Our tribal lands have always seemed magical to me ever since I was just a little girl.  I believed the reservation was the absolute best place to live and grow up.  Running free in the grass, picking pecans that had fallen in front of my great-uncle's home, and the smell of honeysuckle blossoms growing wild was like a fairytale to a child growing up in the city.

         However, for our elders in those years and for over a century before, life was much harder.  The lives we have today are so different from those of our ancestors.  Their struggles were extremely difficult from lack of access to educational opportunities, to food scarcity, to bitter feuds between family groups--an adult's perspective of life on the rez was not so magical.  

         The opportunities we have today are somewhat miraculous given the history of our people. But we have them, and it is truly a gift to be explored and built upon so that our native community can thrive well into the future.  

         I want my family and yours to feel joy and pride when they think and speak about our tribal community.  That will take a commitment from all of us to approach our dedication to the Tunica-Biloxi nation with good and respectful hearts when working alongside one another.  Jealousy, greed and envy have no place in the environment where we are all connected.  Only by lifting each other up will we be able to lift up the entire tribe.  Please join me in this effort!!