I know a lot about being white - because I have to, I live in the white world. A white person doesn't live in the Indian world. I have to be white every day.

Do you know why the Indian rain dances always worked? Because the Indians would keep dancing until it rained.

When I had no money, and a great book came out, I couldn't get it. I had to wait. I love the idea that I have hardcover books here and at home that I haven't read yet. That's how I view that I'm rich. I have hardcover books I may never read.

I wanted to do a weird book and reestablish my independent, small-press roots.

In a real-world way, my gifts are very limited in terms of what I can do.

All I try to do is portray Indians as we are, in creative ways. With imagination and poetry. I think a lot of Native American literature is stuck in one idea: sort of spiritual, environmentalist Indians. And I want to portray everyday lives. I think by doing that, by portraying the ordinary lives of Indians, perhaps people learn something new.

My father was always depressed. When he was home and sober, he was mostly in his room.