Certainly I'm angry at the way Indians have been treated and continue to be treated. But I don't think it's a helpless emotion.

We all know the Indians were colonized by the Europeans, but every colonized Indian has been colonized by the Indian reaction to colonization.

I think a lot of Indians want Indian artists to be cultural cheerleaders rather than cultural investigators.

Oh, no, no, you've got that all wrong. You're not required to respect elders. After all, most people are idiots, regardless of age. In tribal cultures, we just make sure that elders remain an active part of the culture, even if they're idiots. Especially if they're idiots. You can't just abandon your old people, even if they have nothing intelligent to say. Even if they're crazy.

My career means, if you're a non-Indian writing about Indians, at least there's one Indian in your rearview mirror.

In a real-world way, my gifts are very limited in terms of what I can do.