Podcast Transcript: 'If We Don't Fight For It, We Lose It'

Date: 11/17/2009 | Time: 7:43 | Size: 7 MB
NCFY speaks to two Native American young people to get their perspectives on the importance, and challenges, of Native youth leadership.
 
EMAN QUOTAH: Welcome to the Positive Youth Development Podcast Series by the Family and Youth Services Bureau within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The series is produced by the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth.
 
FYSB supports Native American tribes and community organizations that work with Native families and youth through its grant programs funding abstinence education, family violence prevention and services, mentoring for children of prisoners and services for runaway and homeless youth. Recently, we spoke to two Native American young people to get their perspectives on the importance and challenges of Native youth leadership. Ryan is a high school student and member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe in Hayward, WI. Danielle is a student at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK, and since September has represented her tribe as Miss Cherokee. Both young people told us that the essence of Native American youth leadership is preserving Native heritage and culture. That effort, they say, begins with safeguarding indigenous languages.
 
DANIELLE: My mom is a speaker. Cherokee was her first language that she grew up with. She's a ... English is her second language. I remember my mom teaching me words when I was little. And I remember one of the first words I learned in Cherokee was tsisdu, which means rabbit. And I remember going and visiting my mom's sister, my aunt. And I remember sitting around, and I'd be listening to them talk as they were cooking, and they would be speaking Cherokee. It’s a very powerful thing to be sitting in the presence of Cherokee speakers, speaking their own language.
 
RYAN: I went to an immersion charter school from second grade to fourth grade. All we did was talk Ojibwe. So I would say that I can speak it pretty well. But ever since then, I mean, there's really no Ojibwe class. And we only have the one semester a year.
 
DANIELLE: A lot of times you'll see in history that if you want to conquer a nation or you want to conquer a culture, you forbid them from speaking their language. It happened to the Cherokees when they were forced to go to boarding schools where they couldn't speak their language. For Cherokee people to still speak their language and still teach it to their children is a very powerful sign that we are Cherokee. We are proud to be Cherokee. And we will continue to be Cherokee throughout the ages.
 
You know, no matter where you live, no matter what state, no matter what town, no matter what kind of home you come from, if you're Cherokee, no matter how much you are, no matter what color your skin is or your blood quantum, if you're a Cherokee, you need to be proud of that. You need to stand up for that. You need to learn your language and to speak it. Because when we lose our language, we lose our culture.
 
RYAN: Our culture wasn't really written. Everything was verbally passed on. So we have a lot of stories. There's really no written text of how to perform our ceremonies and feasts. And it's pretty important that we try to keep our heritage alive. Because if it dies, you can't really just look it up on Google.
 
EMAN QUOTAH: Young people can help keep their Native culture alive by participating in traditional activities, Danielle and Ryan told us. But it's not always easy.
 
DANIELLE: I wanted to learn how to weave baskets. My mom had always ... she's a basket weaver. So she taught me how. But I remember that the kids in my community, we didn't have a lot of elders or Native people that could show them how to do that. So me and my mom actually got together with some other ladies from Claymore. And we held a little seminar and taught the kids how to weave baskets.
 
EMAN QUOTAH: Ryan is a grass dancer.
 
RYAN: What grass dancers used to do is they used to put grass in their belts. And before a powwow started, they would go out and they'd dance on the grass to make it flatter. So, like, you can see the arena. You wear a roach on top of your head. It has porcupine needles all around it. It's usually two feathers on top. You tie it around your head. Then you have a top. You have a belt or a sash. You have bottoms, moccasins, bells and cuffs. Yeah, I love it. It just makes me feel a part of my culture.
 
EMAN QUOTAH: Ryan also recently experienced a rite of passage.
 
RYAN: I just had my feast yesterday for killing my first deer. I wanted my first deer for a long, long time. It's like a passage into manhood. Now I can provide for my family it’s pretty much saying. And for others in my community. It does make me feel different. It makes me feel stronger, more confident.  
 
EMAN QUOTAH: We asked Danielle and Ryan to tell us what leadership means.
 
DANIELLE: Leadership to me is—it's a quality that everyone possesses. It's the ability to find your voice and to stand up for what you believe in. Sometimes the world sees leaders as, you know, the people who take charge or the presidents or the CEOs. I believe that all people are leaders. If you don't step up and take control of your life, someone else is going to do it for you. And so leaders are the people who know what they stand for and they're not afraid to stand up for it.
 
RYAN: Leadership means to me that you're willing to do the right thing no matter what obstacles get in your way. Just trying to stay out of bad things like drugs and alcohol and just trying to do good in school. Not put all my homework off.
 
My mom and dad didn't get the chance to go to college. Because they had me right away, right out of high school. So they didn’t really have time for college. So I feel like I should go to college since they didn't have the chance.
 
I actually do see myself trying to better our community. When I grow up, I actually do want to make Lac Courte Oreilles a better place to live for kids. I want them to experience our heritage. And I don't want our heritage to die. I want it to be preserved for future generations.
 
Friends that I've seen growing up, they don't always make the right choices. Just getting into drugs and alcohol and skipping school, not getting an education. They can't go anywhere. They can't do anything. I'd actually like to help people get an education. So that they can get jobs and they can help better our community. I'd like to see people start helping one another.
 
DANIELLE: Native Americans as a whole are going through a period where, you know, the world is starting to realize that, yes, they are still here. And, you know, they're still standing for what they believe in. So it's extremely important for Native American youth to realize that their culture and their history and their heritage is a powerful thing. And, you know, if we don't fight for it, we lose it.
 
EMAN QUOTAH: You can learn about programs that work with Native youth from United National Indian Tribal Youth, Inc., www.unityinc.org, or from Boys & Girls Clubs in Indian Country, www.naclubs.org.
 
The National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth is a free information service that offers resources for people and organizations interested in helping youth. Visit our Web site, ncfy.acf.hhs.gov for more information.
 
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