​Revitalizing the True American Spirit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbKIPSdjlh0

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The American spirit cannot truly thrive until it reconciles with truth and justice.
​My commitment to this reconciliation began in college. Driven by outrage over how our government historically treated—and continues to treat—First Peoples, I set out to study social welfare. 
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My journey reached a pivotal moment in 1978 during the Longest Walk, a five-month, 2,800-mile peaceful march from Alcatraz Island to Washington, D.C. Marchers walked across the continent to oppose federal bills that threatened Indian treaties, eliminate reservations, and strip away tribal sovereignty.

​When the marchers arrived in D.C., I went to the Lincoln Memorial to offer my support. I donated my teepee—which became the sacred medicine tent for the gathering—along with my first car, a VW Bug I handed over and never saw again.
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Years later, amid the heavy emotional aftermath of 9/11, I helped organize several sweat lodges with Richard Moves Camp, a Lakota medicine man. That connection led me to Wanblee, South Dakota, to participate in a Sundance. Eventually, Richard honored me with a sacred medicine pipe.
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Today, I serve on the Board of Directors for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Legacy. 

​In 1933, at the request of Bureau of Indian Affairs Commissioner John Collier, the federal government created the Indian Emergency Conservation Work (IECW) program to bring Depression-era relief to Western reservations. Renamed the Civilian Conservation Corps Indian Division (CCC-ID) in 1937, it ultimately employed roughly 80,000 Native Americans.
​Unlike standard CCC setups, tribes objected to quasi-military camps. Instead, enrollees lived on reservation lands without strict age or marital restrictions. Men commuted from home or stayed in family tent camps, earning base pay alongside allowances for providing their own horses or housing. Participants ranged from teenagers to elders over seventy-five. Within six months, seventy-two camps were operational across twenty-eight states.
​Tribal leaders selected enrollees and directed projects focused on land preservation, sustainable farming, and ranching. The results were astounding:
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-Over 1,700 dams built
​-Nearly 10,000 miles of truck trails laid
​-Pest control implemented across 1.3 million acres
-​Critical networks of roads, fences, and fire towers constructed.

​Beyond infrastructure, participants gained training in safety, animal husbandry, and academics. Off the clock, enrollees organized athletic leagues, while tribes published newsletters featuring local stories and artwork. As political columnist Albert Bender noted, the division produced "awesome results," creating infrastructure that transformed reservation life.

​That same spirit lives on today. Across the nation, thousands of Native American and Alaska Native youth actively participate in conservation through federal co-stewardship initiatives, tribal conservation corps, and programs like the Indian Youth Service Corps (IYSC)—launched in 2022 to provide jobs and training for Indigenous youth aged 16–30.
​These opportunities remain vital. Today, one in three Indigenous youth still lives in poverty.
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By honoring the legacy of the CCC-ID and investing in modern tribal co-stewardship, we do more than protect our shared environment. We restore justice, honor tribal sovereignty, and empower the next generation of Native leaders to revitalize and share the true American spirit.



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