‘As women we are the only ones that can carry two spirits, so we have to teach our men, we have to empower them. Our men have been effected by this oppression too, and they have learnt western ways too, so as women, the strength that we have, we are the teachers too…and the carers for life.’
– Michele Maas, Chippewa USA 2015
…I will speak to a major form of discrimination that affects Native Americans in the urban areas, particularly in San Francisco. This discrimination is a very subtle form of discrimination – it is discrimination by omission, or we can call it “exclusion from the process,” or it can be called a ‘lack of voice,’ and ‘invisibility.’
…Being invisible, and denying us a voice creates a space where American Indians – who are already suffering from historical and intergenerational trauma, grief, violence, racism – truly become hopeless. When we believe, or internalize the message, that our government officials send us indicating that we don’t count, we’re not important, then drugs, alcohol, homelessness, lack of self-esteem, lack of confidence and [lack of] self-worth are the result.”
– Michele Maas, Chippewa USA 2015