Dear Mr You by Mary-Louise Parker

All quotes from Mary-Louise's book

It’s so transparent, how willing we are to dismiss the intelligence of someone who rejects us, as though that renders them incapable of sound judgment.

Guided: Reclaiming the Intuitive Voice of Your Soul by Hans Christian King

All quotes from Hans' book

Our intuition is meant to be used like smelling salts that we apply to wake up in whatever situation we find ourselves.

The ego has nothing to gain from your awakening.

A provocateur is a person who knows what they must do to provoke themselves to get back on their dharmic track, who courageously focus all that stands in the way of claiming their original Self…. A provocateur isn’t an individual who feels no fear.  It’s a matter of him or her being courageous enough to move closer to fear with respect and openness, to silently stand in it long enough to discover its empty, illusory nature.

When you trust the intuitive intelligence of the heart, then a possibility becomes a probability, which becomes a reality.

Mind chatter, whether negative or positive, is still mind chatter.  Even though high-minded chatter feels better to us and offers some relief, it is no substitute for the hearts’ intuitive intelligence.

The more we train in being aware, the more we will succeed in connecting with and receiving the heart’s intuitive guidance throughout our daily activities.  Then, when challenges, opportunities, and perplexities present themselves, we will be prepared to follow the wisdom of our heart.

Out of the need for parental and eventually societal approval, a child begins to live a life that has been created for it rather than by it, thereby desensitizing the inherent awareness of her uniquely individual life path. 

The sacred responsibility that has been entrusted to parents is to grow their children toward and not way from their authentic self.

No child is a blank page.  Each and every spiritual-soul arrives on the planet with a custom-designed letterhead that includes a mission statement.  Not realizing this, parents rewrite it, convinced about what should appear as its header… and they go about indoctrinating their children with these notions. 

The journey is largely about unlearning what you’ve been taught and releasing the false perceptions you have embodied. 

Ego is the gatekeeper of our image, and its job description includes comparing ourselves to and competing with others in the arena called “success”. 

Our laughter is like a mantra --- a verbal sound capable of clearing the mind and creating a transformation that deepens with each repetition.

By making your own laughter your mantra and repeating it often, you will be lifted into your higher self and reclaim your childlike quality of wonderment.

Your life is itself your one true religion.  While spiritual teachers, guides, and practices profoundly contribute to accelerating one’s inner evolutionary progress, it is only in the laboratory of your own life that you can consummate the practices that awaken you to the sublime reality in your being.

When you find yourself standing in the face of a challenge welcome it, knowing that it holds before you a self-reflective mirror revealing the next evolutionary step on your dharmic walk.

Our intuition is the voice of spirit itself, connecting each of us to a world of loving and wise spirit guides.  Our part is to become open and receptive to such grace-filled generosity and demonstrate our gratitude by using this guiding compass in all aspects of our life.

The Illuminated Rumi by Coleman Barks

All quotes from Coleman's book

You sit here for days saying, This is strange business.  You're the strange business.  You have the energy of the sun in you, but you keep knotting it up at the base of your spine.

Listen to the story told by the reed of being separated.  Since I was cut from the reed bed I have made this crying sound.  Anyone separated from someone he loves understands what I say: Anyone pulled from a source longs to go back.

Don’t move the way fear makes you move.

We all know things that get better when we pay attention to the breath.  We're more in the moment, more present, more true.  There are things to do. Enlightenment unfolds as it will, but there are ways to become more accessible  to it.  Practices. Meditation. Vigils. Fasting. Walks. What you give time and attention to.

Don't pray to be healed, or look for evidence of "some other world".  You are the soul and medicine for what wounds the soul.

Be source. Not result.

The Healing Power of Mind by Tulku Thondup

All quotes from Tulku's book

Problems hold the key to their own healing if we bring our awareness to them, rather than pushing them away or clinging blindly to them.

Buddhists see sickness as a broom that sweeps away the accumulations of negative attitudes and emotions.

We can make friends with our problems.  When difficult emotions come, we can ask them what they want.

Beginning Drawing: A Multidimensional Approach to Learning the Art of Basic Drawing by Alain Picard

All quotes from Alain's book

Drawing is the foundation of all painting, thus great care should be taken to establish good habits.

