Growing up in Portland, "I never imagined myself being anything but a city girl." 
Problems with my husband caused me to run away to a reservation in Utah.
I ended up here in Lapwai with my mom and dad.
"The disadvantage (of reservation life) is everyone knows your business. Everyone gets on you real hard. The upside is it's really close."
"I grew up going to sun dances (annual, four-day long ceremonial events) my whole life.
My kids (two sons living with their father in Portland) don't have that.
I feel they are at loss and wish they could be here with me."
I stopped going to the dances when I got married. I went to one while I was having problems in that relationship and it helped me make the decision to leave. It was a "healing experience."

— Natalie Emerson, 29, Lapwai

The cultural wisdom of our ancestors is not gone, but "it's way different now."
"Diabetes is a big problem – everyone eats ice cream and cake… When I was a kid (in Bridgeport, Wash.) we raised rabbits and grew asparagus. I used to fish there."

— Lee Plumley, Lapwai