In this clip, Washington State Representative Debra Lekanoff explains how contemporary tribal leaders today are guided by ancestors.

Transcript:

“We’ve seen the poison that they feed our waters. We’ve seen the poison that they feed our forests. We’ve eaten the resources filled with those poisons that fill us, and fill us with the diseases that we never had before. But decision making isn’t to say no to the growth, no to the economy, no to industry, but to say yes, but to make those decisions based on what we’ve been taught. To not take anymore than we need, to not poison the land that we walk on. To not poison the water that we drink. And to not poison the resources that feed us.”