The One Thing I've Always Maintained Is

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.

I Tell The Truth, And I Expose Myself As A Weak, Misguided, Misdirected, Dysfunctional Human Being I Used To Be.

Being Is A Spiritual Proposition. Gaining Is A Material Act. Traditionally, American Indians Have Always Attempted To Be The Best People They Could. Part Of That Spiritual Process Was And Is To Give Away Wealth, To Discard Wealth In Order Not To Gain.

Even Though The American Indian Movement On A National-international Scale Has Proven To Be Extremely Dysfunctional, The American Indian Movement I Was Associated With I'm Very Proud Of. We Were A Revolutionary, Militant Organization Whose Purpose Was Spirituality First, And That's How I Want To Be Remembered.

I’m A Human Being, I’m Not Anyone’s Mascot! And I Am America’s Conscience. And That’s What They Don’t Want To Look At. They Would Rather Look At A Cartoon Character Than At The Deceit Of This Country And This Government.