The chairman of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, Smith, will be among the American Indian leaders scheduled to attend Thursday's White House Tribal Nations Conference in Washington.
President Barack Obama will speak at the opening session of the conference, which will be held at the headquarters of the Department of
Interior.
Each of the 565 federally recognized tribes has been invited to send one representative to the conference, which is being held for the second time during the Obama administration.
Smith is set to meet with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and other officials while in Washington, D.C., this week.
