It is a function of my privilege that this passage, in an LA Times article about President Obama's relationship with Native American tribes, surprised me: "[Obama] is the first president to hold an annual summit with leaders from the 566 federally recognized tribes."
I don't think it's a coincidence that it is our first African-American president who was the first president to hold an annual summit with tribal leaders.
...Which is why I want to rage-quit the world every time I read that Mitt Romney is on the campaign trail dog-whistling racist shit like "I want us to get back to being America."
[NB: Native American tribes are not collectively nor internally monolithic, and there are among them many different feelings about President Obama.]
