I recently returned from Washington, DC after an incredible Native American Journalists Association Conference, the White House Tribal Youth Gathering and during a time where two women Native Warriors, Suzan Shown Harjo and Amanda Blackhorse were able to feel the success of years of dedication and hard work in which the Washington Redskins were once again reminded that their name is indeed a racial slur.

I was able to hear straight from these two amazing women as to how their years of hard work, have finally began to show fruition.

I spoke with Amanda Blackhorse the morning after the Redskins trademark ruling and held a plethora of newspaper’s with front page headlines and stories on the decision. I looked at Amanda who was most assuredly smiling with a huge sense of relief, I thought to myself, “wow, they did it!”

I later heard Suzan Harjo speaking at an outbreak session about the decision and stood in awe as I saw the decades of hard work sitting before me. The amount of respect I felt toward Suzan Harjo as an elder is impossible to describe (in English words anyway.)

During the rest of the conference, I was surrounded by consistently amazing warriors in the field – and yes, they were all Native women. Yes, of course there were men who were also doing hard work, but in my opinion the women stood out.