I have asked myself this question many times, hoping it would inspire some courageous or prophetic answer. However, I’ve come to the conclusion that it means different things to different Native people and different Indigenous nations. I ask this question, because I myself am a leader of sorts, and I feel it’s important to be able to describe what you do, and why you do it. Before I go any further on that, I would first like to introduce myself to you. Skeno Genenahgehneh gya;soh, which in English means: ‘Hello my name is Autumn. I am a graduate student at Marshall University, and I am currently in the Public Administration program. This program in itself teaches you different ways to be a leader, which means you are learning how to be an effective and benevolent one.

Ok, so here is how my being a leader falls in line with what I mentioned previously. I am currently the president of the Native American Student Organization, an organization in which I started back in 2015, I started this organization because I felt that students needed to have a learning base about what it means to be a native person and what issues native people are currently facing. I also wanted a chance to be able to educate students and faculty on the pride that Indigenous People have, and how that pride and determination gets us through a lot of tough situations.

This thought process to get something going came after the Ambassador program that I was in had ended. This program was another chance I had at being an Indigenous leader, I was the Native American Ambassador for my university. This was a platform for me to talk about the experiences I had as a Native person, and how I turned the negative experiences into positive learning experiences. It was also a chance to speak to whole classes about having cultural sensitivity to Indigenous people that they may come across in their professions. I had landed this opportunity as an ambassador shortly after I had the wonderful honor and privilege of being crowned Miss IDLA (Indian Defense League of America).

Being Miss IDLA was the ultimate platform to be able to speak on behalf of Indigenous people, and also on our rights as Indigenous people. To better explain, the Indian Defense League of America was founded in 1926 by Chief Clinton Rickard. It was founded because in 1925 Cayuga Chief Deskaheh, who was a chief from the Grand River territory, was in Geneva advocating against the violations by Canada of the Rights of Haudenosaunee people.

When he tried to come back to Canada he was denied entry, because of his advocacy. Because he was not allowed back in, he ended up dying at Chief Rickard’s home on the Tuscarora Reservation in New York. When he died he told Chief Rickard to "always fight for the line", which is a slogan we still use to this day. These rights that we are fighting for are not only our inherent rights, but are also outlined in the Jay Treaty, a.k.a. the Treaty of Commerce. This treaty was made between the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. The rights of Indigenous peoples living in the United States or Canada are listed in article 3 of the treaty, and state that as indigenous people, we have the right to cross said boundary line as we please and freely carry on trade and commerce with each other.

This means that this treaty recognizes that we as indigenous people have inherent rights that date back far beyond European contact. Which means that as Native leaders we need to continue to fight the injustices the government commits by denying our people entry to and from Canada and the United States, or what we deem to be going from one part of Turtle Island to another.

Indigenous rights are important, which is why we need leaders to enforce them. What it means to be a Native leader is that we as Indigenous people must represent our people and the needs of the people. We must fight for the right to be who we are. You can be a leader whether you are a man or a woman, or young or old. This definitely rings true for the youth from Standing Rock, they empowered not only those from their nation, but many nations including those who are non-Indigenous. They showed what it meant to be real leaders, and to have true courage in fighting the black snake, or what those who aren't Indigenous know as the Dakota Access Pipeline. We must understand that being a leader isn't about glamour or riches or fame, but instead is about having the courage to stand up for what is right as well as taking on such a responsibility. Nya;weh for reading.