I am trying to distribute 2 objects, one of them is a group of words and vectors, the other an imported png. If I un-group the vectors and words, the distribute tools work fine, but as long as everything is grouped, they won't distribute the group and the photo relative to the page. What am I missing?

That's how the tool works. It works with selected objects, which is a very useful thing.

You could select all objects inside the group, by ctrl+shift+clicking on them, or by entering the group with a double-click, then selecting them, then the other objects outside the group.