CECELIAAAA

1) It is important for native youth to tell their stories so that others see what it’s like to live in poverty, and racism, and to see how drugs and alcohol affect the native american communities and home life.

2) I have experienced seeing my family being addicted to drugs and alcohol, and it really took a piece of them even after they recovered. It also hurt my sober family and I as well. It was and still is hard to see the ones I love hurt themselves. I think the ones that take it day by day, are making the biggest difference in our community. It is one step closer to healing us as a whole, so we can continue our ways and traditions, and keep our reservation safe and clean, so that future children will be able to play in the neighborhood without worrying about accidents, or their parents worrying about child abduction.

3) ‘Smoke Signals’ really captured my attention when I saw that it had a lot of similarities to what life on the reservation is really like, and how it can affect native american children. The movie really shows how drugs and alcohol can really tear families apart, and damage childhood for the children of the parents witnessing the domestic violence and self harm. It also shows that we can learn from our parents’ choices, and addictions. A really big part of addictions is losing loved ones, and really learning how to cope with loss, and accepting things that we can not change. All we know is that in order to heal and inspire the people around us, that we have to be healthy, and to be leaders