President Barack Obama is telling Native American tribal leaders he is determined to reverse the federal government's history of marginalizing and ignoring the plight of Indian nations.

Opening an all-day conference at the Interior Department on Thursday, the president said he understood that it took an "extraordinary leap of faith" for the tribal representatives to come to Washington, given the U.S. government's history of reneging on agreements with the Indian population.

Noting extreme poverty and unemployment rates of 80 percent on some Indian reservations, Obama said he was determined to address Native American problems, along with those of the larger U.S. population hit hard in the recession.