Leadership
Indian country has suffered for the past three years because the "Montana Mafia" has controlled the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). They have controlled the course of the BIA without regard for the entirety of Indian country.
Memorial Day, once called Decoration Day, is meant as a day to remember all those who have died while in military service. This Memorial Day I think it important that you remember the day from a military mind. It is not about you or your vacation.
Greetings from the Chiefs, Clanmothers, Faithkeepers, and people of the Haudenosaunee Six Nations Confederacy, People of the Longhouse.
Mitakuyapi, Cante waste napeciyuzapi.
In reading over the 2013 State of Indian Nations address by outgoing President Jefferson Keel of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), a number of talking points of emphasis stood out as compelling subjects for further examination.
Once, at a tribal consultation meeting, Larry Echo Hawk, Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, asked me to join him for lunch. Upon learning that I was a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, he asked about my opinion of the Freedmen issue.
A typical meeting between two Native people for the first time goes something like this:
“What tribe you from?”
“I’m a Blackfeet from Brownin’.”
“Aaahhh, my uncle is from up that way.”
“Oh yeah, he went to Chemawa with my Dad. I pow-wowed with his kids.”
On October 22, 2012, at 4:44 a.m., Oglala Lakota leader Russell Means began his journey to the spirit world.
Despite the required recount, North Dakota tribes and Indian country were already celebrating the efforts put forth for Indian champion Heidi Heitkamp’s improbable victory in her bid to hold Democrat Kent Conrad’s United States Senate seat.
The battle is over, and pundits now stroll to the battlefield and shoot the survivors. I have used this bully pulpit to urge that Indians bloc vote only when threatened as Indians. My own vote turned on threats I perceived to my family. Your mileage may vary.
Many Native American teenagers are planning their future and want to make a difference—I believe that. The Native American people have—time and again—answered our nation’s call when it comes to serving in many capacities and that includes the call of service in the military.
On October 22, 2012, at 4:44 a.m., Oglala Lakota leader Russell Means began his journey to the spirit world.
Despite the required recount, North Dakota tribes and Indian country were already celebrating the efforts put forth for Indian champion Heidi Heitkamp’s improbable victory in her bid to hold Democrat Kent Conrad’s United States Senate seat.