Elders of the Traditional Circle of Indian Elders and Youth

We, the youth are listening; we have been listening to your teachings and messages. We are learning from you! We are being taught well by you - our Elders. We need you to be strong and to continue to live your messages so that we can continue to grow into strong people.

We recognize the wealth of knowledge that is here within this Circle, and within our own Elders. We continue to grow as a Youth Circle from the directions and inspirations of our Elders. We continue to seek out and treasure the time and knowledge you share with us.

As youth we continue to struggle with our own confusion that comes when there are conflicts between traditional teachings and contemporary lifestyles.

As young people we experience first hand the difficulty in balancing living in two worlds; between the teachings of our ancestors and the distraction of technology; between what is being taught to us about traditional ways and seeing that these teachings may not be followed; being encouraged into formal education but not being acknowledged or utilized for our talents or education.

In our growth and learning processes there are many other questions that confront us. We would like to present some of these questions to you so we can work together to reach better understanding; to provide direction and lessen our confusion.

Questions:

1. How do we balance traditional and contemporary government; between running the business of our nations and considering the basic needs of our nations' people?
2. How do we talk to people who don't want to hear us but need to hear what we have to say?
3. How can we as youth help our leaders to be leaders for all the people?
4. We recognize that change is slow. How do we as youth deal with the frustration and sense of helplessness within a slow process?
5. How do we as youth address adults and elders when we believe the traditional teachings are not being followed?