Bernie Sanders took his motorcade straight down a remote highway to go to the Pine Ridge Native American Reservation in rural Southwest Dakota, among the poorest of the United states where around 70% of students will opt out before graduating.

Thursday before addressing the packed gym, the Democratic presidential candidate met with leaders from tribes in the region privately. They draped him during a normal white-and-blue quilted umbrella and exchanged presents.

Her Sanders, the senator’s partner, had brought a pewter and cup tealight by Vermont, and by the ultimate end of the day, Sanders’ personnel was carrying moccasins, blanket and a bundle of sweetgrass handed to him while something special from someone inside crowd. From Minnesota to California, Sanders has met privately with Native American leaders from dozens of tribes in the past four months and spoken publicly, at each of his campaign stops, about the hardships their communities face.