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INTRODUCTION From forgotten Americans to Indigenous rights JOËLLE ROSTKOWSKI Few have been more marginalized and ignored by Washington for as long as Native Americans, our First Americans. —Barack Obama, White House Tribal Nations Conference, November 5, 2009 Be the change you want to see in the world. —Mahatma Gandhi, as told to his grandson, in “Arun Gandhi Shares the Mahatma’s Message,” by Michael W. Potts Let us speak, not of the death of dreams but of the sustenance of dreams. —N. Scott Momaday, UNESCO nomination as Artist of Peace, May 12, 2004 This collection of sixteen conversations illustrates some of the major developments that have marked Native American life during the last thirty years. Agents of change, actors of history, the persons interviewed in this volume have—in one way or another —witnessed major social upheavals. Most of them have, directly and indirectly, been instrumental in cultural revitalization and achieved important goals in the literary , artistic, legal, or political fields. They have engaged in individual and collective struggles to remain faithful to their roots while opening up to new challenges. They have overcome personal trauma or discrimination through their own creativity, endurance, and fortitude. They have, personally and professionally, encouraged the assertion of Native identity but also interacted actively with mainstream America. Several of them have been ambassadors of Native cultures on the international scene. Through their own words the contributors explain in the following conversations how they have tried to remain faithful to their childhood dreams, have engaged in struggles to confer more visibility to Indian issues, and have played a role in Native American resistance and renaissance. This book is about the remarkable men and women that I have met through my research on American Indian history. It is based upon extraordinary encounters, working relationships established and reinforced over the years, common endeavors and experiences shared. It deals with the search for wisdom, the power to overcome obstacles, the capacity to shape one’s destiny. BEING AN OUTSIDER The twenty-first century was almost ten years old. The year was coming to an end. President Obama addressed Native American leaders on Thursday, November 5, XIX XX CONVERSATIONS WITH REMARKABLE NATIVE AMERICANS 2009 to acknowledge the “Nation’s troubled relationships” and to pledge to redeem broken promises. It was the first White House meeting of its kind since 1994. More than four hundred tribes were represented. As he was stressing his determination to reverse the federal government’s history of neglecting the plight of Indian nations, the president was expressing his empathy, because of his own history as “an outsider.” I understand what it means to be an outsider. . . . I was born to a teenage mother. My father left when I was two years old, leaving her—my mother and my grandparents to raise me . . . I understand what it means to be on the outside looking in. I know what it means to feel ignored and forgotten.1 Coming from Barack Obama, whose father was Kenyan and who is the first African American president of the United States, this message implied an acknowledgment of past distress and recognition of the importance of social and cultural diversity. It expressed personal concern for discrimination and the belief, reinforced by an exceptional destiny, in the capacity of the human spirit to overcome obstacles and to make every effort to improve the course of history. PROMISES TO KEEP Barack Obama’s speech was phrased in very general terms: the president promised to give American Indians a better voice in his administration and signed an executive order requiring the Cabinet members to consult regularly and efficiently with Indian tribes. It was mentioned that a similar order issued by President Clinton had not been implemented efficiently by some agencies: “over the last nine years, only a few agencies have made an effort to implement that executive order—and it’s time for a change.” President Obama told Indian leaders that his administration was deeply concerned , at the close of 2009, with the failing economy and didn’t forget the specific problems of Indian communities such as unemployment and high poverty rates. He reminded them that his administration had allocated more than $3 billion in stimulus for tribal communities, much of it for school improvement and $500 million for strengthening and modernizing the Indian Health Service (IHS). In his speech, the president recognized that Native Americans were still facing dramatic problems: Some of your reservations face unemployment rates of up to...

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