Lostspirit,

I don't think you're slow - that is a message I think needs to be repeated to the youth so that they understand and take it to heart. For young ones who want to fight and be free, the first thing that comes to mind is not language and culture, it is anger, and they seek a way to vent that anger. It's the same for many lost white youth, I can attest to that. We however don't have such a rich heritage to turn to.

Jenn, go to User Control Panel > Profile > Edit Avatar.

Yeah,Lostspirit they are married.I am a warrior for the treaties. Thanks Jim and Lilac for the info on the picture.Jennifer

Do I look or sound defeated to anyone in here? i would also say this is about far more than treaty rights it is in fact about being Indigenous on Indigenous Lands... nothing more and nothing less.

Ghostwarrior,I don't think you are a defeated person by what I have read about what you stand for.The defeated ones are the ones who won't stand up and fight for what is right.I hope you don't think I am a person who says a lot of bull,either.I will stand for the Indigenous lands and I will stand up to make sure the US Gov't honor those treaties because it was my ancestors who signed 7 or 8 treaties ceding lands of NW Georgia,NE Alabama and SE Tennessee.The Gov't has not honored these treaties to the Cherokees or nor to me.I know I can never be a member of the Cherokee nation but in several of those treaties it mentions about the Chiefs signers descendants and I am one of them.The US Gov't took them for a ride.It is my fight,too.I live on my ancestral land but it is not considered indigenous lands. Jennifer

hau tanhansi ghostwarrior...could not have said it better

Hau GW and ndn,

I thought that was what I was saying with my question. What am I missing?

There was nothing wrong with all of our answers. It is all for the good of the Lakotas.We all want to help in our own way.Like I told my husband one time,You do things your way and I do things my way but the end results are the same.Jennifer

I cannot speak of my experience of being indigenous on indigenous lands, but my humble thought is each day in the would prove to be an assault on so many fronts.

To wake up hungry, in gut-wrenching poverty, maybe not being able to afford something basic like shoes or coats. Or like insulin or dialysis if you need it. I am not familiar with what healthcare would look like on the rez or if there is any...Could you afford glasses so your child could learn to read... it must seem to be at times overwhelming... then the insult of having just your basic culture and language taken away...which road would you follow the red or the black...

I used to know a nurse who would travel to the rez in the summer for a mission and work at a clinic for the Dine. She often spoke of the poverty and the astounding rates of TB...

It is my humble thought that to provide adequate food and nutrition for each family should be the first priority in mounting an adequate strong defense...else there is no need to fight an enemy. With poor health and disease, all a conqueror simply has to do is wait as so well illustrated by measles and smallpox.

Mollydee has the right heart.Jennifer

Jennifer, I would humbly submit that is not our call but the call of those that are L/D/N.

I viewed Wounded Heart: Pine Ridge and the Sioux on Youtube this evening. Mr Means stated in the video:
They should put that in the history books. It might give the young a whole new perspective, perhaps one of pride and accomplishment thus bringing to the surface the dignity and empowerment that resides deep within them.

Lostspirt,Maybe I shouldn't have said that there wasn't anything wrong with all of our answers,it's just that I see we all care about the Lakotas and it shows in our answers.They will choose what they need.Jennifer PS I was trying to take up for you.

It was not for me to speak of victory or defeat in this way. One can speak of these things in loose historical terms, but victory and defeat truly reside in the heart.

I know only my own heart in the end, so perhaps what I said is just a reflection of my own defeats. Those of us who still view this whole history and situation from the outside, I think we're susceptible to that, and you're all very patient with us as we learn to see more clearly.

Ghostwarrior, the perseverance and victorious nature of the L/D/N people is enlightening. Your hearts rise above overwhelming circumstances. I'll do better to remember that.

Ditto for me too. I am honored to be allowed to post on this forum; some of the things I post due to my ignorance probably irritate the heck out of those who know and feel things I cannot possibly know or feel. I have nothing but tremendous respect for Indigenous People and would never resent being shown otherwise if anything I write sounds erroneous, improper or patronizing from your perspective and experience.

"Defeat is when the spirit is broken and the body becomes the tool of the invader. You can kill me but you can never defeat me"................

I haven't read through all of the posts on this topic, as there are many, but it seems as though there are a few people here who may be questioning themselves, or subconsciously apologizing for their responses. I may be wrong about this.

ndnhorseman wrote:
altho i do appreciate all suggestions...i was wondering how to remove the friction between todays "warriors" for treaty rights and the such versus those people like me that believe the revitalization of language, culture and tradition.

Excellent question, NDN, which brings to mind a quote:

'A Nation that makes a great distinction between it's scholars(language, culture, tradition) and it's warriors, will have it's laws made by cowards, and it's wars fought by fools'.

I don't quite agree with this, either. So, where is the balance? It comes from within the heart.