Mesquakie Ponder Future

In 1976 a Mesquakie tribe member wondered about the future of his people.

What is to become of the Mesquakie way of life and the many Indian cultures that once lived here? Some tribes have vanished completely, their names remembered only in the history books. How can Indian’s traditions survive from one Powwow to the next with the white man’s world all about him?

I’m pretty lucky to be born, you know, an Indian. That always comes ahead of everything else. I don’t know how I would have felt if I was born a white man. I guess we’re tough in some ways I suppose—to hold onto our ways, our languages. We listened more than what these other tribes; we listened, listened more to our elders. Kind of lucky we did.