Details

Storyteller: Gary
Tribe: Red Lake Band of Ojibwe
Created: 2018
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Transcript: I am who I am today after growing up experiencing family trauma and the challenges of poverty. My experiences made me hope for a better tomorrow and gave me a persistence that has led me to who I am. As a young boy I remember sleeping between my parents or riding in the car between them. I grew up in the projects of north Minneapolis. In my neighborhood we played endlessly only stopping to go home and eat. I remember my older sisters and brother helping me learn what my mother wanted us to learn. They were teachers, literally, we'd play school together! My littler sisters and brother joined us too. My mother took care of the house endlessly and taught us how to clean. I attended Catholic School through sixth grade. Attached to the school was a parish church so learning included religion. Procedures in school, rituals in church, the combination of the two included many, many stories told by nuns or priests from classroom books and mostly the Bible. As a child I heard my parents and grandparents speak Ojibwe. But I still recall an elder say that speaking Ojibwe would not get me anywhere, implying that I should get an education. I attended traditional pow-wows at Red Lake as a child, we behaved in a very strict manner, sitting and watching. Our family fished with nets from my Grandfather’s tar paper shack on Red Lake, he was half Lakota and half Chippewa. There were many extended family members helping. Elder talk gave insight into a culture hidden, it was even taboo or something that we needed to move on from. An abrupt change took me to boarding school in South Dakota and interactions in a school that was managed by non-Indians but seemed all the work was done by different tribes. Growing-up was often interrupted by trauma of family struggles. My father and mother worked hard to raise 7 children, but I recall my older brother and sister going to live with Grandpa and Grandma in Red Lake. I remember a couple of times being sent to live with families out state that cared for me and my brother so my parents could have a respite. Watching my father struggle with alcoholism and my mother unable to drink socially. There was domestic violence which led to hard times. I have many memories of my older sisters taking care of us younger kids. My teen years often emulated what was going on at home, drinking, arguing, dysfunction. High school was a safer place I played football, engaged in Native activities with peers. Rewarded with a scholarship to play football and taking on leadership roles among Native students developed a more hopeful young man. Through my adolescence there was authentic and positive learning from well-meaning teachers and peers. Those experiences created a determination that I could make a better future staying in school. However, the difficulty of discovering a sound foundation of who I was took me down many paths, some paths led toward self-destruction. Many childhood experiences saw relatives' struggle, but there were also memories of happiness that provided hope. There were several life experiences that give a closer understanding of the man I came to be. Public school brought me friends of all races, but Native students gravitated to one another and were supported in learning more of our culture. A great influence and instrumental in my life was Mr. Blackhawk, full-blood Winnebago (Ho-Chunk), he came to teach high-school English my sophomore year, he died forty-two years later. To many this is a lifetime, for me during those years he was teacher, mentor, and friend. In high school he supported American Indian student’s development, giving us life experiences undreamed of! He supported Native students club, organizing True American Native Students (T.A.N.S.), he helped us apply for grant dollars to bring 65 Native high school students throughout the western United States, staying at BIA Schools. This event had many highlights but sneaking out to Alcatraz Island during the occupation was the best part of the trip. Experiencing cultural activities because of him included traditional dance, pow-wow, visiting his and other reservations, tanning bear hide, outdoor Native traditional games, making a big drum, beading, Native American Church, sweat lodge and so much more. Mr. Blackhawk wanted us to become leaders. He instilled the importance of health, he was a coach. We learned he was one of the first to run from Mankato to Bdote while in college! Later this run became a healing ceremony of the Dakota. Other influential experiences as a young man are studying in Europe with 24 American Indian high school and college students, occupying Wounded Knee in 1973, teaching at Heart of the Earth Survival School. I struggled profusely with alcoholism but watched friends and relatives succumb to the disease. I worked hard for a higher education, teaching, and leadership roles. The Wounded Knee Occupation 1973 changed my life, giving me cultural insight and great pride I was willing to give my life! The American Indian Movement gave me a "cause" that made it easier to be militant. I was a militant, the culture of our people put me on a road that continues to burn in my heart! Going into a ceremony or just experiencing the camaraderie of relatives, peers, or just Natives as much as I did in life seemed a part of me, natural. To this day my experiences produce intense pride and worth to have grown-up in an era that created change! Those cultural memories, events, and making them a part of my life gave me lifelong fulfillment. Happiness and love are feelings now the foundation of cultural learning I've come to understand over time. Today I listen, share, read, and am a part of Native American life with my family as well as, in and out of work. I am honored and filled with gratitude to do what I do! In the city my family participated in community activities that brought Native families together at picnics, softball games, or parties among other Native people. Those gatherings provided insight into the lives and subsequent knowledge that there are others like us. Catholic school gave us a uniform religious life shared by relatives in and away from the city. Inner city public school had no teaching or curricular lessons about Native culture until Mr. Blackhawk arrived. Fortunately, many positive cultural experiences occurred when, as an adolescent, my ideal job in life was to figure out how to be an adult. Native people were practicing a pride in their being Indian, the pow-wow phenomenon was developing and entertaining a new outlook of hope. Minneapolis Indian community were clamoring for ways to do good for our relatives. Indian Centers became resources for housing, work, and contact with Native professionals who could guide the newest Native people in the Twin Cities. The American Indian Movement was starting along with Heart of the Earth Survival School and Red School House. My work in the public schools with Native children, Native and non-native staff has influenced many lives in our community. Native American culture in the Twin Cities has kept me engaged in many aspects of our culture. This has been my own story of growth.