Edges are found at the intersection of contrasting values and define the separation of major shapes of value.  Evaluate whether edges are hard (sharp), soft (blurred), or broken (textured).

When determining your focal point, consider the rule of thirds.  Divide your image into thirds with two horizontal lines and two vertical lines.  These intersections become hot spots, or pleasing locations, for focal points in your design…. Another effective use of the rule of thirds is to divide the land and sky of a landscape painting so that the sky accounts for two-thirds of the available space.

Start With Why by Simon Sinek

All quotes from Simon's book

There are only two ways to influence human behavior:  you can manipulate it or you can inspire it.

If you don’t know WHY, you can’t know HOW.

One Day We'll All Be Dead And None Of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul

All quotes from Scaachi's book

Your mom is your blood and bone before your body even knows how to make any.

Racism doesn't have to be accurate, it just has to be acute.

Fear always reaches a breaking point and turns into anxiety or rage.

We are deeply afraid of making marginalized voices stronger, because we think it makes privileged ones that much weaker.  

Transformative Yoga by Wade Imre Morissette

All quotes from Wade's book

Yoga brings about psychosomatic changes in how we feel and relate to ourselves and others -- physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. 

Yoga heals emotions...by encouraging an emotional intelligence that helps with facing pain, sorrow, suffering, and loss.

Your breath is the lens you use to see how your prana is doing.

Meditation helps you bring the unconscious into the conscious, allowing you to choose one thought over another. 

Aboriginal Beliefs, Values, and Aspirations by editor Barbara Filion

All quotes from Barbara's book

"In the Aboriginal world view of the four orders, the Aboriginal person is viewed as last: this is in acknowledgment of the natural Superiority of Manitou, the Earthmother, Plants, and Animalkind". Cecil King

The words n'dalgommek (Abenaki) and indinawemaaganidog (Anishnabe) express the belief that everything is related -- that all things in the universe are related.

Each person sees their path through life as a cycle of responsibilities to family, community, and the wider world.  Living life in this way provides many opportunities for gaining new knowledge and for teaching others.  As time goes on, the accumulation of individual contributions to knowledge becomes the foundation of the whole community's culture.

A Force for Good by The 14th Dalai Lama and Daniel Goleman

All quotes from The Dalai Lama and Daniel's book

The global economy is like a roof over all of us.  But it depends on individual pillars for support.… First take care of yourself financially.  Then, step by step, stand on your own feet in order to help others.

We all have the same potential but not the same opportunities.

The real purpose of faith is the practice of love.

 “To change the future from a sorry retread of the past, the Dalai Lama tells us, we need to transform our own minds – weaken the pull of our destructive emotions and so strengthen our better natures.  Without the inner shift, we stay vulnerable to knee-jerk reactions like rage, frustration, and hopelessness.” Daniel Goleman

“The Dalai Lama’s view of mental health included qualities like wisdom and compassion…. Our model of mental health is mostly defined in terms of the absence of mental illness.” Dr Judd

If we hear disturbing news but do not have a calm and clear mind then our initial reaction may be, “Oh, I must do something, this is very bad.”  But if at a deeper level we stay calm and lucid, then we will make a better response.

“Relax your anxieties, drop your self-obsession, and dial down those me-first ambitions so you can think about others too.” Daniel Goleman

Loving is of even greater importance than being loved.

 “High academic achievement, the Dalai Lama argues, in itself does not reflect a complete education.  He sees modern schooling as needing fundamental reform, beyond the standard of knowledge.  The Dalai Lama calls for an education of the heart, with ethics and the capacity for living by compassionate values being essential. This education would include basics of how the mind works, such as the dynamics of our emotions, a healthy regulation of emotional impulses and the cultivation of attention, empathy, and caring, learning to handle conflicts non-violently, and a sense of oneness with humanity.”  Daniel Goleman

A sense of being special is a form of self-deception.

Sometimes we feel all the world’s problems are huge.  But who creates these problems?  Humanity is only a collection of individuals, so change must come from each of us.  I myself am also one of the seven billion human beings, so I have both moral responsibility and the opportunity to make a contribution, which  starts at the mental level with fewer destructive emotions --- more constructive ones.  Then share with friends, anyone can.  Changes spreads that way.

