--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One of our people in the Native community…" description: "\"One of our people in the Native community said the difference between white people and Indians is that Indian people know they are oppressed but don’t ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f9/winona-laduke-9240_ancestor_one-of-our-people-in-the-native-communit_2155624.png" --- # One of our people in the Native community said the… ![“One of our people in the Native community said the difference between white people and Indians is that Indian people know they are oppressed but don’t feel powerless. White people don’t feel oppressed, but feel powerless. Deconstruct that disempowerment. Part of the mythology that they’ve been…” quote by Winona LaDuke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f9/winona-laduke-9240_ancestor_one-of-our-people-in-the-native-communit_2155624.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f9/winona-laduke-9240_ancestor_one-of-our-people-in-the-native-communit_2155624.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f9/winona-laduke-9240_ancestor_one-of-our-people-in-the-native-communit_2155624.png) > “One of our people in the Native community said the difference between white people and Indians is that Indian people know they are oppressed but don’t feel powerless. White people don’t feel oppressed, but feel powerless. Deconstruct that disempowerment. Part of the mythology that they’ve been teaching you is that you have no power. Power is not brute force and money; power is in your spirit. Power is in your soul. It is what your ancestors, your old people gave you. Power is in the earth; it is in your relationship to the earth.” [Winona LaDuke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-laduke/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote explains that oppressed groups recognize their oppression yet retain agency, while dominant groups feel powerless despite lacking oppression, emphasizing spiritual and ancestral sources of true power. **In simple terms:** Oppressed people know they’re oppressed but stay strong; dominant people feel weak without real oppression. Key Takeaway Tap into ancestral and spiritual strength for empowerment. Themes empowerment identity colonialism spirituality resilience Mood inspirational reflective hopeful Type cultural spiritual activist When to use this quote - community organizing - cultural revitalization - environmental stewardship - education programs - mental health initiatives Key Concepts indigenous knowledge collective memory earth connection psychology social justice Questions to Reflect On - How can spiritual practices foster real-world change? - What steps can bridge the gap between feeling powerless and gaining agency? A Different Perspective It may generalize experiences and overlook individual differences within groups. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancestor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestor/) [Brute force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brute-force/) [Brutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brutes/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Differences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/differences/) [Disempowerment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disempowerment/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Feel Oppressed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-oppressed-616575/) [Feel Powerless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-powerless-375411/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/force/) [Money power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money-power/) [Mythology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mythology/) [Native](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/native/) [Old people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-people/) [Oppressed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oppressed/) [Oppressed Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oppressed-feel-719410/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Powerless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/powerless/) [Powerless White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/powerless-white-4551220/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white/) [White people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-people/) [Your soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/your-soul/) ## Related quotes > [When I go around in America and I see the bulk of the white people, they do not feel oppressed; they feel powerless \[.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-trudell/when-i-go-around-in-america-and-i-see-the-bulk-of-the-white-people/) [John Trudell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-trudell/) > [Power is not brute force and money; power is in your spirit. 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Women, thanks to their having been oppressed all these years, are blameless, free as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-keillor/a-married-guy-is-responsible-for-everything-no-matter-what-women/) [Garrison Keillor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-keillor/) > [“Free yourself from the inauthenticity and disempowerment of your story.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-maraboli/free-yourself-from-the-inauthenticity-and-disempowerment-of-your-story/) [Steve Maraboli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-maraboli/) > [Women must understand that simply attacking or hating men is just another form of disempowerment. A woman has to realize that when she makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/women-must-understand-that-simply-attacking-or-hating-men-is-just/) [Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/) > [...all human beings have a right, and duty, to be joyful. Anything that thwarts this spiritual human right goes against the very purpose of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnivesh/all-human-beings-have-a-right-and-duty-to-be-joyful-anything-that/) [Agnivesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnivesh/) > [“In this image (watching sensual murder through a peephole) Lorrain embodies the criminal delight of decadent art. 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This level of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-laduke/the-essence-of-the-problem-is-about-consumption-recognizing-that-a/) [Winona LaDuke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-laduke/) > [The reality is that the founding fathers were land speculators. The fact was that you couldn't vote in this country if you did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-laduke/the-reality-is-that-the-founding-fathers-were-land-speculators-the/) [Winona LaDuke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-laduke/) > [“The question of socialism or communism or capitalism or between the left and right – I think the important question is between the industrial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-laduke/the-question-of-socialism-or-communism-or-capitalism-or-between-the/) [Winona LaDuke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-laduke/) > [The first thing I am is a person. I am a woman. And I am part of a nation, the Indian nation. But people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-laduke/the-first-thing-i-am-is-a-person-i-am-a-woman-and-i-am-part-of-a/) [Winona LaDuke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-laduke/) > [Food for us comes from our relatives, whether they have wings or fins or roots. That is how we consider food. Food has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-laduke/food-for-us-comes-from-our-relatives-whether-they-have-wings-or-fins/) [Winona LaDuke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-laduke/) > [Mother Earth needs us to keep our covenant. We will do this in courts, we will do this on our radio station, and we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-laduke/mother-earth-needs-us-to-keep-our-covenant-we-will-do-this-in-courts/) [Winona LaDuke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-laduke/) > [I think of some of my friends who have passed to the spirit world but are who here with me when I go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-laduke/i-think-of-some-of-my-friends-who-have-passed-to-the-spirit-world-but/) [Winona LaDuke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-laduke/) > [If we moved from industrialized agriculture to re-localized organic agriculture, we could sequester about one quarter of the carbon moving into the air and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-laduke/if-we-moved-from-industrialized-agriculture-to-re-localized-organic/) [Winona LaDuke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-laduke/) [Explore all 74 Winona LaDuke quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-laduke/) ## More Ancestor quotes > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [Food binds us to our roots as strongly as any song or poem. Many of us have learned more about our ancestors in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-thomas/food-binds-us-to-our-roots-as-strongly-as-any-song-or-poem-many-of-us/) [Anna Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-thomas/) > [Whereas our ancestors (not of choice) were the first successful cultivators of the wilds of America, we their descendants feel ourselves entitled to participate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-allen/whereas-our-ancestors-not-of-choice-were-the-first-successful/) [Richard Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-allen/) > [Going where no man has gone before is more difficult than it sounds. 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