'indian Policy' Has Now Been

Before Aim, Indians Were Dispirited, Defeated, And Culturally Dissolving. People Were Ashamed To Be Indian. You Didn't See The Young People Wearing Braids Or Chokers Or Ribbon Shirts In Those Days. Hell, I Didn't Wear 'em. People Didn't Sun Dance, They Didn't Sweat, They Were Losing Their Languages. Then There Was That Spark At Alcatraz, And We Took Off. Man, We Took A Ride Across This Country. We Put Indians And Indian Rights Smack Dab In The Middle Of The Public Consciousness For The First Time Since The So-called Indian Wars.

[the Is] A Mistaken Belief That [the Word Indian] Refers Somehow To The Country, India. When Columbus Washed Up On The Beach In The Caribbean, He Was Not Looking For A Country Called India. Europeans Were Calling That Country Hindustan In 1492.... Columbus Called The Tribal People He Met "indio," From The Italian In Dio, Meaning "in God."

Freedom Is For Everyone, Whatever Lifestyle They Choose, As Long As It's Peaceful And Honest

We Indians Do Not Teach That There Is Only One God. We Know That Everything Has Power, Including The Most Inanimate, Inconsequential Things. Stones Have Power. A Blade Of Grass Has Power. Trees And Clouds And All Our Relatives In The Insect And Animal World Have Power. We Believe We Must Respect That Power By Acknowledging It's Presence. By Honoring The Power Of The Spirits In That Way, It Becomes Our Power As Well. It Protects Us.

So I'd Much Rather Get Across The Concept Of Freedom. It's What's Important To Indian Children. The Only Way You Can Be Free Is To Know Is That You Are Worthwhile As A Distinct Human Being. Otherwise You Become What The Colonizers Have Designed, And That Is A Lemming. Get In Line, Punch All The Right Keys, And Die.