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MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2003

"My heroes have always been cowboys.

I always wanted to be a cowboy -- that is, I DID, at least, when I was a kid and we played "cowboys and Indians."

No way was I gonna be an Indian. No way was I gonna be one of those dirty, thievin', murderous fiends I'd just seen on the big screen.

None of my friends would play the role either.

We had just been to the theater to watch a film in which the Indians had kidnapped and brutalized some poor, young, innocent waif from some little house on the prairie. Finally, in the end, the heroic cowboys in their clean, crisp clothes came to the rescue.

The whole theater cheered when those cowboys dealt the red devils a proper ass-kickin'. And the whole theater was packed with Indians!

But that was then -- back when Indian people were a lot less certain of their collective identity. Back when Sicilians played Indians in the movies. Way back when I was a kid -- even before the technological advancement of reality TV -- when Indians were "bad."

Now that I'm older and wiser, I know that we're not "bad," we're just drawn that way."

Get the Story:
Potter: Bush gives cowboys bad image (The Billings Gazette 3/8)

More John Potter:
John Potter: All tingly for Ore. governor (2/24)
John Potter: The State of the Whatever (02/10)
John Potter: Who me, grovel? No way! (01/27)
John Potter: A multi-tasker at heart (01/13)
John Potter: What I want for Christmas (12/16)
John Potter: Flying to Nashville (12/02)
John Potter: No more snowmobiles (11/18)
John Potter: I do NOT hate white people (11/4)
John Potter: Mad about Yellowstone bison (10/21)
John Potter: My ode to Autumn (10/07)
John Potter: Snot noses at art show (9/23)
John Potter: Mad about Kennewick Man (9/9)
John Potter: My wild car chase (8/26)
John Potter: My search for donuts (8/12)
John Potter: I'm a Survivor (7/29)
John Potter: My Wedding Anniversary (7/15)
John Potter: Yet another move (7/1)
John Potter: Leave me alone (6/17)
John Potter: They really like me (6/3)
John Potter: Cutting back (5/20)
John Potter: Mother's Day (5/13)
John Potter: Hope springs eternal (5/6)
John Potter: Create Indian holiday (4/29)
John Potter: A history lesson (4/22)
John Potter: I am the Tax Man (4/15)
John Potter: Rudeness (4/8)
John Potter: Hail Fighting Whities (4/1)
John Potter: I was, I am (3/25)
John Potter: His Mail Bag (3/18)
John Potter: Moving to Utah (3/11)
John Potter: Friend of the Wolf (3/4)
John Potter: Desert camping (2/25)
John Potter: Fry Bread Gold (2/19)
John Potter: Get on the bus (2/11)
John Potter: Overcoming prejudice (2/4)
John Potter: The 'Real' Indians (1/28)
John Potter: A nobody at Sundance (1/21)
John Potter: The expanding waistline (1/14)
John Potter: Sacred toenail clippers (1/7)
John Potter: Running into Robert Redford (1/2)