Intentions result in acts, which result in effects that condition the mind toward certain traits and propensities, all of which may give rise to further intentions and actions.  The entire process is seen as an endless self-perpetuating dynamic.  The chain reaction of interlocking causes and effects operates not only in individuals but also for groups and societies, not just in one lifetime but across many lifetimes.

"Today, according to United Nation statistics, just 0.7% of the people worldwide die a violent death – and that number includes all those caught in the smaller conflicts still smoldering round our globe.  The decline in the rate of violent deaths over 10,000 years: from 1 in every 5-10 deaths to 1 in every 140 or so.  This may be the safest era yet, not the most dangerous."

On any day of the year, the denominator of kindness will be vastly greater than the numerator of cruelty.” Daniel Goleman

The potential for cruelty is far greater than the aggression actually acted out. 

Consider how societies change. “Society” is but the aggregate of us all.

How To Love Yourself by Meggan Watterson and Lodro Rinzler

All quotes from Meggan and Lodro's book

Sometimes we forget that just because we love someone, it does not mean they are ours to own.

Love undresses the ego.

Love is not enough because the love needs a vision to live into.

Rebel Buddha: On the Road to Freedom by Dzogchen Ponlop

All quotes from Dzogchen's book

Drama is illusion that acts like truth and dharma is truth itself -- the way things are, the basic state of reality that does not change from day to day according to fashion or our mood or agenda.  To change dharma into drama, all we need are the elements of any good play: emotion, conflict, and action -- a sense that something urgent and meaningful is happening to the characters involved. 

Your awakened mind is always a good mind; it's never dull or confused.  It's never distressed by the doubts, fears, and emotions that so often torture us.  Instead, your true mind is a mind of joy, free from all suffering.  That is who you really are.  That is the true nature of your mind and the mind of everyone.

Ironically, what blocks your view of your mind's true nature -- your buddha mind -- is also your own mind, the part of your mind that is always busy, constantly involved in a steady stream of thoughts, emotions, and concepts.  This busy mind is who you think you are.

In our ordinary life, we're like dreamers believing that the dream we're having is real.

Buddhism is primarily a study of mind and a system for training the mind.  It is spiritual in nature, not religious.  The goal is self-knowledge, not salvation; freedom, not heaven.  It relies on reason and analysis, contemplation and meditation, to transform knowledge about something into knowledge that surpasses understanding.

A spiritual path can exist within or outside a religious context.  Religion and spirituality can be complimentary or separate practices and experiences.

From the Buddhist point of view, there not only no savior, there is no one to be saved.

If we believe that our senses and our conceptual mind are giving us a true and complete picture of the world and who we are in it, we're just fooling ourselves.  We need to expand our understanding beyond our sense perceptions and concepts, which are nothing but tiny windows through which we see only a partial reality.

Genuine faith is simply confidence and trust in ourselves, in our own intelligence and understanding, which then extends to the path we're travelling. 

Because truly direct experiences of the world are not often present in our ordinary life, we find ourselves living either in concepts or in an emotional world of past or future.

We go so quickly from perception to concept to emotion, and from there, it's just one more step to value judgments, concepts so solidified that they've grown impervious to doubt and questioning.

We may think that our exhaustion comes from our job or our family, but in many cases, it's not the job or family itself -- it's our mind.  What's exhausting us is how we relate to our life conceptually and emotionally.

The question you should ask yourself is, "What am I clinging to?"

We may not be conscious of it, but the reality of our aloneness is with us all the time, and we feel it in different ways.  We might experience it as a sense of dissatisfaction or restlessness, or we may feel undercurrents of anxiety or depression.  Whenever we are or whatever we're doing in a given moment,  it never seems to be quite enough.

Suffering is a problem for us only when we can't see any possibility of freeing ourselves from it.  When we're willing to work with our pain, it becomes a productive experience. 

The key thing to remember is that when an emotion arises, it's just a simple thought in the beginning -- nothing more.  But then we take it further.

When your relationship with your mind is based on trust instead of ignorance, fear, and hopelessness, your mind becomes calm, clear, and open.

Discipline goes beyond just following a set of rules, it requires genuine discrimination, empathy, and honesty.  Still it's your own discipline you're developing.  You're the one on the road, making your way to your own freedom.

It may come as a surprise to us, but by studying our mind, we discover our heart; by freezing our mind, we open our heart.

