If one reads enough books one has a fighting chance. Or better, one's chances of survival increase with each book one reads.

I felt so conflicted about having fled the rez as a kid that I created a whole literary career that left me there.

Life is a constant struggle between being an individual and being a member of the community.

...there are some children who aren't really children at all, they're just pillars of flame that burn everything they touch. And there are some children who are just pillars of ash, that fall apart when you touch them..." ~ Thomas Builds-the-Fire (played by Evan Adams) in Alexie's "Smoke Signals

I don't think the revisionist historians are accurate. I think their agendas are clouded by selfishness and anger and rage.

Imagination is the politics of dreams; imagination turns every word into a bottle rocket. . . . Imagine every day is Independence Day and save us from traveling the river changed; save us from hitchhiking the long road home. Imagine an escape. Imagine that your own shadow on the wall is a perfect door. Imagine a song stronger than penicillin. Imagine a spring with water that mends broken bones. Imagine a drum which wraps itself around your heart. Imagine a story that puts wood in the fireplace.

Sometimes it's called passing out and sometimes it's just pretending to be asleep