On Thursday, he will address the leaders again amid praise from some that his administration has moved aggressively on their behalf, and criticism from others about the challenges that remain.

More than 400 representatives from tribal nations across the country are scheduled to attend the day-long meeting at the Department of the Interior. Mr. Obama is scheduled to speak to them in the morning, and top officials from the government will hold small break-out discussions with the leaders throughout the day.

On Wednesday, Mr. Obama and several of his cabinet secretaries met privately in the White House with about a dozen of the tribal chiefs, according to officials.

“President Obama is proud of the steps he’s taken to address the concerns of Indian country, and his record clearly shows that we’ve made a lot of progress,” said Shin Inouye, a spokesman for the White House. “He deeply values and appreciates the nation to nation relationship between the federal government and Indian country, and we continue to build upon and strengthen that relationship.”

Mr. Inouye noted that Mr. Obama has issued an executive order mandating better consultation and coordination with tribal nations; he has signed the Tribal Law and Order Act, which provided greater resources to combat crime on reservations, and he signed the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. Last week, Mr. Obama signed legislation resolving longstanding claims by American Indians about land and water rights.

But some tribal leaders in town for the gathering say the president and his staff have failed to follow through on the bold promises he made as a candidate and later as president.

Robert Porter, the president of the Seneca nation in Western New York, said in an interview with the Caucus that Mr. Obama had failed to purse a legislative agenda that would help empower the American Indian nations and improve the economic situation for residents.

“The administration is very easily co-opting us with lofty promises of supporting the nation-to-nation relationship but then not following through,” Mr. Porter said. “We need to have support for meaningful tribal economic empowerment.”

Mr. Porter’s tribe has clashed with the administration over legislation passed last year that banned the direct sales of cigarettes through the mail. The Seneca nation had been an aggressive seller of cigarettes by mail and denounced the legislation as a means of crippling economic activity on American Indian reservations.

A news release in March from the Seneca nation accused Mr. Obama of “deliberately betraying” American Indians by signing the legislation into law.

Other American Indian leaders in town for the meeting say the president and the administration have done well, though they acknowledge that there are still problems to be worked out.

Ray Halbritter of the Oneida Nation, also in New York, said the president “deserves credit” for listening about issues on tribal lands.

“There certainly are issues that are not resolved. And there are disagreements,” Mr. Halbritter said. “But that’s not uncommon among nations. Without dialogue, usually you end up in conflict.”

Mr. Halbritter called the meeting in Washington with Mr. Obama and other government officials “important. He said the gathering will be an “opportunity to reaffirm the relationship that native Indian governments have with the United States.”

But both American Indian leaders said they remain concerned about the conflicts that often emerge between state governments and the tribal nations, often about economic efforts that states seek to regulate. The federal government is in the best position to intervene in those conflicts, they said.

“The Constitution of the United States states the federal government shall regulate commerce among Indian tribes,” Mr. Halbritter said. “There are opportunities to create jobs but often Indian governments face issues with the states in which they are located.”

Mr. Porter put it more bluntly: “The president is the only force in our universe that has the power, and we think, the treaty obligation to be protecting us.”

In a statement after the White House meeting on Wednesday, administration officials acknowledged that concerns remain.

“The president conveyed to the leaders his commitment to strengthen and build upon the government to government relationship with Indian country,” the statement said. “He also noted that while much progress has been made, more remains to be done, and he is committed to working with the Native American community to achieve those goals.”

Tribal leaders will have a number of meetings in Washington this week to address those issues as a part of the second White House Tribal Nations Conference. Obama, who is to speak at a gathering of more than 560 tribal chiefs and presidents Thursday, has described the event as key to his effort to strengthen the federal government’s relationship with Native Americans.

Participants in Wednesday’s meeting emerged from the White House convinced that the administration is attuned to their concerns, although some expressed frustration at the pace of change.

“These meetings are . . . both symbolic and substantive,” Jefferson Keel, president of the National Congress of American Indians, said in a statement after the meeting with Obama. “Last year’s summit was historic in size and ambition. We anticipate the results of the meetings with the President today and tomorrow will change the future of Indian Country for generations to come.”

Obama is proud of the steps he has taken to address the issues raised by Native Americans, White House spokesman ShinInouye said.

