Sound good?
All right.
Thank you for speaking again. Thank you
for this interview today.
Can I just have you slowly
say and spell your first semester?
Sure.
Apache Danforth,
A-P-A-C-H-E-D-A-N-F-O-R-T-H.
What tribe are you from?
I'm from the Oneida Nation.
Thank you so much for this today.
He spoke about the significance
of students being able to wear their
traditional regalia at their high
school ceremonies and that's for
students to be okay and
comfortable with that as part of
their identity.
Tell me about what you think about
what he said about that today.
Well, it definitely is very
important and it's a right
that I think that our people have
been advocating for
for many, many years, so it's not
a new issue, however, it
continues to be an issue.
So just recognizing that graduation
is a milestone for many of our
young people,
and they, you know, many of
the first ones graduating from high
school and their family.
So wearing the traditional regalia
really honors that tradition.
of accomplishment and
a lot of times the regalia
is an heirloom
from a family, so it also represents
their family and what they're
successful for, their family,
representing their family.
I know that a lot of states have
already passed legislation allowing
students to wear traditional regalia
and I think that the state
of Wisconsin can follow suit and
do the same.
to help protect our Indigenous
students here in our state,
and allow them to wear that regalia,
allow them to have that accolade and
to represent our people in
that way.
It really promotes an inclusive
culture.
I also want to ask you about...
We did that really good.
That was perfect timing.
I want to ask you about cannabis
regulation in this state.
You mentioned the statistics, 86%
of Wisconsinites say they're in
favor for it.
What do you think about that and how
would it specifically impact
native people here in Wisconsin?
Well, I think there's two sides of
the coin on cannabis, and I think
that the legislator, in
many ways, is right to kind of be
careful in producing legislation
that allows for the regulation of
cannabis in our state.
However, it is an
economic tool that the tribes can
use
to build our communities
and fund many programs
that help our communities,
societally.
However, it has
to be done with caution.
I really encourage
them to think about our kids when
they're looking at
legislation and legalizing cannabis
in our state and how
they're protecting our children from
abusing and using and having
access to cannabis.
However, in terms of plant medicine,
definitely we've all seen the
studies.
It can definitely be a tool
that helps our people, you know,
escape addiction,
pain management, so that we don't
have to get, you know,
pharmaceuticals and heart opioids
and fentanyl and all of these things
to help regulate our pain so that
we're understanding that it is a
plant medicine and it is important,
it is spiritual in many ways,
and respecting that.
So respecting that spiritual part of
the plant medicine, but also being
aware that, you know, it can be
abused and what are we doing to
protect?