My grandfather was the major influence, I think, in my whole life, at least in the Indian part of my life. He was Cherokee and an extraordinary man in many, many ways.

When I was small, he began to teach me all the things he felt that I should know in order to be a complete person. He felt that I had to have the best of both societies, Indian society and white society, to be complete. He had no tribal prejudices. He had great respect for many, many different tribes and different peoples. He taught me the rudiments you might say, the first things that I was in touch with--Indian things--and then as time passed, I got more ... and more involved, and he encouraged my interests and helped me. It was from these roots that my interests grew.

My grandfather ran away as a small boy, went with a herd of cattle down the old Chisholm trail, returned home, and ran away again to join the cavalry. They cut his hair and he served in the last of the Apache campaigns.