We still have a spiritual responsibility for its well being. The inner world of the human is dependent on the outer world of nature. Any devastation that we bring upon the outer world of nature will diminish the inner world of mankind. Despite conquest, epidemics and an official government policy of assimilation, we have survived. That survival is through struggle, persistence and endurance is a vital lesson for our Indian young people today.
Education is one of the keys to overcoming poverty, poor health and low expectations.
Education also gives us the training necessary to manage our remaining resources. Some tribes such as the Hopi were never conquered in the classical sense and never signed a treaty. Technically, some believe, the Hopi are still a sovereign group of villages located high on the mesas of northern Arizona. To make that point, a number of years ago one of my relatives prepared his own passport to attend a meeting in Sweden. After much dialogue, the U.S. State Department honored his Hopi passport.