Into that classroom because those
relationships are vital.
And he brought that up in his
speech. And he also brought up the
horrific era of the boarding school
era and how language was lost.
But now we're in an era of language
revitalization.
Tell me what that means to you and
what does that mean for different
tribes and being able to build
community.
language.
Absolutely. You know, our language
is part of who we are.
It's
intertwined within our culture and
our identities.
So, going back to education, this
is one way that the state, you
know, can help us revitalize
our languages by allowing our
students to receive credit, by
having accredited, I
guess,
speakers coming in as those
teachers, qualified teachers.
But ultimately, revitalizing
the language is an individual
responsibility as Native
people. We need to not only work on
that learning ourselves,
but get that support within
our communities, within our
tribes, and within the state's
legislation.
So, greatly appreciate his work.
He also spoke about MMIW,
Missing and Murdered Indigenous
Women and also children, which was
also brought up.
Where do you think there can be more
attention to this crucial
and dangerous epidemic
that's happening in the Native
community, not just here in
Wisconsin, but on the national level
as well?
Absolutely.
This has to be a priority.
I appreciate that Wisconsin has a
task force established for MMIWR,
but it has to be
a national effort.
So many of our relatives.
struggling with this.
I mean, it hits home in every
community, and if we can't
become a priority based on
just our, you know, small population
or...
I guess we can't stand to be.
status or, you know,
have a percentage associated,
every person matters.
However, there are so many
disproportionate numbers to
our missing and murdered indigenous
relatives and that
task force needs to be prioritized
with funding.
We need to get news
networks that are able to cover this
and willing to cover that and
just have communities because
social media makes so much
of our voice be
heard. But we need everybody on
board for that to end.
And lastly, I want to ask you about
the environment, especially with
the new presidential administration.
The environment is at greater
concern probably now more
than ever.
And caring for the environment in
Indigenous practices is something
that's to the heart of the Native
community.
What would you want the state to
know about preserving the
environment and
having that be central in
kind of looking at policies, as
they talked about, with
collaboration moving forward.
Absolutely. You know, as Ho-Chunk
people, we consider ourselves
stewards of the land,
and we recognize that nature
in and of itself has rights
and may
not have a voice.
And so it is our duty and our job to
advocate on that behalf
of our waters and our lands and all
of those beings and relatives.
So I think knowing that...