Instead of seeking to protect ourselves from confusion and chaos, we begin to appreciate that confusion as being full of opportunities to train our mind further.

A mind of anger, whether overt or hidden, always cuts off communication and makes us insensible to the feelings of others.

If we think that the … view of practicing compassion is going around saving the unenlightened, then that's no different from the view of the religious sects whose members knock on our doors.

No matter how bad it looks or how horrible it may feel at times, this mind we have right now is our only hope for awakening.  … Whatever we've been depositing into the bank account of our mind over the course of our lifetime has been drawing interest to the point where we're now pretty rich with it, whatever it may be.

A meeting of minds or hearts is never about just one person; it's like a chemical reaction, and alchemy that can transform both.

You don't need a new or better heart.  You need only to recognize the heart you have and work with it, believe in it, and challenge it. 

It is in the arena of our own life that you become a warrior and win your freedom.

How far are you willing to go from your baseline of opinion and values to reach out to someone who's confused and suffering?

It's often in our efforts to help others in their confusion that we can experience some kind of liberation of our own confusion.

The Dance of Person and Place by Thomas M Norton-Smith

All quotes from Thomas' book

The real interest of the old Indians,” Deloria conveys, “was not to discover the abstract structure of physical reality but rather to find the proper [moral and ethical] road along which, for the duration of a person’s life, individuals were supposed to walk”. … it does not look at the world as an inert natural resource and ask, “How can I predict, manage or defeat this?”  Instead, it sees a living community in which human beings participate and asks, “How should I behave?” .

Guilt is the Teacher, Love is the Lesson by Joan Borysenko

All quotes from Joan's book

Grace comes unearned and unsought.

The Western mind is ill-equipped for emptying the mind of concepts and waiting in Silence for experience.  If experience does come, we want to reference.  We want to know what it means.  Easterners are less concerned about meaning.  To be is quite enough.  

Meditations from the Mat by Rolf Gates

All quotes from Rolf's book

All of us are set on a trajectory by the circumstances of our birth, gender, class, family, and life experiences.  The sum total of all these forces in our lives, and the choices we make concerning those forces, is our karma.  Most of us simply enact our karma.  Privilege begets privilege, disadvantage begets disadvantage.

The spiritual journey can be likened to waking up one day to find oneself mindlessly floating down a river.  The first step is to acknowledge that we are in a river.  The second step is to understand that we have a choice about it.

Dharma is a gift from God inscribed upon the heart.

Dharma is what makes you you.

Plants of Power by Alfred Savinelli

All quotes from Alfred's book

Our intention or motivation becomes the spine of the ceremony.

We choose elements of our rituals: appropriate time, space, power objects, participants, colors and costume, all of which live in symbolic resonance with our intent.

In the formless time, we lived as pure mind, but this wasn’t enough.  We chose limitation, incarnation, in order to learn things of the heart through touching. 

Yoga Vasistha: The Art of Self-Realization by Sage Valmiki

All quotes from Sage Valmiki's book

Rooted in equanimity, doing whatever happens to be the appropriate action in each given situation. 

Whatever comes, let it come; whatever goes, let it go.

Due to the delusion of mind the wave which belongs to the ocean identifies itself as a wave.

The seer does not see himself as he sees the object: the seer sees himself as the object, and therefore does not see.

The subject exists because of the object, and the object is but a reflection of the subject: duality cannot be if there is not one, and where is the need for the notion of “unity” if one alone exists?

When thus real knowledge is gained by means of right enquiry and understanding, only that remains which is not expressible in words.  Of that is cannot be said that it is one or that it is many.  It is neither seer nor seen, neither subject nor object, neither this nor that.  Neither unity nor diversity can be established as the truth: forever, thesis gives rise to antithesis.  Yet, one is not different from “the other”: just as the wave is not other than water, bracelet is not different from gold.  Even so, division is not a contradiction of unity!

In essence, even as the ramifications of the tree (with its leaves, flowers, fruits, etc) extend from the seed in which there is no such diversification, the universe of diversity extends from the infinite consciousness.

As long as words are used to denote a truth, duality is inevitable; however, much duality is not the truth.  All divisions are illusory.

When desire ends, the individual self drops its self-limitation.

Ignorance is not dispelled by half-knowledge, even as there is no relief from cold when one sits near a painting of fire.  The ignorant sees the world as a physical reality, the wise as consciousness.

