The following is an excerpt from a 2009 Presentation by Tony Buffalo at a National Indian Education Administration conference, during a joint presentation with Dr. Dee Tadlock. It is an excellent message for all.
“There (are) so many negative things in our daily lives sometimes that it’s hard to dream and, if you cannot read, the door is shut so tight you don’t see a way out.
“And so, for me, I appreciate and thank Dee Tadlock (developer of Read Right methodology) for being a mother…that persevered to find a way for her son to overcome his reading problem; a mother that cared to seek a way that he could have that door open that he could have that chance.
“Through her perseverance, my reading problem has been corrected. For me as a Lakota woman, I have dreams for our nation. I have wants and wishes for our people all over, but also for our own reservation–and that’s not possible unless we can educate. …We can’t overcome 200 years of oppression unless we can educate ourselves. And the way we do that is to be able to read and understand what is out there in the world. It’s the only way we can do it.
“So, I tell my own children this is going to take you anyplace that you want to go, anywhere in this world. When you open these books you will understand. They can take you anywhere. There’s no end to possibilities of where you can be, what you can do, or what you can become. I try so hard to light that flame of hope and desire within our children. Because I know how much they face, I see it every day.”
