A story is a burden which must be carried with as much care as we carry a sleeping child

If it wasn't for good," my mother says, "we human beings would have been wiped out a long time ago. Either the monsters would have gotten us or we would have killed each other off with greed and jealousy and anger. So we have to believe in good. We have to look for the good in ourselves.

The best teachers have showed me that things have to be done bit by bit. Nothing that means anything happens quickly--we only think it does. The motion of drawing back a bow and sending an arrow straight into a target takes only a split second, but it is a skill many years in the making. So it is with a life, anyone's life.

We need to walk to know sacred places, those around us and those within. We need to walk to remember the songs.

Kill every enemy twice, Wilky said. Better than gettin' shot by a soldier pretending to be dead.

The best teachers have shown me that things have to be done bit by bit. Nothing that means anything happens quickly - we only think it does.

Native people such as the Cherokees are just as human and complex and real as Americans are, and our nation needs to respect American Indian cultures and traditions.