“His record clearly shows that we’ve made a lot of progress,” Inouye said by e-mail. “He deeply values and appreciates the nation-to-nation relationship between the federal government and Indian country, and we continue to build upon and strengthen that relationship.”

Native American leaders have mixed assessments of the work. Many leaders praised the White House focus on Indian country, but others said some problems remain entrenched.

Seneca Nation President Robert Porter complained of continued interference with tribal sovereignty, such as a federal law passed this year restricting mail-order tobacco sales. That law damaged one of his tribe’s principal economic engines and cost 2,000 jobs.

“We were very enthused from [Obama's] promises, because they were rooted in a notion of partnership that we hadn’t heard from a president before,” said Porter, whose tribe lives in Upstate New York. “But what we’ve seen is a much more timid approach to the handling of Indian affairs from his administration. A considerable amount of time has been spent cleaning up old messes, but they are not really moving forward on issues that could change the lives of Indian people.”

Some of those “old messes” include the resolution of a class-action lawsuit in which Native Americans accused the federal government of mismanaging their land trusts. The government settled the case with a $3.4 billion compensation fund. That action followed a $760 million case the administration settled in October with Indian farmers and agreements with four tribes to settle long-standing disputes over water rights.

Jacqueline Johnson Pata, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, praised the Obama administration, which also advocated for the Tribal Law and Order Act. Passed by Congress over the summer, the law gives tribal courts tougher sentencing powers and sets stricter rules to gather and collect more data on crimes, Johnson Pata said.

“Last year was stellar,” Johnson Pata said. “We’ve had the support and the engagement of being able to have true dialogue with the administration.”

Tribal leaders have a “zillion” concerns, Johnson Pata said, and they are hoping to pare them down in meetings this week.

Still, Neyooxet Greymorning, a professor of Native American studies at the University of Montana, said he worries that the dialogue about building an equitable relationship with tribes over the long term is lip service. Over the years, federal acts passed to favor trial water rights and other issues of sovereignty have been ignored by local and state governments, Greymorning said.

“It’s one thing for the [federal] government to pass certain legislative acts, but if they don’t back them when those acts aren’t followed out by external sources, then they are spineless acts,” he said.

Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a former U.S. senator from Colorado who has lobbied on Native American issues, said that the Obama administration had shown “sensitivity” to tribal leaders but that “change is going to cost money.”

“I hope this is more than just a photo op,” he said.

“I’d like to see the president not be so timid in his efforts to support and protect Indian country,” he says.

Porter is one of dozens of tribal leaders from around the United States who is to meet Obama and other administration officials on Thursday.

Many Native American reservations historically have suffered mightily from high unemployment and related problems. By contrast, the Seneca Nation is a thriving economy, operating casinos and tobacco businesses, Porter says.

Instead of government handouts, he says the Seneca people would benefit from tax relief — a message he will carry to this week’s meeting.

“The core of our economy and mentality is one of self-sufficiency. We’re not looking for extensive appropriations programs. We’re looking for tax relief,” Porter told Reuters.

He says it is absurd for the government to tax Native Americans and then send the money back to them in the form of grants.

“What if we were to keep those dollars?”

Seneca Nation President Robert Odawi Porter went into Thursday’s Tribal Nations Conference at the White House disappointed with Obama’s “timid” approach to Indian issues, but said he came away more confident in the administration’s commitment.

“There are good people,” he said. “I think they need to have more focus and direction on what’s actually going to have real meaning in terms of improving the lives of native people.”

Oneida Nation representative Ray Halbritter, who also attended the conference, praised Obama for fostering the “government-to-government” relationship that is often far more effective than what he called the zero-sum game of clashes in court.

“There was a commitment by this president to continue moving forward,” Halbritter said.

Porter went to Washington with several legislative proposals aimed at strengthening all Indian nations, including tax credits and the creation of a $1 billion Indian Country Development Bank to promote Indian entrepreneurship and tribal development.

One of Porter’s proposals would ensure that only tribes have taxing authority over tribal lands, precluding state and local governments from taxing any activities. The Senecas, along with several other New York Indian nations, are embroiled in a court challenge over New York’s efforts to tax reservation cigarette sales to non-Indian smokeshop customers.

