Speeches at a Washington DC conference about Native Americans can exude optimism and many promises.

But from time to time words used in a hurry punctuate the complex problems the Native American communities face.

The following audio collage focuses on these words.

The recordings were made at The White House Tribal Nations Conference, on December 5, 2012. The quotes used in this feature are selected from the speeches of the representatives of the U.S. Department of Education, Department of The Treasury, Department of Commerce, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Agriculture, Department of Justice.

The invocation was also recorded at this conference. The words in a Native American language are part of a thanksgiving said by Sidney Hill, leader (Tadodaho) of Onondaga nation, at the opening of the conference.