Q & A with Joe Garcia
For those out of the loop, Joe Garcia, the Governer of the Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo) was recently elected President of the National Congress of the American Indian (NCAI). He recently had a brief but interesting Q & A about his agenda for Indian Country and what he sees as the major issues facing the tribes. I've quoted some of the highlights below:
What is your agenda for Indian country?
"What I want to do is unite the Indian nations of the United States of America. .."
..What should non-Indians know about Indians?
"We are all Indians or Native Americans, however we choose to be called, but we are not the same in the sense that the Pueblo Indians are diverse and they are different than the Plains Indians. So solutions people may impose or provide, one shoe does not fit all."
In what ways do you see tribal sovereignty being challenged across the country?
"I need to talk a little bit about language, culture and tradition. That's the basis for our sovereignty. If I no longer can speak my language and practice what I have as my way of life ... if I lose that, it diminishes the sovereignty part of it because I can no longer choose to practice what I believe is my way of life."
Read the rest here.
What is your agenda for Indian country?
"What I want to do is unite the Indian nations of the United States of America. .."
..What should non-Indians know about Indians?
"We are all Indians or Native Americans, however we choose to be called, but we are not the same in the sense that the Pueblo Indians are diverse and they are different than the Plains Indians. So solutions people may impose or provide, one shoe does not fit all."
In what ways do you see tribal sovereignty being challenged across the country?
"I need to talk a little bit about language, culture and tradition. That's the basis for our sovereignty. If I no longer can speak my language and practice what I have as my way of life ... if I lose that, it diminishes the sovereignty part of it because I can no longer choose to practice what I believe is my way of life."
Read the rest here.
posted by The Marigold Trail at 10:51 PM
4 Comments:
Excellent interview. Short and to the point. Good going. You need to do more of this kind of thing.
Yes I know you didn't do the interview. But you should.
Doc -
Thanks. :) I thought it was good, too. btw, tried to post to your blog recently and could not. Did you change the layout?
I changed the layout of that post so that no one would be able to comment on it. Why what did you want to say?
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