Pevawohnah. My name is Desi Rodriguez-Lonebear. Muksheha nahasheve. My Cheyenne name is Muksheha, Bear Mint Woman. I come from the Small, Spotted Elk, Woodenlegs, and Rodriguez families and I’m very honored to be here on what is truly a historic day for the Northern Cheyenne People. I want to thank the outgoing and incoming tribal leaders for asking me to say a few words today. I also want to acknowledge our elders and ceremonial people. Nea’eše.

Today, we still draw on the examples of the heroes from our past. Even now in 2020, the blood of warriors runs through us as Cheyenne People. We remember Little Wolf and Dull Knife who led us back here to our northern homeland that we will keep forever. We remember Head Chief and Young Mule who charged to their deaths singing their death songs before a military firing squad. A white man’s punishment for simply trying to feed their families after nearly everything was taken. We must also remember our Cheyenne matriarchs who are also warriors. We remember Buffalo Calf Road Woman, one of our fierce warriors who not only saved her brother at the Battle of the Rosebud, but also served her people in many battles. We remember Iron Teeth Woman who prayed us back home safely from Ft. Robinson where we were prisoners of war. This is the strength of the Northern Cheyenne Nation. It is the strength of the blood that runs in all of us. It is the strength that we must draw on in these very difficult times.

 We’ve lost 130 people in our small community this year. Some we have lost to the Corona Virus and the rest to all of the other struggles that we face in this world: chronic diseases, addiction, violence, and suicide, to name a few. That number might not seem large compared to the more than 300 million people that live in this country, but for the Cheyenne, it is a huge collective loss because we are all related. We are all impacted by these deaths. We are all grieving in some way. But we are also strong and resilient. We must remember that only 300 Cheyenne People made it back here to our homeland after the Sand Creek Massacre and the Fort Robinson Breakout. These 300 people formed the backbone of our tribe. They are why we are still here. And our numbers have grown to almost 12,000 Northern Cheyennes now. Our Cheyenne babies are the dreams of our ancestors fulfilled.

This pandemic we are battling right now is new. It is scary. There is no cure. There are many unknowns. But our people have experienced diseases before that threatened to wipe us out: smallpox, cholera, malaria, and TB. If you go on horseback or hike out on the land, you’ll find the graves of our ancestors all across our reservation who we have lost to these diseases. Each of our families has stories of those who died and those who survived. Soon we will have new stories of those who have passed on. And we will have new stories of those who remained. Our children and their children will learn these stories and the Cheyenne People will carry on as we always have since the very beginning of time.

But our collective future also calls for unity. We need to come together as a people. The Cheyennes who live here on the reservation. The Cheyennes who live off the reservation. We are still one tribe. And we need to think and act in that way. We need to protect our most vulnerable from this sickness. We need to keep our land, water, and air healthy for many generations to come. We need to revive our language and remain strong in our culture. We need economic development and jobs so our people can take care of each other. We need to ensure our kids can get a good education and that they are safe. We need healing from all of the addictions and suffering that our people are going through. We need hope above all else. We need hope!

Who better to bring us hope than matriarchs? The life givers. Grandmothers, mothers, aunties, sisters, and daughters. That is who we are inaugurating today to lead the Northern Cheyenne Nation in a time of great turmoil, sickness, fear, and grief. The Creator Maheo works in mysterious ways and this is the path before us. We must believe that it is a path out of darkness and towards the light just like when we are in our mother’s wombs there is darkness until we are welcomed into this world full of light.

We all come from women and now is the time that we honor them as our leaders across every office: Tribal President, Vice President, and in all five of our Tribal Council Districts. Cheyenne women hold up the sky for each of our families and collectively as a nation. I want to close with the Cheyenne Proverb that many of us know. It goes like this: “A nation is not defeated until the hearts of its women are on the ground. Then it is finished; no matter how brave its warriors or how strong their weapons.”

I stand before you to say as Cheyenne People, we will never be defeated. We will never be defeated! We are the fighting Cheyenne and we must keep fighting for a better future for all those yet to come.

If there is anything that this pandemic has taught us, it’s that we are our only defense as Cheyenne People. Nobody is going to save us, but us! And so we must be good to one another, help one another, and pray for one another.

Nea’eše.