Leadership
The life story of Ponca Chief Standing Bear is one of courage, resistance, and great leadership.
Madeline Colliflower, known to her relatives as Si-Siya, walked on in her 81st year back in 2000, the cusp of the 21st century. She was one of a few surviving FBI (Full-Blooded Indian) citizens of the Gros Ventre.
After multiple recounts and one court-ordered do-over, Bill John Baker has defeated incumbent Chad Smith to become the new Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
What do we think when we hear the word activism? Maybe we immediately think of somebody with their fist in the air, defiantly persisting against something. Maybe we think of protestors and demonstrators visibly making their point.
I feel like I have been waiting for this moment an entire lifetime. More like a hundred lifetimes when I count the 500 years and lifetimes of all our indigenous ancestors who went to their graves wondering if justice would ever again prevail on Turtle Island.
In my historical research I sometimes come across items of interest that I really can’t challenge, but that I don’t want to believe because they may tarnish my image or opinion of some great hero of mine.
I had the good fortune of attending Billy Frank, Jr.'s 80th birthday celebration on March 11-12 on the lands of the Squaxin Island people in Washington State.