I like to think that this is a universal cartoon in which the characters just happen to be Native. - Ricardo Caté

I’ve been tweaking it for the last 13 years...Back then I did a lot of inside jokes where only Natives would get it. People would constantly tell me, “I didn’t get yesterday’s cartoon.” And I would simply say, “Well, that’s okay, because I don't get the cartoons in The New Yorker sometimes.” But then I thought about it, and I thought that's not a very good answer. As an artist I shouldn’t be offended that people don't get it. I should be improving myself so more people get it. So about five years ago I grew up and stopped thinking like that and I thought, “Okay, let's get to work, let’s see what I can do to tweak this so more people can understand it.” Because ultimately that's my goal, to get more non-Natives to read it so I can put these Native issues on the table and then go from there.

It’s planting seeds. That’s all we can do as teachers—plant the seeds through knowledge, through art, through wisdom, and through our actions.

My panels are simple. I get to do that. People say, It’s badly drawn. I say, Well, I’m not making an effort to make it great. The thing is the message, not the drawing. And then they said, Well, if you drew a little better, maybe you would get considered for the Pulitzer Prize. Okay. Maybe I’ll work on it.