as reported by Mary Kim Titla in Indian Country Today.

Gillette, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, serves as deputy associate director of Intergovernmental Affairs. She urged the youth to remember their roots.

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UNITY met at White House complex despite record snow (Indian Country Today 2/23)