PAULA

When the Shinnecock Nation sent me for public speaking training, I learned that what I thought would be the ending of my speech is often best used as my beginning—otherwise your audience is not listening and instead is planning their dinner. I didn’t know I would love politics until I got there. A lot of who I am—how I think and feel and my philosophy of life—I got from meeting Native American ‘elders’ from all over the country.

This is an excerpt from a comprehensive interview.