We Are Taught To Take

Poverty Doesn’t Give You Strength Or Teach You Lessons About Perseverance. No, Poverty Only Teaches You How To Be Poor.

You Can't Sustain [anger]. You Become Bitter. Nothing's Going To Change. Anger Leads To Resentment, Then To Spiking Your Orange Juice, Then To Martyrdom.

In A Sense, You're Always Mythologizing Your Life; It's Always An Effort To Make Yourself Epic. At Least In Fiction You Can Lie And Sort Of Justify Your Delusion About Your "epicness." But When You're Writing A Memoir, You're Trying To Make Your Life Epic And It's Not - Nobody's Life Is.

I Was A Controversial Figure On My Reservation When I Was A Kid. I Was Mouthy And Opinionated And Arrogant. Nothing Has Changed.

The Percentage Of Indian Kids Doing Some Sort Of Artistic Work Is Much Higher Than In The General Population - Painting, Drawing, Dancing, Singing. The Creation Of Art Is Still An Everyday Part Of Indian Culture, Unlike The Dominant Culture, Where Art Is Sort Of Peripheral.