The nonbinding U.N. declaration is intended to protect the rights of more than 370 million native peoples worldwide, affirming their equality and ability to maintain their own institutions, cultures and spiritual traditions. It sets standards to fight discrimination and marginalization and eliminate human rights violations.

Porter said that while Obama’s support of the declaration is important, the administration needs to make changes with more immediate, measurable results.

The declaration “doesn’t immediately translate into channeling new wealth to Indian Country. It doesn’t channel any health care support. It doesn’t do anything, as a practical matter,” he said. “Those are the agenda items that …. are very much on the minds of every one of the tribal leaders that were there.”

While he is there, he hopes to ask for the president’s support in the Senecas’ fight with New York state over cigarette taxes.

“At a time when New York state is trying to illegally tax our economy, the president has done nothing to stop it,” Porter said. “The president has a lot of influence, I’ve heard. He could directly intervene in our behalf, or at least stand up and say that he cares.”

Porter said he expects to be one of hundreds of tribal leaders from throughout the nation who will attend a Tribal Nations Summit hosted by Obama. Porter said he anticipates that the summit will focus on economic development issues.

A group of about 60 Native American leaders, including Porter, met in Washington this morning to prepare for their session with Obama.

The Seneca leader said Obama, so far, has not kept promises that he made at a similar meeting with tribal leaders last year.

“Two years ago, many of us enthusiastically supported the election of President Obama,” Porter said today. “We believed in his message of hope and expected to see positive changes. [We] have seen little in the form of policy, and President Obama has not kept his promises for improved consultation. We must be our own agents of change and form new coalitions if we are to devise a stronger future for Native people.”

He said Obama, as president, has had a “timid and unfocused approach” to Indian issues.

Porter said he will propose changes to federal law seeking to improve opportunities for business development on tribal lands. His proposal will include establishing tribal lands as “income tax-free economic empowerment zones” for individual Indians, and will seek tax credits for non-Indians who invest in businesses on Indian lands.

He also is seeking the establishment of an Indian Country Development Bank to provide funding for projects that will benefit tribes.

American Indians are the nation’s poorest ethnic group, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Based on figures from 2009, the bureau estimates that 27.3 percent of Indians live below the poverty level, while the poverty figures for 25.8 percent for African-Americans, 23.5 percent for Hispanics and 11.8 percent for whites.

Among the total U.S. population, an estimated 14.3 percent live below the poverty level.

“That is not news to us,” Porter said. “Indians have been trying to crawl out of an economic hole since the U.S. government stripped us of our lands a couple of hundred years ago.”

Porter, a lawyer who graduated from Harvard Law School, was elected as president of the Seneca Nation last month.

New York state officials deny his allegation that their efforts to tax cigarette sales from Indians to non-Indians are illegal. They say Indian-owned businesses have received an unfair advantage for years because they were not required to collect the taxes.

Litigation over the tax issue is currently pending before the Second Circuit U.S. Appeals Court in New York City.

“We’ve had presidents who’ve ignored us,” Robert Porter, the president of the Seneca Nation of Indians, told POLITICO. “That’s not as bad as being promised a lot of things and having those promises broken.”

On Thursday, Obama is expected to meet for about an hour with tribal leaders at the White House Tribal Nations Conference, only the third such forum held by a sitting president.

Porter said that in a Wednesday breakfast meeting, tribal leaders agreed that they need to be tougher and demand more action from the administration on issues like land disputes and legislation that would regulate the tobacco industry, a major source of commerce for the Seneca and other tribes.

Last year, Porter said, administration officials put out a summary document that was filled with “lofty, inspirational talk” about improving relations with Indian tribes.

“When you drill down, it doesn’t really say much more than that,” Porter said.

Porter added that he doesn’t expect a “degree of engagement” at the conference similar to the “working groups” that Obama has hosted recently with business leaders, economists and congressional Republicans.

“What we need to do is to stop being so polite,” Porter said. “If we do not take these moments and speak frankly and candidly, then we’re wasting the opportunity.”

President Robert Porter is eager to share a message of self-sufficiency with President Barack Obama. He doesn’t want Indian Country to be left behind in tax proposal.

“The core of our economy and mentality is one of self-sufficiency. We’re not looking for extensive appropriations programs. We’re looking for tax relief,” Porter told Reuters.

