National Congress of American Indians President Brian Cladoosby addresses the White House Tribal Youth Gathering in Washington, D.C., Photo by Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal Tribune / Twitter

More than 875 Native youth are in Washington, D.C., today for the first-ever White House Tribal Youth Gathering.

The participants in the historic event represent more than 230 tribes and hail from 48 states. They are part of Generation Indigenous, a new initiative launched by President Barack Obama last year to focus on the issues facing young American Indians and Alaska Natives.

"Gen-I is about creating new policies and investments to expand educational, employment, health and social services for Native youth, and also to strengthen the administration’s engagement with public and private partners to improve outcomes for all youth," White House Domestic Policy Council Director Cecilia Muñoz said on a conference call on Wednesday.

The youth are meeting at the Renaissance Downtown Hotel near the White House. They will hear from First Lady Michelle Obama before lunch.

The opening and closing sessions of the day-long gathering are being webcast on Livestream.

Get the Story:
Native American youth gather in DC for inaugural summit (AP 7/9)
White House Hosts First-Ever Tribal Youth Gathering (The Huffington Post 7/9)
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