Obama to Make First Indian Land Visit

Coinciding with the announcement of a plan to overhaul the Bureau of Indian Education, Barack Obama will make his first visit to Native American tribal lands as president. Along with the first lady, he will visit Standing Rock Sioux Reservation on Friday, which sits on the border of North and South Dakota. Obama will be only the third sitting president to come to Indian Country. In his 2008 campaign he promised better health services, education, and to combat drugs in the reservations. That promise does not seem to have been fulfilled, given that Native American schools are behind by nearly every measure, Native American poverty and unemployment are more than double the national average, and drugs are still a major problem.