A People of Action and Hope

Recently, Tex Hall, the President of the National Congress of the American Indian, oldest and largest tribal government organization in the United States, gave his State of American Indian Nations address. Read it all here.

Hall covered the two biggies in Indian Country, education and health, both victims of underfunding and budget cuts. But he also mentioned a few newcomers that I was happy made it in: telecommunications/infrastructure creation and entrepreneurship.

Probably the most eye-opening statements were Hall's assertions that Native women are raped at three times the rate of the national average (9 out of 10 by non-Natives!) and only 50% of Natives graduate from high school. Horrible facts that we must work to stop. But Hall ended on a note of hope.

"..We have faced the worst that could be thrown at us and survived..

We are a people of action and hope. We have too much at stake to not protect out communities and our families. Native nations, like our homelands, shall endure. This country is the land of the our ancestors and the land of our children."