Our Roots

Roots of Character

"Those who preserve their integrity remain unshaken by the storms of daily life. They do not stir like leaves on a tree or follow the herd where it runs. In their mind remains the ideal attitude and conduct of living. This is not something given to them by others. It is their roots… it is a strength that exists deep within them." - Anonymous Native American

Gamma Delta Pi was born on August 27, 2001 on the campus of the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. Gamma Delta Pi was founded by five college women, known as the Five Changing Women: Jennifer Nez-Blanchard (Navajo), Sedelta Oosahwee (Cherokee/Mandan/Arikara/Hidatsa), Joyce Shield (Comanche/Osage/Chippewa-Cree), Robin Williams (Kiowa/Apache/Nez Perce/Assinaboine Sioux/Umatilla), and Shema Yearby (Seminole/Creek/Mississippi Choctaw). In the fall of 2001, the Five Changing Women presented the idea of creating a sisterhood based solely to carry on the ideals, culture, tradition, and legacy of American Indian women.

The structure and fundamental principles of Gamma Delta Pi lie within respecting our Creator, Mother Earth, and the sphere she represents. Gamma Delta Pi will represent her in the four sacred directions of North, South, East, and West. Numbers have always played a role in American Indian life. Many of our aspects are seen in the terms of four. It is the four directions that the Creator reveals all creation and organizes principle for everything that exists in the world: seasons, race, elements of the universe, stages of life, emotions and aspects of human behavior.

With the four directions, an assigned color of the universe represents our path. To the North, we are represented by the color of White. In the realm of this white, wisdom and logic, air, animals, mentality, energy, and our elders are defined. To the East, we are represented by the color of Yellow. In the spectrum of this yellow, the sun, fire, spirituality, enlightenment, and our children are defined. To the South, we are represented by the color Red. In the illumination of this red, water, plants, emotions, trust, and innocence are defined. To the West, we are represented by the color of Black. In the shadows of this black, Mother Earth, our physical aspect of life, insight, and stability is defined.

Mother Earth is comprised of a sphere, which is the representation of the circle of life, or Medicine Wheel, of Gamma Delta Pi. The cross within the circle signifies the order of the four directions. Our life, our sisterhood, is a continuous cycle mirroring the daily rising of the sun, phases of the moon, stages of life, and the tenacious strength of American Indian Women.