As we kiss 2017 a fond goodbye, we remember one of the most eventful years in tribal history. Our community has been on a roller coaster ride of emotion from incredible sadness to incredible elation.

“Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole.”

December 7, 1941 marked the first time that foreign forces attacked a state of the United States.

Did someone in your family die from cancer? Do you have breathing or lung problems?

I hope everyone enjoyed feasting on Turkey Day. I certainly did. Turkey is my weakness in late November and late December.

On the heels of Thanksgiving and at the conclusion of Native American Heritage Month, a month set aside each year with the purpose of recognizing the significant contributions that America’s first peoples have made to the United States, I was saddened, shocked, and appalled by the level of disrespect you displayed during yesterday’s honoring of World War II Native American Code Talkers.

We, as a community and government, continue to debate the merits of cannabis in its various forms. The plant has its proponents and its detractors.

We, Indian Country and music fans, have lost two giants. Both are irreplaceable.