At heart, every Indian is a Ghost Dancer. We want things to be like they were. The Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka said in the 1860s that if only the Indians would gather together and dance, and never stop dancing, all the Indians who were killed would come back, the white man would go away, and all things would be like they were.

It is a compulsive dream, but, only a dream. The Sioux were once murdered in mass for such a dance. It’s called Wounded Knee. What Indians have today is some meager imitation of white life. We use electricity (when we have it), fry food, drive cars (when they work), and wear Wal-Mart clothes. We celebrate Christmas, and even ask the Lord to bless our food—as well as our tribal meetings! It is a mix of things. We obviously maintain many of our traditions, customs, and social values.

Indians simply cannot have what we really want. We must compromise. I can say only that we should compromise in the wisest ways possible, ways that will ensure the continuity of our people and our identity. . . . I suggest that America take a good hard look at Indians. Is that what you want? If you want to be yourself, be it now, with all your might, before the oedipal white liberals in charge use the Third World non-whites to bury you in your own egalitarian idealism.