It is times like this when it is important for native people to come together to help one another out.

It was given by the French, ... It means 'snake.'

We must redefine the purpose of Indian gaming for the future, and tribal leaders must do this collectively, as one voice. As my leadership at NCAI comes to a close, I will continue to work with the new leadership to preserve our sovereignty, because that is the strength of Indian Country for our future generations.

I don't recall an early storm this bad, ... I don't think anybody predicted this kind of impact and this kind of heavy, wet frozen snow - there must be a tremendous amount of weight on those electrical lines and telephone poles, because they were just broken like toothpicks.

My thought is they're (NCAA) not going to listen unless you talk to the tribes.

I guess that the FSU exemption will be interpreted the way people want to see it, whether it is a red light or green light. The National Congress is going to stay vigilant and work so there aren't glaring examples of racism and stereotyping involving the use of a mascot or logo that will be exempted from the NCAA's historic decision.

Everybody knows that all the records aren't there. So why spend money when you're not going to get a real, true, accurate accounting?

We have to get down to the brass tacks. If this is going to move, we, as tribal leaders, have got to put a (settlement) figure in this bill. Right now, it's blank. We can't leave it blank.

The real message we need to take away from this is that the Seminole Tribe's decision was exactly that — a decision made by the tribe itself. ... That is all that we have ever wanted. No one consulted us about the Cleveland Indians logo, the Redskins name.