The youth on the rez

The youth of my reservation are lost.
I am sure they are not the only lost youth.
But the youth here are lost.
I wished I had the money to make a documentary on the youth here.
I see them "acting ghetto or gangster" like it's cool.
I see them identifying with other cultures.
It's bad enough drugs and alcohol reign so supreme, already. But when Hollywood shows youth who are looking for an identity that it is tough to go around with a gun, shooting at people, or each other..it makes me sad that some of these kids had short lives and they don't know who they are, where they are from or what a great, strong people they belong to. They only identify with Hollywood.
Back when I wrote a blog about Wounded Knee, I did that for my children. I was writing all the time in a blogging community. I was literally attacked by a guy from Alabama. for "living in the past." Of course he not only attacked Indians on the reservations, he also attacked the Jewish saying they should forget the Holocaust, and Blacks telling them to forget slavery. I was very hurt, then I pulled my big girl panties up and went to word war with him. While some of the stuff I said was not very nice or does not need to be repeated because I can go off with my curse words at times...ok most of the time, but I was hit in the head with the realization that ignorance is still alive. While I was trying to explain to him that history should be honored, he was saying history is garbage. Then he had to be reminded that almost every holiday we have on our calendar is from a certain date in the history of someone, some people, somewhere.
I came to the conclusion that my children will always know about the past of our people. They will know of the massacres, the broken treaties, etc. At the same time, they will know what strong people we are. That we endured, survived, and moved on. They will know this not to "cry around" about the past. They will know this because it will show them as Lakota's they are capable of anything.

*The above post is my entry for this week's column...sorry for reapeating history from 360 lol, but I figured it was time for the readers of the column to know.