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I am on my second day at the partners in action BIA conference hosted by the Potawatomi Tribe here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They are known as the keepers of the fire which is a very important and sacred responsibility. Today my partner Ryan Champagne and I presented on the topic of a Community of Hope.…

This week I am at the BIA Partners in Action conference here in Milwaukee, WS for the midwest region. As you all know one of the major proposed policy changes for the BIA is a total reorganization. The good news is there is Tribal consultation that has already started and will continue throughout Indian country.…

In case you did not know today is Friday the 13th. Some may think something bad will happen today but I am not into that myself. I don’t believe in bad luck. I do believe that we create our own destiny. We have choices every day as to what kind of day we want to…

I watched the rescue mission in Thailand with the 12 boys and their coach with great anticipation as I am sure many of you did. It wasan an incredible example of teamwork with over 13 nations cooperating to undertake this most dangerous of missions. They had a clear mission, the best of the best world…

As we know Tribes have increased their resource base over the last 20 years. However, structural poverty still remains for many Tribal communities. Now the government is doing their utmost to eliminate the safety net the most vulnerable of our Tribal citizens have had. Some of the most recent changes that will impact and increase…

There is a documentary out right now on Mr. Rogers who ran a t.v. show on PBS for some 30 years. He was a simple man but yet overflowing with basic goodness. He was always a beacon of hope and inspiration to a generation of our young people. One of the things he was known…

I like to read the declaration of Independence on every fourth. It is inspiring to read about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all even though we know it only applied to white anglo saxon protestant men at the time There is one passage that I have always found to be very disturbing…

During this celebration of our Nations birthday I find .myself reflecting on the notion of freedom . I was listening to Nina Simone recently who was one of country’s greatest blues/jazz singers. She defined freedom as living your life without fear. I could not agree with her more. At one time in my life I…

It is heartbreaking to see the images of the young children, mothers and families who are being incarcerated in very inhumane conditions along the border and in detention centers in 17 states across the country. Of course as Tribal people we have been through this previously when we were first placed on reservations and when…

Today it was announced that the remains of four Native American children were returned to their Tribes from Carlisle Indian Boarding School from 100 years ago. The picture you see above is the cemetery at the old boarding school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania which is no longer there. It looks like Arlington cemetary and is one…

Customer service is an important issue that more and more Tribal organizations are beginning to understand. The old attitude was that it did not matter how we treated those we serve because we were the only “game” in town and that they will always come back no matter what. First of all this is not…

Today was a good day for Tribal sovereignty on a couple of fronts. The first was the Supreme Court upheld a federal appellate court ruling which ordered the state of Washington to spend Billions of dollars to restore salmon habits for Tribal fisheries in the state of Washington. We haven’t won many battles with the…