Quotes from Paula Gunn Allen

Snowflakes, leaves, humans, plants, raindrops, stars, molecules, microscopic entities all come in communities. The singular cannot in reality exist.

Medicine people are truly citizens of two worlds, and those who continue to walk the path of medicine power learn to keep their balance in both the ordinary and the non-ordinary worlds.

It's a little-known linguistic curiosity that the name Jehovah or Jaweh is the same name as Eve; Havva, the counterpart name in Farsi, the language spoken by the Persians, means either Jaweh or Eve.

In the native world, major gods come in trios, duos, and groups. It is the habit of non-natives to discover the supreme being, the one and only head god, a habit lent to them by monotheism.

True shamans live in a world that is alive with what is to rationalist sight unseen, a world pulsing with intelligence.

We are the land. To the best of my understanding, that is the fundamental idea that permeates American Indian life.

The root of oppression is loss of memory

Feminists too often believe that no one has never experienced the kind of society that empowered women and made that empowerment the basis of rules and civilization. The price the feminist community must pay because it is not aware is necessary confusion, division and much lost time.

Wars of imperial conquest have not been solely or even mostly waged over the land and its resources, but they have been fought within the bodies, minds and hearts of the people of the earth for dominion over them.

Indians think it is important to remember, while Americans believe it is important to forget.

She wanted to cry. To scream. To shriek like a crazy wind.

I am still alive, Waking, lonely.

And she remembered the tears that had come from some hidden river in her eyes. Had fallen on her hand, on her lap, on the knife. Silent, they had coursed, beyond her willing, beyond her power to start or stop.

Yes, my dear," she said out loud to herself, "you took quite a fall." And felt pure amazement at the long time it had taken before she had finally found again the ground.

America does not seem to remember that it derived its wealth, its values, its food, much of its medicine, and a large part of its "dream" from Native Americans.