The conference will be held at the main Interior Department building in Washington, D.C. The opening and closing sessions will be broadcast at www.whitehouse.gov/live.

In September, one of the original Navajo “Code Talkers,” Allen Dale June, also passed away. While Navajo are the most known, 15 other Indian tribes were also involved in the top secret project that “unofficially” began in the trenches of World War I. Though declassified in 1968, their stories are little known.

Veterans Day falls in the middle of American Indian Heritage Month, but those men and others like Ira Hayes of the Pima tribe who helped raise the iconic flag on Iwo Jima and General Clarence Tinker of the Osage tribe, who was the first U.S. General killed in World War II, will sadly go unmentioned in U.S. classrooms.

Schoolchildren and teachers will instead discuss American Indians culminating with colonial Thanksgiving traditions. They might learn Benjamin Franklin chaired the first Indian Affairs Committee in Congress or that Thomas Jefferson regarded them as intellectual equals. American Indian Heritage Month is usually a few lessons in early Indian history, art and national tragedies. It’s important material, but then one of the most influential indigenous populations in history is placed back in the holiday closet until next year.

The Department of Defense is trying to change this. The DOD dedicates November to showcasing the unique and little-known legacy modern American Indians have brought to the armed forces.

Gen. Ulysses S. Grant opened the door for American Indians in the Civil War. New York Gov. Edwin Morgan had turned away Ely Parker’s (Seneca) Iroquois Volunteers, and War Secretary Simon Cameron said Parker’s ethnicity wouldn’t permit it. Grant got him appointed as an engineer and eventually made Parker his adjutant. Parker helped write the surrender documents at Appomattox and rose to become the first American Indian general in U.S. history. It wasn’t a one-sided experiment. The Cherokee’s Will Thomas Legion served with distinction in Gen. Jubal Early’s campaigns. Stand Watie, a Cherokee, also rose to the rank of Confederate general and was the last commanding officer to officially surrender.

Following the war, Alchesay, an Apache, and 11 other Indians received the Medal of Honor for their actions in the Indian campaigns. They quickly distinguished themselves on the battlefields as soldiers and Marines. Their unique combat abilities, tactics and survival skills that frustrated American soldiers for generations proved more frustrating for the nation’s enemies abroad.

The outbreak of WW I brought impassioned pleas from tribal chiefs to let American Indians serve. There were 12,000 in the ranks of the armed forces by the end of the war. They pushed aside broken treaties and 200 years of conflict and stunned this nation’s enemies with their patriotic service. Still, it wasn’t until 1924 that Congress granted American Indians U.S. citizenship.

More than 44,000 served in WW II. Lt. Ernest Childers (Creek), Lt. Van Barfoot (Choctaw) and Lt. Jack Montgomery (Cherokee) received Medals of Honor for their actions in Europe with the Army’s famed 45th Thunderbird Division. The Army Corps of Engineers’ Goingback Chiltoskey (Cherokee) helped create the raised relief maps used for the D-Day Invasion. Fellow tribesman Ting Rogers survived the infamous “Death March to Bataan” where fellow tribesman Jacob Cornsilk perished. Joseph Clark (Cherokee) was the first to graduate from Annapolis and achieve the rank of admiral in the U.S. Navy. Brumette Echohawk (Pawnee) became a legend training commandos in hand-to-hand combat.

In the Korean War, Capt. Raymond Harvey (Chickasaw), Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud (Ho-Chunk) and PFC Charles George (Cherokee) received Medals of Honor for their actions under fire. Military historians also point to the 90 percent volunteer rate of the 42,000 who served in the Vietnam War. The nation’s most decorated American Indian, 1st Lt. Pascal Poolaw (Kiowa) was killed in Vietnam with 42 decorations on a service record that reached back to World War II.

Their progeny equally serve today. On March 23, 2003, Army Spec. Lori Ann Piewesta (Hopi), who was the daughter of a Vietnam veteran, was the first American Indian woman to die in combat. Four months earlier to the day, U.S. Navy Commander John Herrington (Chickasaw) became the first American Indian astronaut, serving as flight engineer for the space shuttle Endeavor.

Most amazing, American Indians make up 1 percent of the U.S. population. These are names tribal historians would like known in classrooms this November. It’s time they are.

Ed Hooper is a military affairs writer based in Knoxville.

