James Mooney and Barak Obama

“That’s Good to Know”

In September of 2008 in Elko, Nevada, after Senator Obama had completed his Elko presidential campaign speech and walked down the greeting line, James Mooney had a moment to speak to the candidate.

James said, “I have something extremely important to share with you.”

Obama replied, “Well, then let’s have it.”

James went on to speak about the current political situatuion for Native Americans. “I am gravely concerned that no one speaks on behaf of the Native American Church, not the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) nor  the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), other than the Native American Church.”

Obama paused and evaluated the statement. His response to James was, “That is good to know.”

President Obama is considered by most Native Americans to have been a great president who stood up for Native American rights.

Here former President Obama looks at the newly unveiled portraits of himself and Michelle Obama.