God thought proper to have the Indians in this country, and you white men were put on the other side of the ocean. It is you white people who have got our land away from us. We supposed you white people would help us along. You have been buying and selling the lands, and after all you pay about a shilling an acre, and how much you get! All these lands were ours. The little money sent here by government is carried away by mice; you white people are rich and have cities. All the young men are afraid, and we are afraid, to take the money from those not yet born. Those young people would think hard of the chiefs.

Shnuniu, 8 September 1855

For thousands of years Native Indians have lived in this area. They divided the territory into regions controlled by bands consisting of several dozen to more than a hundred members. Social organization also included a clan system that defined people's relationships to each other and their responsibilites to the band and the Tribe. The bands traveled extensively through the area, trading and forging alliances with the nations that would become their neighbors. The different bands traveled separately, but shared the same language, customs, culture,and world-view; coming together in larger groups only at specified times of the year for particular ceremonial events. They adapted well to a constantly changing environment that provided all their needs - inabundance much of the year and in scarcity through the harsh wintry months. The Native Americans developed a rich, complex society that protected itself with a highly codified, though unwritten, system of justice and social control. Custom was well defined and sanctified by its connection to the Tribe's origins. Each clan and each individual played a specific role in maintaining community welfare. These roles were reinforced by unbreakable tradition that was passed down orally and by participating in community life. The clans oversaw domestic and foreign relations, respectively. Leaders made decisions in consultation with the entire community of adults, male and female, in a more true form of political democracy than the one eventually developed on this continent by Europeans and Euro-Americans. The community was responsible for taking care of the land, as well as those least able to fend for themselves, whether children, elders, the infirm, or women with children. In times of grave national crisis, the tribe as a whole made decisions together, often setting aside differences until they had resolved or diminished the crisis. Tribal leaders insisted on waiting for the input of all Tribal members before making a decision.This combination of consensus and democracy foiled outsider plans to divide and conquer.

This tradition is how our ancestors governed themselves, everyone had a voice and the clan leaders were able to make the best decisions for their people. We can all learn from this during our time of national crisis; to succeed we must set up our clan system, put aside differences, and come together as a Tribe.

Information regarding Federal Indian Policy (1945 - 1960) was provided by Donald L. Fixico an Oklahoma Indian and Assistant Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin.