As our new year starts, I feel compelled to write a welcoming message for us all. I’m not sure how you feel, but there were a lot of dark things about the past year. These things were common to both Indian Country and the rest of the United States. The economy still hasn’t rebounded on Main Street, America, while prices for just about everything have gone up. And we have witnessed domestic terrorism in shocking incidents that we may have felt belonged overseas, not here.

But like the peoples of Indian Country, we endure. Visits last year to the Southwest allowed us to see young people who bear the hope of our future. Native talent still flows, from squash blossoms to skateboards. It’s interesting to consider, too, that the extremely beautiful and often dramatic landscape of the Southwest carries its own perils as always: if you don’t know how to survive in the wilderness, play it safe. The strong, unusual weather of 2015 battered Indian Country, especially the Four Corners.

Fact: Life goes on but self-awareness remains vital. In the trite words of local law enforcement everywhere: “If you see something, say something.” We are all in this world together.