PINE RIDGE - Bill Clinton returned to the land of the Oglala Lakota without the massive security detail, rock-star excitement and national press corps that followed him on his first stop here nine years ago.

But he was still greeted warmly by Lakota people who recall that he was the first U.S. president to visit a reservation since Franklin D. Roosevelt.

"It's good to see him again," 17-year-old Pine Ridge High School senior Nick Piper said. "Last time, there were lots of metal detectors, snipers on the roof, lots of security guards and everything. But I shook his hand, and my mom got his autograph."

Clinton did plenty of that again, as he mixed with a lingering throng of mostly Native American people for about 30 minutes after a speech that lasted slightly less than that. Among those who grabbed his hand was 97-year-old Sadie Janis, granddaughter of Chief Red Cloud and an ardent supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Janis, the oldest living Red Cloud descendent on a reservation where the chief's name still carries weight, also got to shake Clinton's hand during his visit to Rapid City last Saturday.

"She still hasn't washed that hand," Janis's son-in-law, Tom Shortbull, said as Janis grinned.

Clinton's arrival was more subdued than his visit as president, when he came in from Rapid City on a Marine helicopter, accompanied by four other choppers and security agents. He flew into Chadron, Neb., on Wednesday afternoon and rode over with a small group of U.S. Secret Service agents.

The former president was scheduled to appear at 2:45 p.m. At 3:02, an Oglala Sioux Tribe police officer whispered to news people that Clinton was "two minutes out." More than 30 minutes later, an announcement that the former president was "meeting with the tribal council," prompted jeers from the audience.

By 3:49, as members of the crowd of about 800 were fanning themselves in the stifling gymnasium and breaking the monotony by doing the wave, it was announced that Clinton would be on stage in five minutes. A few minutes later a curtain opened, and the crowd began to cheer, only to switch to jeers when the tribal council filed out to sit near the front of the stage.

Clinton was on stage by 4 p.m., and after an introduction by Shortbull, he spoke for about 25 minutes. The crowd was receptive, cheering when the former president spoke of continuing failures of the federal government to properly live up to treaty obligations and adequately support reservation residents with health care, education, jobs and hope for real economic advancement.

He mentioned the SuAnne Big Crow Boys and Girls Club, which got a new, expanded facility through grants after his 1999 visit. He told the audience that his wife shares his commitment to such projects and reminded them that "a lot can happen between now and the election."

Clinton's stop impressed Robert Watters - like Piper, a member of the Thunder Ridge drum group that provided flag and honoring songs for the event. Watters was one of three Pine Ridge High School students who welcomed Clinton on stage. He also presented the former president with a homemade beaded bolo tie.

But he also indicated that, like many of his friends at school, he was leaning toward the other candidate.

"Yeah, I'm an Obama guy," he said.