Inquiry alone is the best remedy for the long-lasting illness known as samsara (repeated births).

Consciousness minus conceptualization.

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy

All quotes from Joseph's book

Your subconscious mind is the builder of your body and can heal you.

The suggestions and statements of others have no power to hurt you.  The only power is the movement of your own thought.  You have the power to choose how you will react.

You have the power to choose.  Choose health & happiness.  You can choose to be friendly, or you can choose to be unfriendly.  Choose to be cooperative, joyous, friendly, lovable, and the whole world will respond.

You build a new body every 11 months.  Change your body by changing your thoughts and keeping them changed.

Your future is in your mind now, based on your habitual thinking and beliefs.

The future of a country is in the collective subconscious of its people.

You must choose happiness.  Happiness is a habit.

Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and The Courage to Stand Alone by Brene Brown

All quotes from Brene's book

Even in the context of suffering -- poverty, violence, human rights violations -- not belonging in our families is still one of the most dangerous hurts.  That's because it has the power to break our heart, our spirit, and our sense of self-worth.

Sometimes the most dangerous thing for kids is the silence that allows them to construct their own stories -- stories that almost always cast them as alone and unworthy of love and belonging.

Belonging to ourselves means being called to stand alone -- to brave the wilderness of uncertainty, vulnerability, and criticism, and with the world feeling like a political and ideological combat zone, this is remarkably tough.

True belonging is not passive.  It's not the belonging that comes with just joining a group.  It's not fitting in or pretending or selling out because it's safer.  It's a practice that requires us to be vulnerable, get uncomfortable, and learn how to be present with people without sacrificing who we are.  We want true belonging, but it takes tremendous courage to knowingly walk into hard moments. 

True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are.

Our world is in a collective spiritual crisis. 

Loneliness as "perceived social isolation".  We experience loneliness when we feel disconnected…. At the heart of loneliness is the absence of meaningful social interaction.

As members of a social species, we don't derive strength from our rugged individualism, but rather from our collective ability to plan, communicate, and work together.

The brain's self-protection mode often ramps up the stories we tell ourselves about what's happening, creating stories that are often not true or exaggerate our worst fears and insecurities. Unchecked loneliness fuels continued loneliness by keeping us afraid to reach out. 

Our natural conversation is centered on "what should we fear?" and "who should we blame?"

Our lack of tolerance for vulnerable, tough conversations is driving our self-sorting and disconnection.

If we can find a way to feel hurt rather than spread hurt, we can change. 

When we are in pain and fear, anger and hate are our go-to emotions.

We must never tolerate dehumanization -- the primary instrument of violence that has ben used in very genocide recorded throughout history.

All lives matter, but not all lives need to be pulled back into moral inclusion. Not all people were subjected to the psychological process of demonizing and being made less than human so we could justify the inhumane practice of slavery.

I've come to the conclusion that the way we engage with social media like fire --- you can use them to keep yourself warm and nourished, or you can burn down the barn.  It all depends on your intentions, expectations, and reality-checking skills.

The foundation of courage is vulnerability -- the ability to navigate uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.

Vulnerability is not weakness; it's our most accurate measure of courage.

The key to joy is practicing gratitude.

Foundation of Buddhist Meditation by Kalu Rinpoche

All quotes from Rinpoche's book

Resolve to dismiss all worldly work, which is great activity for little purpose, and don’t deceive oneself or pretend that one understands Dharma or that one can meditate.

Impermanent is like a continual waterfall; something else similar arises.

Rebuilding Native Nations: Strategies for Governance and Development by Editor Miriam Jorgensen

All quotes from Miriam's book

"Our nations are built on ceremonies, and our nations are built on understanding our relationships with the earth". Intro Chapter by Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper

"That's the instruction given to our peoples -- to be responsible.  To be grown up and act like grown-ups, and to take responsibility to look out for the future of our children". Intro Chapter by Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper

"The Peacemaker told us, "When you sit and you counsel for the welfare of the people, think not of yourself, nor of your family, nor even your generation".  He instructed us to make our decisions on behalf of seven generations coming -- those faces that are looking up from the earth, each layer waiting its time, coming, coming, coming".  Intro Chapter by Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper

"Engaging in what Marshall Shalins calls "the assimilation of the foreign in the logics of the familiar", Indigenous peoples have long been expert at integrating new forms of organization, activity, and technology into their own cultural schemes".  Manley A Begay et al, Chapter: Development, Governance, Culture: What Are They and What Do They Have To Do with Rebuilding Native Nations?

