It is a description of what structural change requires, and how seldom exceptional individuals, however talented and however positioned, are sufficient to produce it on their own.

The Name He Carried

Ha-sa-no-an-da.

Leading name.

The Seneca name that Ely Parker carried through his life is, in some ways, the most accurate summary available of what he was and what he did.

He was, within the community he came from and in the larger world he navigated, a man whose name was meant to carry forward — to be recognized, to precede him, to mark a path.

He was the first Native American Commissioner of Indian Affairs.