Carol Kelly-Gangi - Essential Native Wisdom

It is well known that the rich and varied wisdom of Native people dates back thousands of years. It is estimated that when Columbus arrived in the New World, there was a range of 2,000 distinct languages spoken by the 15 million people populating the Western Hemisphere. In Essential Native Wisdom, we have gathered hundreds of powerful quotations from an extraordinary group of men and women of Native heritage from the mid-1700s to the present day. There are excerpts from political leaders and spiritual leaders, writers and poets, activists and artists, warriors and statesmen, scholars and historians, actors and athletes, and musicians and orators. Hopefully the words of these great Native peoplefrom both history and the present daywill come together to cross the boundaries of time and place to form a living dialogue.

In the selections that follow, legendary leaders such as Black Hawk, Chief Joseph, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Tecumseh eloquently reveal the devastating hardships their people endured at the hands of the white leaders and settlers who descended upon them and sought to destroy their way of life. Standing Bear, Daniel Akaka, Suzan Shown Harjo, Chuck Hoskin, Jr., Elizabeth Peratrovich, and Sarah Winnemucca speak passionately about the freedoms, rights, and justice that are guaranteed to Native people under the Constitution. Charles Alexander Eastman, Geronimo, Winona LaDuke, and Luther Standing Bear vividly recall traditions from their people, passed down from generation to generation. And Jefferson Keel, Oren Lyons, Ilarion Larry Merculieff, and N. Scott Momaday recall the beauty of the natural world and our sacred responsibility to preserve the earth and its resources.

Other selections reveal a more personal side of the contributors. Lloyd Kiva New lovingly recalls his mother and her storiesboth magical and wistfulfrom the past. Wilma Mankiller shares insights into the joys of motherhood. Russell Means remembers his grandfather and the simple pleasures they shared. Mary Brave Bird recalls the struggles of life on the reservation. And Jim Thorpe recalls the joys of his vigorous boyhood.

Essential Native Wisdom is a living testament to the spirit of strength, endurance, and hope that Native people have embodied through the ages, and to the men and women of Native heritage who continue to leave an indelible mark on the world in every field of endeavor. May their words help to inform, inspire, and challenge us as we journey on our own paths to wisdom.

Carol Kelly-Gangi, 2021

KNOWLEDGE, LEARNING, AND EDUCATION

But you who are wise must know, that different Nations have different Conceptions of things; and you will therefore not take it amiss, if our Ideas of this Kind of Education happen not to be the same with yours.

Canasatego (Onondaga), remarked to English colonial officials, 1744

In Lakota society it was the duty of every parent to give the knowledge they possessed to their children. Each and every parent was a teacher and, as a matter of fact, all elders were instructors of those younger than themselves. And the instruction they gave was mostly through their actionsthat is, they interpreted to us through actions what we should try to do. We learned by watching and imitating examples placed before us. Slowly and naturally the faculties of observation and memory became highly trained, and the Lakota child became educated in the manners, lore, and customs of his people without a strained and conscious effort.

Luther Standing Bear (Oglala Lakota), Land of the Spotted Eagle, 1933

In the early years of my life, I never thought I would even go to college. But in my formative years, I heard Robert Kennedy say: Some men see things as they are and say, Why? I see things as they could be and say, Why not?

Larry Echo Hawk, quoted in the New York Times, September 1994

When I went to college, it didnt just change me, it changed my generations.

Ernestine Hayes, as quoted on her personal website, 2018

[W]hen I attained my sixth year, I was sent to school, and continued for six successive winters. During this time, I learned to read and write, though not so well as I could have wished. This was all the instruction of the kind I ever received. Small and imperfect as was the amount of the knowledge I obtained, yet in view of the advantages I have thus derived, I bless God for it.

William Apess (Pequot), A Son of the Forest and Other Writings, 1829

As the island in the river might have been saved by planting the long-rooted grass upon its banks, so let us save our people by educating our boys and girls and young men and young women in the ways of the white man. Then they may be planted and deeply rooted about us and our people may stand unmoved in the flood of the white man.

Opothleyahola (Creek), 1859

I realized when I homeschooled my children, that was my best education I ever got. And it was because we lived our life and watched it and talked about it.