U.S. Apology First Step Only - Tribal Leaders

An apology would be "the highest mark in history for native Americans," said Buchanan from the northern state of Michigan. "As you know, (we) take the spoken word very very seriously. When we're lied to it's probably one of the worst things on earth. You take what someone says and you trust, but when you get burnt over and over again an apology like that does mean a lot." Many of the country's four million indigenous people -- often referred to as American Indians -- say Washington never lived up to the promises it made in hundreds of treaties it made with their ancestors as it colonised the territory that became the United States. [more]