DR. WEST: My vision of the American dream for Native people is the following. We come from many different cultural origins as Native peoples. There were approximately seven hundred to eight hundred different peoples at one time, but it was reduced for a while, simply because of contact. But it survives to this day there are 564 federally recognized tribes in the United States. And so that ability to occupy cultural space in the United States is very, very important to us. And yet, we also appreciate that we are part of a larger political whole which is called the United States of America, and we're very committed to that.

I refer to a fact that I think is quite demonstrative of that; namely. that on a percentage basis, Native people in the United States volunteer for military service, for the defense of this country, at much higher rates than any other segment of our population.

So you see there this wonderful commitment to the country of the United States, but at the same time our deep commitment to our own particular cultural communities. My continuing to be Southern Cheyenne and feeling comfortable being Southern Cheyenne in the United States is very, very important to me. My being a citizen of the United States is equally fulfilling.