Native Village

WORDS FROM THE CIRCLE

**"The role of food is important, but it's gotten to the point where we become gluttons.... We could spend a lot more time really thinking about what's going on in our world and giving more thanks." Flying Eagle, chief of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe

*"Cultural competence is the ability to communicate, live, learn and work in cross-cultural situations. It’s important to have respect for differences, an eagerness to learn and a willingness to accept there are many ways of viewing the world."  Terry Bergeson,Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction

"We need more collaborative efforts from the top down into the classroom where the most effective results will be realized." Ray Lorton, Chief Leschi School Superintendent

"Culture and language is critical for our students to meet standards and it can improve academic achievement. Instruction needs to be broadened to include hands-on and visual activities in small groups so our students will understand why they are doing the work." Denny Hurtado, Indian Education in Washington State.

*"[Students] need to be seen and heard more. We need to teach them how to be superstars and how to communicate more effectively. We must spend more time allowing kids to ask more questions and be in leadership positions." Howard Rainer, Native American Educational Outreach Programs at Brigham Young University

"They come to us with lips smoother than  oil, and words sweeter than honey, but beware of them! The venomous wasp is in their heart!" Tecumseh

*“Today’s children are the backbone of tomorrow’s economy... Instead of passing more tax breaks, which is not stimulating the economy nor creating jobs, the Bush administration should do more to lift families out of poverty by investing in programs that help children. ” Deborah Cutler-Ortiz

"We're losing our language. And when we do that, we become a lost tribe." Edgar Perry, White Mountain Apache

*"It’s time for Native youth to be seen and heard." Christopher James, 16

* "There were [nearly 50 million] people here who had found the continent tens of thousands of years before [Columbus.] I think he loses the right to be called the discoverer." Chuck Hunt, Lane CommunityCollege.

"How many more times will it be necessary to repeat that the most destructive weapon of mass destruction in the world today is poverty? We must harness globalization. We must turn it into a positive force for all peoples of the world." Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva

"Wildflowers and weeds are the same thing; it's a matter of perception in our mind."   KateCruikshank

"You can eat (certain) weeds. There is food right out there on the edge of the lawn."   MartiCrouch

"We are not doing anyone a favour when we recognize an indigenous reservation. We are merely doing justice to those who have been the victims of injustice for so many years." Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil

**"Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money." - Cree proverb

"There is nothing to fear from the dead. It's the living we should fear." Antonio Haas, Maya

"Education's not just about literacy, it's about cognitive development, and that's where first language is essential. That's why UN resolutions say kids should be able to learn in their mother tongue, because that's the language their brains are in. They should be able to develop that and learn what they need from outside cultures."  Kathy McMahon , Australian aborginal

"Language is everything to us. A person who knows their language knows who they are." Miriam Rose Baumann, Australian aboriginal

**"Those who wish to pet and baby wildlife love them, but those who respect their natures and wish to let them live their natural lives, love them more ."  Edwin Way Teale

**"This Earth is in trouble. ... That's why I'm a firm believer in teaching the children. You never know who you are going to touch, that one person who may grow up to be the president or secretary of state, and who cares about the environment." Cryinghawk Tarbox,  Passamaquoddy and Micmac

**"The most important thing to me is to teach the children, so that our culture never dies." Blackhawk SanCarlos, Mohawk and Apache

**"The Earth is in great crisis, but there is hope. We have a choice right now to either walk the spiritual path or walk the industrial path." Eddy Stevenson, Ojibwe

**"Why have we as a people been able to continue to exist? Because we know where we come from. By having roots, you can see the direction in which you want to go." Joênia Wapixana

" To lose the art of a people is to lose the people themselves." Bruce McGee, Heard Museum

*** “... we should go back to the old ways to heal. Americans will heal too, once they realize their wrongs.” Floyd Red Crow Westerman

“Everybody is so distracted by things for the self. They don’t care about their relatives anymore. The SUV shows how we feel about the environment. To turn this around, we need to go back to the earth and live with the earth spiritually.” Floyd Red Crow Westerman

**“The clan mothers ran everything and had the last word. I think that’s the answer.” Floyd Red Crow Westerman

"The tobacco plant is a magical being, one that can give life -- or take life when abused in its commercial forms." Raymond Andrews, Paiute

"Custer is said to have boasted that he could ride through the entire Sioux Nation with his Seventh Cavalry, and he was half right. He got half-way through." Vine Deloria Jr.

"Aboriginal youth can accomplish anything they set their minds to." Roberta Jamieson

''Don't listen to [what] the government is trying to push down your throats; believe what your elders told you.'' Casper Lomayesva, Hopi

**"You can go outside and turn around, and there is a story for every rock, every tree, every bush you can see." Rob Collier, Nez Perce

**"I think what we need to start doing is start teaching Ho-Chunk 101 or Native Americans 101 and vice versa. We have to understand the 101 culture of other people. Once we understand each other, we might be able to be at the same level." George Lewis, Ho-Chunk

" We are very connected to the land and the resources around us. Our society is built on that. Our sense of space is what drives us, as opposed to the sense of time that drives Western societies." Timothy Bull Bennett, Mi'kmaq

"We honor the memory of our people. To do less is to treat them less and we cannot do that." John Brown, Narragansett

"In order to be a whole human being, I also have responsibilities to the people to whom I belong and to maintain our cultural ways as a people." Henrietta Mann, Cheyenne

**''To see the future, you only have to look at the past." Wilma Mankiller, Cherokee

''Indians believe the universe is mind, but they explore the spiritual end of  it, not the physical end. Vine Deloria, Yankton Sioux

**''Whatever the future holds, do not forget who you are. Teach your children, teach your children's children, and then teach their children also. Teach them the pride of a great people ... A time will come again when they will celebrate together with joy. When that happens my spirit will be there with you." Chief Leschi, Nisqually

**"When an elder is gone, what he knows, the songs, the history, whatever he didn't set down, that knowledge is buried underneath the ground." Danny Lopez, Tohono O'odham

photo © Roger Moore and friend

 Words from the Circle p.12Words from the Circle p. 14

 Native Village Home Page

Native Village Linking Policy
Our research, study and resource collections cover a lot of Internet territory! We do our best to screen all links and select only those we designate "kidsafe" and appropriate. However, Native Village does not control the content found on third-party sites, so we are not always aware when content changes. If you discover a link that contains inappropriate information, please contact us immediately.  In addition, please be aware that each linked site maintains its own independent data collection, policies and procedures. If you visit a Web site linked to from Native Village, you should consult that site's privacy policy before providing it with any of your personal information.
For more information about keeping kids safe online, please read about the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Native Village © Gina Boltz