Details

Storyteller: Steven
Tribe: Oglala Lakota Nation
Created: 2019
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Transcript: Hello. My name is Steven Slow Bear.

I was born in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. For the first 8 years of my life, I grew up in Oglala, which is a housing complex south of Pine Ridge. I really don’t recall my grandparents. I had a few aunts and uncles, but they all passed, except one last uncle. I never really had a lot of cousins I grew up with. All I knew mostly was my immediate family. My biological father disowned me before I was born. My mother met my stepfather a year later and fell in love. They both had a good work ethic which was later instilled in me during my teen years. I was exposed to the life of drugs very young. I seen people pass away or get locked up.

It wasn’t long after I turned thirteen when I was soon introduced to the juvenile center. I had friends who were in the streets every day. I was drawn to the lifestyle and played my role in the dynamic street life. I eventually grew tired of that life and started my new life. I started work early in life, varnishing floors for my mother’s landlord at 13-years old. I then hauled potato bags in the summer a few times, but my first official job was working at White Castle when I was sixteen. I was on my own at the time. I was paying an elder, cash and alcohol, to stay in a backroom in his house while I worked at White Castle.

My mother eventually found me and convinced me to go back to school. I ended up at the Native American Native Arts High School where I eventually dropped out again. I coasted through life partying, working temp jobs until I got bored or fired. I worked in a lot of different fields. My favorites have always been the construction, landscaping, and carpentry fields. I worked warehouses, fast food, maintenance, and office jobs but could not commit to any job, person or way of life. I would hang with old friends and end up in jail off and on. The jail, treatment, and sober houses became a revolving door for me. I had a chance to see firsthand how drugs and alcohol affects people’s path in life. I looked back in my own life and I visualized what type of role model I needed in my life. I figured I can be that now for the world and my people.

I heard a quote when I was young and it said, “What man is a man, if he doesn’t make the world a better place.” Pondering on this I thought of all of the heroes of old like Crazy Horse, Dull Knife, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Touch the Clouds. I wondered what life they would have lead today in this society, and I envisioned myself living a life worthy of their appreciations. The statistics for Native Americans are crazy and I know we suffer from drugs and alcohol. Because of this I decided to become a drug and alcohol counselor.

I applied and got accepted to Minneapolis College, (formerly known as Minneapolis Community and Technical College: MCTC). Upon arriving, I got involved quick with the Native American Club and the Collegiate Recovery Program. I seen the Student Senate did not have much of a diverse population. I decided to get more involved so that my people can be represented well. I then got involved with the budget committee and the philosophy club which helped me help people. I took 4 classes my first semester while working 2 jobs, 5 classes my 2nd semester while working 3 jobs, and 4 classes this last semester with one job but more hours. I then became Vice President of Student Senate, Co-chair of the Student Life Budget committee, Co-chair of the Diversity committee, and all the while being Vice President of UNITE (United Nations of Indian Tribes for Education). I am currently President of UNITE.

After 16 years of not having a Pow Wow here at Minneapolis College, and after losing our Advisor, the College put it in the students’ hands to put a Pow Wow on. We made it happen and it was a success. We also put on the Native American Storytelling event and an end of the semester bar-b-que which is open to all people in and out of school. I also dreamed and made the Night of Culture and Music event happen which included Jackie Bird, the Lumhe Brothers, and the New Native Theatre and it was amazing. I work hard to help others succeed and I am doing my best every day to make my ancestors proud. I go to events in the communities like Pow Wows and Round Dances. I go to ceremonies and gatherings to show support to my community, to my elders, to children, and to my people. They say the cure is in the culture, I’ve seen it and it helps me to honor the Native American Code of Ethics and cherish the Seven Philosophies from the Red Road to Wellbriety. If there is one thing I can help others to live a better life, then it will be to remind people that you should never be afraid to chase your dreams.