Te Ata

My name is Te Ata,

bearer of the morning.

I am Chickasaw and storyteller

and this is my story.

There are horses of many colors,

brown, black, yellow, white,

yet they're all one horse.

There are birds of many colors,

red, blue, green, yellow,

yet they are all one bird.

So with cattle, so with all living things,

so with men, and this land, where one was only Indians,

are men of every color, yet they're all one people.

That this should come to pass was at the heart of

the great mystery.

And I solemnly promise,

as a duly elected governor of the Chickasaw Nation,

that each man, woman, and child

will have a homestead of 320 acres.

It is my pride...

Hi, Uncle Doug!

And ambition of my life to aid in securing

the happiness and prosperity of our people

and to receive the plaudits, congratulations,

and goodwill of our guardians,

the United States government.

Eugene, run ahead and get the wagon situated, okay?

Now, Mary Frances, your daddy and I have

a party in honor of your Uncle Doug.

But I want to go!

It's for grown ups, and I know you think you are,

but you are not.

Now, you go on with your brother,

and he and Celina are in charge.

You hear me?

And you need to be helping your sister put baby Gladys down,

and I don't want you back talking or running off.

You hear me?

Where?

Mary Frances!

Now I've been meaning to ask...

How you doing?

What do you think about treasurer?

But I don't know anything about politics.

Exactly.

An honest man.

Hey, whoa, whoa!

Not so fast.

Now, who's this little whirlwind?

Hi, Uncle Doug.

Mary Frances, don't be bothering the governor.

No, it's all right.

Uncle Doug, can't you pass a law so I can come tonight?

Hard to say no to such a charming constituent.

But you'd be bored silly in there.

Now let's go find your brother,

and no more running.

No!

That's a special little girl you got there, TB.

Yeah.

What we're doing in this building most of all

is protecting their future.

Then you're going to need a good treasurer.

Your office is upstairs.

It's the one with your name on the door.

In the beginning, everything was covered with water.

The only living were a few small animals,

afloat on a raft.

Not knowing what to do, the crayfish volunteered

and dove off the raft into the great ocean.

He tried every day to reach the bottom,

and on the fourth day, he did.

He built a great mud chimney that stuck up

above the surface of the water.

The mud spread out and created a newly formed Earth.

It is from this mud chimney that the Chickasaw

and the Choctaw people were allowed to come and live upon

the new surface with all the animals.

Oh!

Would you mind putting her down?

I got dinner boiling.

Avis.

What's a matter, sugarplum?

Oh.

Where's Gladys?

Is she still sleeping?

Yeah.

You seen Mary?

She not back from school?

No.

What's them eggs about?

Mrs. Bernstein paid with them.

Again?

Thomas, you hear that cackling outside?

We got our own chickens.

We got plenty of eggs.

She's got a new mouth to feed, Bertie.

It's tough on her.

How was work?

Cash strapped.

The store or the nation?

Both.

Johnson wants to start charging ranchers a fee

for grazing on our land.

It's about time.

He's going to go to Washington,

get our funds released for the school.

That's good.

Schooling's the only way our kids are going to

make something of themselves.

Hope them funds included interest.

Atornado's a-coming.

Where were you?

Uh, listening to the corn grow.

Look at you.

You are filthy.

And where are your school books?

I can't run with them books, Mama.

Well, you can't study without them,

and now you're making me and your daddy late.

Can I come?

No, you're going to your sister's house.

Celina's house is boring.

I want to go with you.

Well, you're too young.

But I'm two hands old!

You're how old?

Two hands.

Thumbs included?

Yep.

Okay, then.

You get yourself cleaned up.

Okay!

She's ready.

We are all sparks from Ababinili.

He scatters us out here and there to make light.

And when we die, he gathers us up,

so as to make one big blaze

to show us the house of Ababinili.

No one's allowed between the elder and the fire, ever.

Ishnaakoot shikonno'pa'ishanooli.

I'm sorry.

What'd he say, Daddy?

Ishnaakoot shikonno'pa'ishanooli.

What can we do for you, Johnston?

Our funds that you hold in trust,

I need them released to the Chickasaw people

so we can invest in education.

Ah, and so that's what this is all about,

wanting more money from the U.S. government?

I am trying to help my people.

And we are trying to build a nation,

which we hope will include your people,

after they assimilate, of course.

If you can't beat 'em, might as well join 'em.

Which brings me to another matter,

the code of Indian offenses.

And what of the Indians, Senator,

do you find so offensive?

We can't have Americans engaging in

unsavory activities that the U.S. deems illegal.

Unsavory activities?

Pagan dances, witch doctor rituals.

No tribal mumbo-jumbo.

Come on now, Johnston, don't you want to pull your people

up out of the dark ages?

Imagine, one day, with proper governing,

the Indian acting, looking just like the white man,

one nation under God,

not several nations under numerous gods.

Senator Judd, we have dealt with the white man

for over 350 years.

We dress like the white man, attend church,

educate our children in schools as good,

if not better, than any state in the union.

We have done all that the U.S. government

has asked of us.

In return, we only ask that our funds be released

so we can continue to provide for our people.

We will have a committee look into that matter.

Oh, yes, just as soon as we're back in session.

We are a patient people.

We will get what is ours, even if it takes 100 years.

Good day, gentlemen.

My advice to you, Governor,

join the American spirit of entrepreneurship.

Don't look for handouts.

No, no, let your people pull themselves up

by their bootstraps and join the future,

like the rest of us have.

I assure you, sir, my people do not need lessons in hard work,

grit, or making a living off the land.

Good day.

Well, went about the way we expected.

By all that is sacred, what do they want of us?

Not to exist.

We've got a history of that.

I'm afraid it looks like we might have to move

out of the Capitol Building, TB.

I don't know what we're going to do now.