I've Always Considered Myself A Man Of

I Do Not Want To Be Civilized. I Want To Be Liberated.

I've Always Thought It Was Arrogant To Write About Yourself, Particularly When You're Still Alive.

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 One Thing I've Always Maintained Is That I'm An American Indian. I'm Not Politically Correct.

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.