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For all you Hillary Clinton supporters, what are your thoughts about the following article:
Election ’08: Chelsea stumps for mom in region
By Francis X. Gilpin
Staff writer
LUMBERTON — Chelsea Clinton took in her first American Indian powwow Sunday in the land of the Lumbee.
The daughter of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York was no idle spectator.
Campaigning for her mother before Tuesday’s North Carolina Democratic presidential primary, Clinton accepted a red, white and blue shawl from the Lumbees. She and her handlers then gamely joined a tribal dance circle, following a line of Indians from across North America who were wearing resplendent traditional dress.
Lumbee Tribal Chairman Jimmy Goins said the three-day annual powwow, “The Dance of the Spring Moon,” is held during planting season to encourage a good harvest later in the year.
Goins gave Clinton’s daughter a jovial introduction.
“I got to shake President Clinton’s hand when he came through recently,” Goins told the crowd at the Lumberton Farmer’s Market. “But today I got to hug Chelsea Clinton.”
Underneath her shawl, Clinton was still in church clothes. Earlier, she attended a service in Fayetteville.
“Thank you, chairman, for that warm welcome — and the hug,” Clinton said after accepting the microphone from Goins. “I was honored to be in your circle. Thank you for that honor.”
The 28-year-old Clinton quickly got down to politics, tailoring her brief remarks for the welcoming audience.
“I fundamentally believe my mom will be the best president for all of us,” Clinton said. “The best president for the Lumbee tribe because she supports federal recognition.”
Legislation to grant recognition to the tribe has been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and is headed for a possible Senate floor vote later this spring, Goins said.
Hillary Clinton and her primary opponent, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, support the tribe’s petition to the federal government, Goins said.
Clinton supporters Mable Moses and Tabatha Oxendine were thrilled that the candidate’s daughter squeezed Lumberton into a busy Sunday schedule that started early in Charlotte and promised to end late in Raleigh.
“We need to get her mother in office,” said Moses, who wore a Hillary button on her Indian dress.
Between the Queen City and the state capital, Chelsea Clinton stopped to worship at the First United Pentecostal Church in Fayetteville and headline a campaign event at a bed-and-breakfast in Clinton.
Jesse F. Williams, pastor emeritus at First United Pentecostal, said the Clinton campaign called earlier in the week to ask whether the senator’s daughter could attend church Sunday.
“If you’re a human being and need God, we’ll minister to you,” Williams said.
The pastor said members of the congregation shook hands with Clinton and got autographs after the service. “We try to make all of our visitors welcome,” he said.
Williams said he didn’t know why the campaign picked his church for her to attend, but he noted that Bill Clinton has been a good friend to Pentecostals over the years.
Later in Lumberton, Clinton backer Brenda Campbell of Rowland said her candidate will end the war in Iraq.
“All that war did was take our young men and women away,” Campbell said, “and raised our gas prices.”
But other Cape Fear region voters remain undecided about Clinton, Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona as primary day approaches.
“I just think there’s a lot of people who don’t know how they’re going to vote,” said Paul Wilson of Fayetteville. “I’m one of them. Usually, I know ahead of time. But between the three of them, I haven’t decided yet.”
Staff writer Francis X. Gilpin can be reached at gilpinf@fayobserver.com or 323-4848, ext. 372
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=293156
Look at todays ‘Indian Country Today’ and read the article about Donna Loring and her book ‘In The Shadow of The Eagle’ …. All else is just smoke and mirrors.
GOOD FOR THEM!!!! I LOVE the Clintons and I really hope she wins. She is supposed to have some Native blood from a tribe in Canada and Bill is 1/16th Cherokee!!!
can anyone help me….i have been told three times now i should check on about getting federal funding. can anyone tell me how or where to start to see about qualifying?
thanks
Are you enrolled with a federally recognized tribe? If so, check with your tribal office. If not, you won’t be eligible for any federal funding connected with your native heritage. A lot of people don’t understand that it is carefully regulated and hard to come by, unless your family has always been enrolled with a federally recognized tribe. That said, the benefits are not necessarily “all that” and likely there are funds you’ll qualify for as a plain old US citizen that will be as good or better.
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