Obama eyes American Indians in presidential bid

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said on Friday the United States has a "special obligation" to help American Indians and pledged to hold annual summits with tribal leaders if he is elected in November.

Obama, an Illinois senator who would be the first black U.S. president, told an audience in New Mexico that American Indians were doing worse than the rest of the country in areas including health, education, mortality rates, substance abuse and unemployment.

"There is no doubt that we have a special obligation to try to work with the tribal leadership and Native American communities to solve some of these problems," he said.

He said more money needed to be invested in schools and substance abuse programs, and said he would appoint an official in his White House to work with tribal leaders across the country.

"As president of the United States I'm not just going to have a Bureau of Indian Affairs that is off on the sidelines somewhere," he said. "I'm going to have an annual summit with Native American leaders, tribal leaders. They're going to meet directly with me."

New Mexico, one of the roughly two dozen states that holds presidential nominating contests next Tuesday, is home to a large population of American Indians.

American Indians and Alaska Natives numbered some 4.5 million nationwide as of July 1, 2005, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Xavier Briand)