The Young Pope (Lenny Belardo):
Audrey, do you know the story of Betsey Ross? She stitched together a banner that was not just fabric, but a covenant ā thirteen stars for thirteen colonies, a symbol that carried a newborn nation through its infancy.
Audrey Siegl:
Yes, but Pope, this land is older than America. Our nations were here before flags, before borders. Each people has its own colors, its own sacred animals, its own histories. How do you make one flag for many voices?
The Young Pope:
That is why you must be the one, Audrey. Your people carry both tradition and vision. The threads of the past, woven with the hope of the future. Not to erase difference, but to unite it under a common banner of survival and recognition.
Audrey Siegl:
If such a flag is to exist, it must not come from me alone. It must come from circle, from council, from every tribe ā the Cree, the Haida, the Mohawk, the Coast Salish. The eagle, the buffalo, the raven, the bear ā all must have a place.
The Young Pope:
Yes. A flag of many spirits, but one voice to the world. For without a flag, nations remain invisible to the great game of states. Soccer teams march under flags. Armies march under flags. Even peace movements march under flags. Turtle Island must carry one too, if it is to stand before the nations.
Audrey Siegl:
Then the flag must carry the river and the mountain. The cedar and the buffalo grass. The circle of the drum. And perhaps the stars ā not thirteen, but the endless ones above, reminding us we are part of creation, not its rulers.
The Young Pope:
So let it be. Not a flag of conquest, but of memory and hope. You, Audrey Siegl, will be the Betsey Ross of Turtle Island. Stitch the fabric that carries your peoplesā spirit into history.
Audrey Siegl:
If I do this, Pope, it will not be mine. It will belong to the land and the people.
The Young Pope:
As it should.