Sarah Palin's Going Rogue has gotten more than a few things wrong. But one of the more unfair allegations is that the book incorrectly attributed this quote to UCLA basketball coaching legend John Wooden:
Our land is everything to us... I will tell you one of the things we remember on our land. We remember our grandfathers paid for it--with their lives.
Geoffrey Dunn at The Huffington Post (who provided the picture), along with others, claims that the original quote was made by Native American activist John Wooden Legs.
Dunn gives the entire quote:
Our land is everything to us. It is the only place in the world where Cheyennes talk the Cheyenne language to each other. It is the only place where Cheyennes remember the same things together. I will tell you one of the things we remember on our land. We remember our grandfathers paid for it--with their life. My people and the Sioux defeated General Custer at the Little Big Horn.
But is this really the egregious mistake some imply? Of course not!
Actually, Palin's not too far off the mark. Wooden hails from Indiana, which, of course, contains the word 'Indian'. He was also married in Indianapolis, which means 'City of Indians'. He coached high-school basketball in Kentucky, which is derived from an Indian word meaning 'he who throws many air balls.' Wooden also liked Indian motorcycles and, as an adolescent, chewed Red Man tobacco. His mother is one-quarter Indian, from the Wherethefugowee Nation. And don't forget the iconic stature of the wooden cigar-store Indian in American lore.
It's easy to see how Palin could have believed that Wooden was an Indian. Just an honest mistake, right? But not really - in fact, the evidence I've cited really corroborates Wooden's Indian heritage. So Going Rogue got it right!
Another instance of the mainstream media persecuting Sarah Palin!
"Never mistake activity for achievement." -- John Wooden (quoted in Dunn's article)
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