Colonialism has completed the destruction of the American Indian in the United States - the cultural destruction.

The United States is a fake country.

That's our charge as ancestors of unborn generations: to once again become free.

Children in poverty aren't trying to get out of poverty; they're just trying to rip off a pair of Nikes. So we Indian people are a microcosm of what's happening in America. We are now consumers, and our culture has gone.

The only way you can be free is to know is that you are worthwhile as a distinct human being.

It takes a strong effort on the part of each American Indian not to become Europeanized. The strength for this effort can only come from the traditional ways, the traditional values that our elders retain.

May the Great Mystery continue to guide and protect the paths of you and your loved ones.