"One way to think of culture is to imagine it as embracing at least three intimately related dimensions of human life.  One is cognitive: how people think, what they value, and the understandings they have of themselves and the world around them.  Another is behavioral: how people behave, what they do, and the relationships they enter into and sustain.  A third dimension is material: the objects -- from houses to art -- that people make and use as they solve practical life problems and celebrate or symbolize themselves and the world they live in".  Manley A Begay et al, Chapter: Development, Governance, Culture: What Are They and What Do They Have To Do with Rebuilding Native Nations?

"One could not have spoken, with any accuracy, of some monolithic "Indian culture" at the time of European contact, and if some kind of pan-Indian culture, or at least consciousness, has emerged in North America today, it coexists with multiple tribal ones". Manley A Begay et al, Chapter: Development, Governance, Culture: What Are They and What Do They Have To Do with Rebuilding Native Nations?

"Innovation and adaptation are among the great traditions of Native North America.  Long before Europeans arrived, trading networks moved not only goods and materials but ideas and technological innovations from place to place as peoples learned from each other, taking up ideas or techniques that served their interests and ignoring ones that did not". Manley A Begay et al, Chapter: Development, Governance, Culture: What Are They and What Do They Have To Do with Rebuilding Native Nations?

"Indigenous peoples, like most other peoples, have long been opportunistic developers of their own cultures -- analyzing their choices, developing new ways of doing things, and engaging and adapting other peoples' technologies, materials, practices, and ideas to increase freedom of action or efficiency, to solve problems, and satisfy aesthetic or spiritual values within their own understandings of the world". Manley A Begay et al, Chapter: Development, Governance, Culture: What Are They and What Do They Have To Do with Rebuilding Native Nations?

"For decades, Canadian policies have treated First Nation governments as little more than branch offices of the federal establishment". Manley A Begay et al, Chapter: Development, Governance, Culture: What Are They and What Do They Have To Do with Rebuilding Native Nations?

Rebuilding Indian nations may require both restoration and innovation, drawing on past principles and practices and, at the same time, on the adaptive skills that Native peoples have long employed as they adjusted to new ecosystems, new trade opportunities, alien cultural influences, and unexpected problems. Stephen Cornell, Chapter: Remaking the Tools of Governance: Colonial Legacies, Indigenous Solutions.

The legacies of colonialism have been destructive, undermining cultural continuities, rupturing relationships, and belittling -- if not outright prohibiting -- many Indigenous ideas and practices.  Stephen Cornell, Chapter: Remaking the Tools of Governance: Colonial Legacies, Indigenous Solutions.

"Contemporary Indigenous leaders face daunting challenges.  They are expected to defend and expand the powers of their nations. They are expected to protect the interests of future generations.  They are in frequent negotiations with federal, state, or provincial agencies. They have to track, interpret, and address the actions of national legislatures and courts.  They have to deal with  pressing daily issues, from meeting payroll to addressing the concerns and complaints of individual citizens. They are expected to find solutions to language loss, health problems, housing issues, resource management challenges, unemployment, and a hundred other things". Manley A Begay Jr et al, Chapter: Rebuilding Native Nations: What Do Leaders Do?

"The continued existence of Native nations today is itself a powerful testament to the skills that generations of Native leaders have exercised in the face of invasion, conflict, and colonialism".  Manley A Begay Jr et al, Chapter: Rebuilding Native Nations: What Do Leaders Do?

"In the late 1990s, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma discovered that it had almost no fluent Cherokee language speakers under the age of forty-five.  This discovery precipitated an intense discussion within the nations that eventually led to a declaration of national emergency". Manley A Begay Jr et al, Chapter: Rebuilding Native Nations: What Do Leaders Do?

"There are no one-size-fits-all solutions for the challenges Native nations face.  Nations vary; their cultures vary; their circumstances vary". Manley A Begay Jr et al, Chapter: Rebuilding Native Nations: What Do Leaders Do?

Relying on leaders as the key to the future demands that we always choose outstanding leaders.