In 1969 I was living in Georgetown in Washington, D.C. working for a transportation lobbyist who had served in the previous White House administration. I was dating a handsome Frenchman John (John Pierre) Caldwell who worked in the International Division of the United States Chamber of Commerce, whose building is across and down the street from the White House.

John and I skirted all over D.C. in John’s little sports car to the interesting Embassy Parties. One night after leaving a party at the Russian Embassy, we raced the Russians to Chesapeake Bay for a late night dinner. The Russians won the car race, but they had Diplomatic License Plates, and they couldn’t be given a ticket anyway. It was a great evening with much clinking of glasses.

John and I were at one of the local watering holes in downtown Washington after work when in walked what seemed to be walking out of a story book. It was a group of 5 American Indians. You could immediately tell who was the Chief by the many lines in his face, or the aging of wisdom. He looked like the great walls of the Grand Canyon. Only one of the Indians was wearing a suit and spoke English.

The Indian group sat at a table near us, ordered dinner, and looked gloomy. At my urging, John sent the group over a round of drinks welcoming them to Washington, D.C. The Indian spokesman came over to our table to thank us and sat down at our invitation. "Who are you and what is your group doing here in D.C.? " I asked.

He responded they were the Taos Pueblo Indians from Taos, New Mexico. The tribe’s reservation included an area called the Blue Lake region. This was their sacred burial ground. The United States Government was going to open up this region for the White Man. The Taos Pueblo Indians were violently opposed to such a move by the U.S. Government. They were here to plead their case before the Bureau of Indian Affairs under whose jurisdiction all Indians remained. The Indians felt the Bureau of Indian Affairs had been completely unresponsive and had said they could do nothing about this Taos Pueblo problem.

So the Indians were flying out the next morning back to Taos, and the long and short of the story seemed to be they would just kill the White Man who walks onto their sacred land. Nobody would help them in Washington. I told the Indian to stay in town for 24 hours, and I’d put him in touch with the right people. He said no. I told him the former Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall’s office was just down the street; I knew him; and I’d go over there the next morning and see what could be done. The Indian said no.

The Indians went back to their hotel, and I went home and called the airline and canceled the Indian spokesman’s reservation. . Called the Indian told him what I had done about his airline reservation and that he couldn’t get another flight out tomorrow. Stay right there, and I’d get back to him before noon.

The next morning, I went to see former Secretary of the Interior Stuart Udall. He was familiar with the story and said indeed the Bureau of Indian Affairs would do nothing.. The Indians could not hire an attorney on their own. By law, they couldn’t have an attorney. Their law was the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is under the Department of the Interior. The Indians had only been able to open their first Indian Bank within the past year.

So what do they do? They have to get an attorney to represent them as a Friend of the Court in this Blue Lake region action.

"That’s great Mr. Former Secretary, now, do you have an attorney in mind who could and would perform this miracle?"

Yes, and he referred me to a gentleman attorney on the Hill. Hank Bloomgarden of Udall’s office then told me about the attorney, told me to go see him, talk to him, and if I felt comfortable with him and felt the Indians would feel comfortable with him, go for it. Sounded easy enough. He called, and made an appointment for me with the attorney that morning.

The attorney was an elderly, elegant, soft spoken man, and his office was a complete museum of American Indian artifacts. You had to know where his heart was. I told him the story of the Taos Pueblo’s dilemma over the Blue Lake region. He said he could file a brief in this action as a Friend of the Court. He could of course accept no money from the Indians but would represent them as a Friend of the Court.

I called the Indian spokesman from the attorney’s office and arranged for him to see the attorney that same afternoon.

I kept in touch with the Indian spokesman by letter for a short time. The Indians liked the attorney I had gotten for them and thought things were going well.

In 1973 I saw a copy of National Geographic magazine, and on the cover was the picture of a blue lake. I remember thinking that looks like "Blue Lake". Opened the magazine and the picture was of the sacred Blue Lake region of the Taos Pueblo Indians. President Nixon had signed a bill giving this Blue Lake region back to the Indians. This was the first time the American Indians got land back from the United States Government.

My father was part American Indian. The Indian actor who played the role of the Chief in the wonderful movie "Dances with Wolves" was named Westerman. Mother saw the movie and said this actor named Westerman looked like my Father’s sister.

"Remember", admonishes the Creek poet Joy Harjo, "that you are this universe and this universe is you."