I took that as pride in seeing my people proud, strong warriors really standing up for themselves. I'll have that with me. Horn-Miller did not become embittered by her experience at Oka. While it has been suggested to her that there's a contradiction in her proudly representing Canada as a member of the Pan Am Games, considering what happened at Oka and the country's legacy of poor treatment of native people, she doesn't see it that way. For me, that's a great honour to be recognized.
People take that and make it a political issue, but there's nothing political about it.
People can go either way. I think my mom raised me to be a strong person and never go backwards. Away from the water, she is an impressive young woman as well - articulate, bright and striking looking. You bring them up to your level, you make them feel good, you make them feel strong, you make them feel confident, whereas the non-native concept of power is how many people you can control. I saw it all the time I was growing up.