I want every young Indigenous girl to think about getting involved in their communities. You're never too young to help with community efforts.
Interpretation
The quote encourages young Indigenous girls to engage in their communities and contribute to collective efforts, regardless of age.
Deb Haaland emphasizes the importance of community involvement for young Indigenous girls, highlighting that age should not be a barrier to participation. She inspires the younger generation to take active roles in their communities, fostering leadership and responsibility from an early age.
In practice
In a speech at a community event, a leader might say this quote to inspire young attendees.
In spite of our agonizing history, Native American people find much to celebrate. The songs, the dances, the culture and traditions surrounding planting and harvests, the prayers that are sent upward for healing and peace, and the welcoming of children into our families, are all reasons for us to keep moving forward with optimism.
Growing up in my mother's Pueblo household, I never imagined a world in which I would be represented by someone who looked like me.
Racism and bigotry should never fuel any administration's policies. Calls to send anyone 'back' contradict who we should be as a country and the ideals for which we stand.
Native American activists have been present as long as the Europeans have been working to colonize us.
I spent my 20s earning minimum wage decorating cakes for a living. But one day, I looked in the mirror and realized I wanted more, for me and my people. I saw too many Native Americans struggling, and I realized we should have a voice in who our elected officials are.
The tenets of my cultural teachings are rooted in our commitment to lift up every community member so that no one is left behind. Work and food were shared equally. Through our commitment to community, we care about children, even when they aren't ours, and we want our old folks, and yours, to live their last days in dignity and comfort.
A tradition I remember from my childhood was that when there was a wedding in any one family, the entire village shared the responsibility and contributed. Regardless of the caste or community, the bride became the daughter of not just a single family but of the entire village.
If you and your church were to disappear off the face of the earth tomorrow, would anyone in the community around you notice you were gone? And if the community did even notice would they say 'we are really glad they are gone', or 'we are really going to miss them'?
Frequent worshippers are also significantly more active citizens. They are more likely to belong to community organizations, especially those concerned with young people, health, arts and leisure, neighborhood and civic groups and professional associations.
There is nothing that says you can't be active and love your community and fight for your community and still do your job.
Neighborhoods and communities are complex organisms that will be resilient only if they are healthy along a number of interrelated dimensions, much as a human body cannot be healthy without adequate air, water, rest, and food.
A community that sees so clearly its own disadvantage or its own hardships also has a harder time seeing its potential: its ability to work together to change the community and change their lives.
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