"We understand that this future that we all want, that we’re all trying to build, really is about the destruction of colonization, white supremacy, and capitalism. We must really move away from these systems and these frameworks if we really want to live in a future that does have a regenerative economy and does enable liberation and equity for our communities. This is definitely something that we all want to push for."

– Ashley Nicole McCray speaking to the Youth Council of the Democratic National Committee at the 2020 Democratic National Convention (August 17, 2020).

"If elected, Ashley will recognize the governmental sovereignty of the tribal nations in Oklahoma. ... In Oklahoma, the Ponca nation is just one example of how recognizing tribal sovereignty can benefit everyone. They have banned fracking, wastewater injection, and have passed the Rights of Nature within their original tribal jurisdiction."

– Ashley Nicole McCray in a Ashley4OCC Facebook post (April 19, 2018).

"I’m here standing before you today to say, 'Enough is enough! Indigenous people cannot be treated this way any more! Black communities cannot be treated this way any more!’ This is a clear cut case of environmental racism – a clear cut case of environmental genocide! We know that for a fact."

– Ashley Nicole McCray at No Plains Pipeline press conference (January 30, 2017), audio by OK Energy Today, video by The Oklahoman.

"We really want this pipeline stopped, and we're willing to do what it takes to see that happen. ... Resource extraction is rape of the earth."

– Ashley Nicole McCray quoted in "'No Plains Pipeline' protesters work to turn education into action," Norman Transcript (September 19, 2016).

"The rape of our land is also tied to the rape of our women. We know that pipelines and fraking sites bring about mancamps which increase the likelihood of our indigenous women going missing and murdered. That's why we have a hastag, #MissingandMurderedIndigenousWomenandGirls. That's why we are more likely than any other woman to be raped or sexually assaulted in our lifetime."

– Ashley Nicole McCray speaking to the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Conference on Reproductive Justice (September 16, 2016).

"The encampment at Standing Rock was really good for a lot of people in Oklahoma because it has enabled them to realize that the front line is in their own backyard. We just need to bring the fight here."

– Ashley Nicole McCray quoted in "Activists threaten to block Oklahoma pipeline construction," The Oklahoman (January 30, 2017).

"We ... do hereby demand that [OU] Student Life make a policy banning the approproation of minority group culture by way of 'themed parties,' etc. (particularly by the Greek community) effective immediately... I think the university is in a position to see why a 'Cowboys and Indians' themed party would not benefit ... efforts to ensure ... students are not devalued or dehumanized. Reducing natives to objects in this way is violent and ultimately only works to silence and erase the identity of native peoples."

– Ashley Nicole McCray in a petition and letter to University of Oklahoma administrators (January 23, 2015).

"I also think it makes them [white people] feel uncomfortable to be confronted with these atrocities, because then they're actually having to dig deeper into themselves and recognize the power that they actually have because of their identity. ... And now they're realizing that, 'Maybe I wouldn't have this position or be in this place if it weren't for my white privilege.'"

– Ashley Nicole McCray in an interview with Casey Holcomb of the Oklahoma Sierra Club (September 30, 2015).

"We’re not big on voting... As indigenous people, we don’t feel like we are Americans, that the American regime was forced upon us. I am Oglala Lakota and Absentee Shawnee. If I vote I am complicit in the genocide committed against my ancestors and future generations. I think voting ignores the injustice perpetrated on this land. Especially in Oklahoma, it’s a double whammy. Not only did we not consent to being Americans – we did not consent to being Oklahomans. ... Oklahoma is an illegal state."

– Ashley Nicole McCray quoted in "Booed by Mary," The Tulsa Voice (February-B, 2018).

"The American government, our occupier, refused to recognize our sovereignty as an individual government. ... Christopher Columbus [was] an awful person. We shouldn’t celebrate him."

– Ashley Nicole McCray quoted in "Native American activist says indigenous sovereignty should be taken seriously," Red Dirt Report (October 4, 2016).

"[Supporting Indigenous Peoples' Day as a replacement for Columbus Day] is a positive and proactive way to begin a larger conversation about restoring justice to indigenous communities. ... I think it’s very clear that they [members of the City Council of Oklahoma City] are uneducated and misinformed about what we were trying to accomplish."

– Ashley Nicole McCray quoted in "Indigenous Peoples' Day resolution fails to pass, 4-4," Red Dirt Report (September 29, 2015).

"Because the terms 'Boomer' and 'Sooner' are inextricably tied to colonization and land theft in this state, these terms remain perpetuations of racial violence against indigenous and native communities both on campus and in the Norman and larger Oklahoman community." 

– Ashley Nicole McCray for Indigenize OU in a Facebook post (April 20, 2016) thanking the University of Oklahoma Student Government Association for suspending further use of "Boomer Sooner."

"The colonial origins of Thanksgiving – or what many natives often refer to as Thankskilling or Thankstaking – is not something to celebrate."

– Ashley Nicole McCray, "Decolonizing the History of Thanksgiving," CounterPunch (November 26, 2015).