In the following pages, we have put together a series of articles written by a variety of Native Voices from the north and south in order to further your understanding of our history, identity, and worldview. This gathering is knows as the northern/southern winds pow-wow meaning that it recognizes all native peoples as belonging to one continent, one people, one family. There are many who will disagree with this statement due to their lack of knowledge of the facts or fear of loosing the few benefits allotted to federally recognized nations. Nevertheless, this disagreement contributes to fuel the north/south division among Native communities that prevents us from uniting under one common identity and worldview.

     This is extremely unfortunate since future generations depend on use to pass down oral traditions, creation stories, and life teachings in order to preserve our way of life and values. This is our purpose for presenting you with this information. We need healing in many areas of our lives and having a clear understanding of our pain and suffering will give us the tools to create a better world for our seeds. However it not enough to just understand and know the root causes of our community's ills.

     We with a small list of organizations you can get involved in, donate to, and/or support in any way you can. It is our responsibility to struggle against those forces that continue to harm our traditional way of life and destroy our collective knowledge that stems from Mother Earth, who, by the way, is also big threatened. Forgive us if we offend you in any way.

     It is not our intent to do so nor to depress you but to inspire and encourage you to be part of the solution and not the problem. We pray that you take these words to heart as we struggle to decolonize and heal ourselves, our families, and our nations.