The Democratic Native platform

Native Section of Democratic Platform Stresses SovereigntyMark Macarro, tribal chairman of the Pechanga Band in California and a member of the Democratic Platform Committee, said the party platform will be more impressive than those in 2000 and 2004.

In part, he said, that is because of a stronger plank on sovereignty.

"There are some direct statements about the need to acknowledge, promote and strengthen tribal sovereignty," he said, "and the recognition that tribes have had sovereignty before."

Although Macarro and other platform committee members refined the exact wording, he said the real work had been done months earlier by such tribal leaders as Ron His Horse Is Thunder, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe of North and South Dakota, who also served on the Democratic Platform Committee.

Meanwhile, in outlining their proposals, the Native delegates said tribal issues "have suffered from inattention" during the transition from one administration to the next and called for a list of priorities addressing the needs of the Native community.

They include the need for:

• Trust reform and better management of tribal natural resources

• Adequate funding of tribal governmental services for education, health care, transportation and law enforcement

• The development of new resources to reduce crime on Indian reservations, especially to combat drug trafficking, domestic violence and sexual assault

• Strong leadership in the White House on tribal sovereignty and treaty rights