I guess the question is what we're talking about when we say poverty and being poor. I would tell you that the elders in my community would say they are not poor. They would say they are rich in their language, rich in their traditions, rich in the relationship they have with their community. So in addressing what the level of poverty means, to me, the question is whose analysis or on what basis are we starting from, and how are we defining poverty? If there are elders who are living on a trap line, for example, and are living a traditional lifestyle, they have food, they have what's required and what they feel is necessary within their community, and they have a lifestyle with which they're happy and living their lives.... Again, it comes back to the question of on what basis of analysis are we defining poverty. Are we just talking about economics? Are we just talking about dollars? Or are we talking about a lifestyle and a way of life?
My elders would say they would rather be living on the land, they would rather have their language, and they would rather be teaching their young people about our way of life than have to worry about anything else.