And as Porter was inducted into office before more than 300 people, Barry E. Snyder Sr., a businessman who has been a dominant figure in the tribe for about 40 years, said farewell.

“If we are truly to secure the future of the Seneca Nation and the Seneca people, we must start making smarter choices about how we are living our lives and spending our money,” said Porter, 47. “The [Seneca] Nation must diversify if we are to continue on the path of prosperity.”

While the tribe is a relatively small group, with about 7,800 members, the Senecas are growing in importance in the local economy. They are now one of the region’s biggest employers. Seneca officials say their casino operations employ 5,000 people and have an economic impact of $1 billion a year.

Porter, a lawyer and law professor, spoke at the Seneca Gaming & Entertainment Hall on Erie Road, in a room filled with tribe members, tribal leaders and officials from the federal, state and local governments.

Among the many officeholders were Rep. Brian M. Higgins, D-Buffalo; State Sen. George D. Maziarz, R-Newfane; and Erie County Executive Chris Collins. Collins and Buffalo Mayor Brian W. Brown — who was not present — even designated Tuesday as “Rob Porter Day” in the city and county.

The ceremony represented a changing of the guard as Snyder, 70, wished Porter well and announced that he is retiring — permanently — from Seneca government.

“This is it … I’m going on Social Security,” Snyder said. “I guarantee.”

The new Seneca powers are Porter and two allies, businessman J.C. Seneca, who replaced Snyder last year as chairman of the Seneca Gaming Corp., and Tribal Council Chairman Richard E. Nephew.

Snyder has held many leadership posts in the Seneca Nation since 1971, when he became treasurer. He had four different terms as president.

In September, Snyder’s son Scott was voted out as chairman of the influential Seneca Party, which supported Porter in the tribal election.

Barry Snyder ran the tribe for a long time, and now, many Senecas are ready for a change, said Sally Snow, an outspoken Seneca businesswoman who attended Tuesday’s event.

“There’s a little ray of hope that things will change with Rob Porter,” Snow said in an interview. “People are tired of the same old, same old. The Seneca people want a voice in their government. They have been afraid to speak out, and they still are afraid. But Rob says he is going to change that, and I really hope he will.”

That was one of the promises Porter made during his induction speech. He said he will allow more Senecas to have a voice in their government and will do a better job of informing Senecas about what actions the government takes.

He also pledged to improve educational opportunities for all Senecas — not only children but also adults. He said he plans to start a new program that will enable Seneca Nation employees to work on college degrees a few hours each week.

Although the new president said the Senecas are a powerful business force in Western New York, he said he is concerned about the future. He wants the nation to diversify its business interests and to stop depending on cigarette sales and gambling.

“We must be aware that the tide has turned against cigarette smoking, as a matter of public health policy,” Porter said. “There is no question that the United States is attempting to eliminate cigarette smoking — no differently than it did polio or smallpox. A [Seneca] economy that continues to rely heavily on the tobacco business carries tremendous risks for the future.”

While gambling has been “wildly successful” for Seneca finances, Porter noted that the tribe’s current casino agreement — or compact — with the state ends in 2016. He said he hopes it will be renewed for at least another seven years but said he cannot guarantee that will happen.

He noted “increasing competition” from gambling operations in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and concern that New York’s government may some day amend its constitution and start its own casinos.

Porter said all Senecas will need a “strong work ethic” if the tribe is to succeed in the years ahead. He promised to be a “tireless advocate and defender” of the tribe on taxation issues and other disputes with the state.

According to Seneca Nation officials, Porter won the Nov. 2 presidential election, receiving 1,671 votes to 500 for his opponent, former President Maurice A. John Sr. The Senecas permit candidates and political parties to pay enrolled Senecas for voting.

Porter is the 67th man to serve as Seneca president since 1848. No woman has ever been elected to the post.

An outspoken advocate for the value of education, Porter is a graduate of Syracuse University and Harvard Law School. An author of numerous published articles on tribal law, he is currently on leave from his position as a professor in the Syracuse University Law School.

The Salamanca resident will serve a two-year term.

Porter was accompanied Tuesday by his wife, Odie Brant Porter, who is executive director of the Seneca Nation Capital Improvements Authority. They have four children and live on the Allegany Territory.