Next week, President Barack Obama will visit the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reservation in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, marking his first visit to Indian Country since becoming president.

The president announced the trip in an opinion piece printed in Indian Country Today, an online tribal newspaper, on Thursday. He and the first lady, Michelle Obama, will make the visit, as the president hopes to learn about Native American struggles. According to The Associated Press, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., said the trip will take place on June 13.

"The history of the United States and tribal nations is filled with broken promises," Obama wrote. "But I believe that during my administration, we've turned a corner together."

Obama also said that during the visit he will announce plans to help Native American economies, "self-determination," and especially jobs and education flourish. He called Native American poverty as well as the culture's high dropout rates, which the president said is twice the national rate, "a moral call to action."

"That's what my trip next week is all about," Obama wrote. "I'm going to hear from as many people as possible -- ranging from young people to tribal leaders -- about the successes and challenges they face every day."

In addition, Obama said that the United States government and Native American tribes are embarking on a new kind of relationship where "agreements are upheld, tribal sovereignty is respected and every American Indian and Alaskan Native who works hard has the chance to get ahead."

"That's the promise of the American Dream. And that's what I'm working for every day-in every village, every city, every reservation-for every single American," he continued.

The Standing Rock Sioux Reservation was home to Chief Sitting Bull, making it a historical place, Obama said. The reservation is about 1 million acres big and lies between the border of the Dakotas, AP reports.

According to AP, Obama first discussed making a 2014 trip to Indian Country in November 2013 during the annual Tribal Nations Conference. He has not been to Indian Country since he visited Crow Agency, Montana as a presidential candidate. According to Heitkamp, the last president to visit Indian Country was Bill Clinton. The former president made a trip to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1999.
---

Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

Related