Prior to my election, young Cherokee girls would never have thought that they might grow up and become chief.
Take care how you place your moccasins upon the Earth, step with care, for the faces of the future generations are looking up from the Earth waiting their turn for life.
I’ve run into more discrimination as a woman than as an Indian.
Every single person has leadership ability. Some step up and take it. Some don’t. My answer was to step up and lead.
Everybody is sitting around saying, ‘Well, jeez, we need somebody to solve this problem of bias.’ That somebody is us. We all have to try to figure out a better way to get along.
America would be a better place if leaders would do more long-term thinking.
I hope many of you will be people that question why things are and why we have to do them the way we have always done them. I hope you will take some risks, exert some real leadership on issues, and if you will, dance along the edge of the roof as you continue for life.
Women in leadership roles can help restore balance and wholeness to our communities.
Individually and collectively, Cherokee people possess an extraordinary ability to face down adversity and continue moving forward.
A lot of young girls have looked to their career paths and have said they’d like to be chief. There’s been a change in the limits people see.
Look forward. Turn what has been done into a better path.
People say that crisis changes people and turns ordinary people into wiser or more responsible ones.
We celebrate Thanksgiving along with the rest of America, maybe in different ways and for different reasons. Despite everything that’s happened to us since we fed the Pilgrims, we still have our language, our culture, our distinct social system. Even in a nuclear age, we still have a tribal people.
I learned a long time ago that I can’t control the challenges the creator sends my way, but I can control the way I think about them and deal with them.
Negative thoughts were treated by Cherokee healers with the same medicines as wounds, headaches, or physical illness. It was believed that unchecked negative thoughts can permeate the being and manifest themselves in negative actions.
Friends describe me as someone who likes to sing and dance along the edge of the roof. I try to encourage young women to be willing to take risks, to stand up for the things they believe in, and to step up and accept the challenge of serving in leadership roles.
A significant number of people believe tribal people still live and dress as they did 300 years ago. During my tenure as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, national news agencies requesting interviews sometimes asked if they could film a tribal dance or if I would wear traditional tribal clothing for the interview. I doubt they asked the president of the United States to dress like a pilgrim for an interview.
It is the women who are responsible for bringing along the next generation to carry the culture forward.
Women can help turn the world right side up. We bring a more collaborative approach to government. And if we do not participate, then decisions will be made without us.
During the long healing process, I fell back on my Cherokee ways and adopted what our elders call “a Cherokee approach” to life. They say it is “being of good mind.” That means one has to think positively, to take what is handed out and turn it into a better path.