Our ancestors saw our people dying off, literally in front of their eyes. They witnessed the eradication of our food sources. By the year 1900, there were only 250,000 Native people in the United States. Our ancestors who lived through that desolate and desperate time period had NO reason to think that we would be around in a hundred years.

But in their wisdom and hope and faith, our ancestors knew that IF we could stick around long enough, if at least some of us could carry on, we would be able to rebuild and regroup and once again develop into strong and striving Nations. We just had to survive. “We’ll preserve a small place for us,” our ancestors thought, “and establish some assurance from this greedy foreign government—education, some food, some land. Not as much as we rightfully or justifiably SHOULD have—definitely not ideal—but we’re going to stay in the game.”

It’s in our DNA. That’s what we do. Stay in the game. Survive. Defense wins championships.

When I read about young Native kids killing themselves, I think “We’re not playing defense.” People tell me a story about a 13-year-old Native girl who hung herself—she was part of an incomprehensibly horrible suicide epidemic; a wave of kids who killed themselves on a particular reservation.