Princess Grey Beard's "You Didn't Build That Speech"
There is nobody in this tribe who got plenty of extra wampum and buffalo robes on his own — nobody.
You've got a buffalo pit to trap buffalo out there?
You trade buffalo tongue and robes for wampum?
Good for you — But I want to be clear.
You didn't build that pit alone - Other braves and squaws made that happen.
You trapped your buffalo in a pit others dug for you.
You moved your dead buffaloes to the camp and to the trading post on the trails the rest of us built and maintained.
You bartered for help to dig the pit and trap and skin the buffalo from young braves the rest of us worked to raise and teach.
You were fat and happy with your wampum and many buffalo robes because the rest kept watch and went out on raiding parties.
You didn't have to worry that other marauding bands would come and seize everything from your tepee.
And you didn't have to hire braves to protect you against this — because of the security the rest of us provide.
Now look — you got the buffalo pit built and it turned into something terrific, or at least a great idea.
May the Great Spirits themselves comfort you and let you keep a big hunk of it.
But part of the underlying tribal contract is, you take a hunk of that and pay it forward for the next batch of papooses who come along.
