Native Village

WORDS FROM THE CIRCLE

"Native youth may appear passive, but they have a lot to say. We need to listen to them more and not shut them down. " Jana Mashonee, Lumbee

 "Our generation truly has a date with destiny ...  We will speak together with one voice, saying that Native languages have a place in Indian Education and Indian Education is incomplete without inclusion of our languages.”  Ryan Wilson, NIEA president

''There is no greater honor than being under the guidance of the Great Spirit," Nakota LaRance, Hopi/Assiniboine 

"We are called to become hollow bones for our People , and anyone else we can help , and we are not supposed to seek power for our personal use and honor."  Fools Crow, LAKOTA

**"We dance as one people at a time." Tyson Carlston.

*"Traditions are not laws. They're just agreements that people agree to do certain things at certain times with each other to keep order, harmony  ... Traditions have to bend and flex, and they have to meet the needs of the people in the current times."  Howard Bad Hand, Sicangu Lakota

**“In our tribal spirituality we have something called the circle of life. We believe that from the time we were born to the time we die that we take a journey of life and return back to that place."  G. Anne Richardson, Chief of the Rappahannock

**" People need to understand who we are today, and the struggles we’ve had to go through just to remain who we are, just to live our culture. We’re part of mainstream America but we still have to live in two lives"  Chief Steve Adkins, Chickahominy

“It’s very real with us that in 1607, our numbers were at one level, and by 1690 our numbers had been reduced 90 percent.”  Chief Steve Adkins, Chickahominy

"Education can be one of the big cures for our social ills." Jerry Fontaine

''People have a perception of what a Native artist should be. We are also contemporary, not everyone is walking around in buckskin and feathers.'' Jana Mashonee, Lumbee

"Justice is not a flexible tool.  Unless we all do our part to ensure that justice is applied equally to all human beings, we are a party to its abuse.  We must stand together to protect the rights of others." Leonard Peltier

used"Build coalitions among Indian Nations.  There is strength in numbers.  Your vote counts now as never before." Leonard Peltier

"Combine Indigenous and general public voter blocks.  Walk together in support of change.  Vote unanimously for freedom." Leonard Peltier

"Hope and resiliency.  These are your greatest strengths.  We can work together.  Sisters and brothers, all of one human family.  Your generation and mine." Leonard Peltier 


"As Italian-Americans, we can celebrate our heritage, but we don't need to be celebrating Columbus," Richard Castaldo, one of those injured in the Columbine High School massacre.

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

used "You need to understand history because it isn't the past, it's the present... want to remind you again that indigenous peoples survived. They flourish today and they will continue to gain  in power: political, economic, demographic and cultural." Chuck Hunt 

"Losing a language is a major setback for everyone, because along with the language, you will also lose all of the poems, the stories, the songs. And those things are of immense importance to all of us as human beings." Anthony Aristar

"It is a crime that more than five centuries after their lands were first invaded, South America's indigenous people are still being killed, and in such large numbers. Only when their rights to their land are respected will these atrocities stop." Stephen Corry.

**"Take care of your people, whatever you do."  Ruth Adams 

"ised Columbus is definitely not one of my heroes. It's like asking Jews to celebrate Hitler. I was thinking about Iraq -- it would be like asking the Kurds to celebrate Saddam, when he was responsible for their slaughter". Venida Chenault, Potawatomi and Kickapoo

used : There are hundreds and hundreds of books about Vietnam veterans written by Vietnam veterans, but there are less than a handful written by Native American Vietnam veterans, and only one by a Potawatomi Vietnam veteran. Our stories must to be told for future generations." Larry Mitchell, Potawatomi 

used I think sometimes people have a hard time accepting that the United States is the homeland of indigenous people. This is where the Creator placed us. And people get very angry and upset about the rights we have. If we shouldn't have rights, then who should?"  Venida Chenault 

Words from the Circle p.8 Words from the Circle p.10

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