We celebrate Thanksgiving along with the rest of America, maybe in different ways and for different reasons. Despite everything that's happened to us since we fed the Pilgrims, we still have our language, our culture, our distinct social system. Even in a nuclear age, we still have a tribal people.

If you argue with a fool, someone passing by will not be able to tell who is the fool and who is not.

I've run into more discrimination as a woman than as an Indian.

Remember that I am just a woman who is living a very abundant life. Every step I take forward is on a path paved by strong Indian women before me.

A significant number of people believe tribal people still live and dress as they did 300 years ago. During my tenure as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, national news agencies requesting interviews sometimes asked if they could film a tribal dance or if I would wear traditional tribal clothing for the interview. I doubt they asked the president of the United States to dress like a pilgrim for an interview.

I think the most important issue we have as a people is what we started, and that is to begin to trust our own thinking again and belive in ourselves enough to think that we can articulate our own vision of the future and then work to make sure that that vision becomes a reality.

Prior to my election, young Cherokee girls would never have thought that they might grow up and become chief.