“Ledger art represents a spirit which has lasted through the hardships and turmoil. It is my goal and ambition that this style of pictograph art continues to pay tribute to the perseverance of my ancestors who adapted and created works of art during a period of life changing turmoil and injustice.”
“I don’t really care to be a movie star.”
“I just wanted to be a working character actor.”
“The people in Indiana are so kind and so genuine.”
“My opinion is that the movie business should show an accurate picture, but I think the responsibility lies in the educational system. Most of the educational material I’ve seen on the Native American does not portray an actual picture.”
“The old image of Tonto and the Lone Ranger was one that we, as Indian people, didn’t care much for; it was kind of a second-class citizen.”
“I’m an activist.”
“Wherever you repress people, they get hold of a crayon and a bit of scrap paper, and they chronicle their lives and their existence and their history.”
“Man, ‘Twin Peaks’ ruined me for television. I mean, how can you top a show like that.”
“The main problem with films is that everybody always thinks of us as a violent people. We are not. We are spiritual. And when you show someone without a sense of humor or families, which is the way you usually see Indians in movies, then they are without a spiritual base and become subhuman.”
“I’d like to win an Oscar and then refuse it so I can protest the way they’ve treated Marlon Brando.”
“I like being outdoors. I like action films.”
“An actor gets to take a nap, but the director is working hard from dawn till midnight. I’m kind of lazy.”
“For years, I kept the two separate: Michael Horse the artist and Michael Horse the actor. I like the acting, but I’m an artist; that’s my identity.”
“When people say, ‘Who are you?’ I’m a sculptor and a painter. That’s how I define myself. The acting is fun, and I hope to leave behind a couple things in my life of dramatic integrity and art.”
“Growing up in a traditional environment, I was taught the importance of art, how it’s connected to the soul, how it makes a human being. This made me understand and cherish American art forms.”
“I was taught that you can’t be a healthy individual without art, music, or nature in your life. All my art is tied into inner cultural experience. It has to do with music or ceremonies or nature, even the funny ones.”
“If I wait for the great definitive story of my people to come around, I’m never going to work.”
“Without ‘Twin Peaks,’ there would have been no ‘Northern Exposure,’ ‘Picket Fences,’ ‘X-Files’ or ‘Alias.’ It started the movement of ‘off-center’ television.”
“Cartoons are probably my favorite thing to do.”
“You never come home depressed from a cartoon job.”
“I’ve always thought of myself primarily as an artist; it’s what I most define myself as. The acting was all an accident.”
“It’s amazing to me that some kids are surprised to find out Indians are still alive.”
“The FBI was formed because the gangsters were better armed, better financed.”
“I have turned down soaps operas. I want to be outside, and I want to have the gun. It is cowboys and Indians to me.”
“As a native actor, you don’t get that much chance to work in art, especially television.”
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