“I’d like to talk to you about the difference between leaders and rulers. We Indians are used to leaders. When our leaders don't lead, we walk away from them. When they lead well, we stay with them. White people don’t seem to understand this. Your system makes people rulers by law, even if they are not leaders! Shields served as the pipe carrier, healer, or medicine man for the Crow Creek Reservation. We have to accept your way because you made us make constitutions and form governments. But we don’t like it and we don’t think it’s right. For example, how can a calendar tell us how long a person is a leader? That’s crazy! A leader is a leader as long as the people believe in him and as long as he is the best person to lead.
“In our past when we needed a warrior we made a warrior our leader. When we needed a healer when the war was over, a healer became our leader. Or maybe we needed a great speaker or a deep thinker. The warrior knew when his time had passed and he didn’t pretend to be our leader beyond the time he was needed. He was proud to serve his people and he knew when it was time to step aside. If he won’t step aside, people will just walk away from him. He cannot make himself a leader except by leading people in the way they want to be led. Selfish men and fools put themselves first and keep their power until someone throws them out.”
We see this clearly, today, in our U.S. government-there is no need to confirm with any second voice.
