WEBVTT

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[gentle music]

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- Rainer Posselt: I knew
I always wanted

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to be a healer,
but I don't think I knew

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what path it was gonna be.

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I started wanting to be
a doctor,

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then it was
a nurse practitioner,

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but then it just really clicked
that talking can be my medicine.

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Words are my medicine.

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Konamanthe, ndineeweethe Rainer.

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Niya Mã'eekaneew,
Mã'eekaneewe Seekwaneewik nom.

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Niya aachumookees.

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So, my name is Rainer.

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I am Stockbridge-Munsee.

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I'm from here
on the reservation,

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and I'm a therapist.

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Psychology and counseling
is very Western,

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and if you have a deeply rooted
Indigenous identity,

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you know who you are.

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You can kind of blend
both of them.

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And that helps meet Native
patients where they're at.

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Western therapy pushes people

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towards choice
and individualism.

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I moved to Milwaukee
when I was 18.

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I feel like I can be myself
in Milwaukee.

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Me and my friend joke
that we're Rez City Indians

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because we grew up on the rez
and moved to the city.

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I have room to grow
into who I wanna be

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without maybe
a community expectation

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or a family expectation.

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It speaks more to individual
growth than collective growth.

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Working on the rez and still
having a home in Milwaukee

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is the best of both worlds.

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There is beauty in being
connected to blood

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and also having room
to be yourself in the city.

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For collectivist communities
like Native communities,

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it's like, "How can I have
volition, autonomy

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within the contexts of, like,
a family or a community?"

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And a lot of the times,
it's compromise.

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Like, it's "How can I help
my family, my community,

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and get my own needs met?"

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So, I run an art therapy group.

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It's a nonverbal way
to process emotion,

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so it's creating kind of like
a physical safety

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to calm the limbic system.

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Not much needs to be said.

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It's amazing how some healing
can happen

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without any words, you know?

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Sometimes, healing
is this creating

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or being in community, talking.

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Well studies show that

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any time you incorporate
activities

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that encourage
cultural identity growth,

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that it has good outcomes
for patients.

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Potato stamps are a traditional
Mohican art.

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When we would make baskets,

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we'd often decorate them
with potatoes

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and use dyes
from different roots and plants.

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It kind of teaches us

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that there's beauty
in imperfections,

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'cause it's not always gonna
come out the way you want it to.

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Does that make it
any less valuable?

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I don't think so, you know.

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And there's lessons in that.

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And, you know,
also lessons in failure,

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and sometimes,
you gotta start over.

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My family, there's a lot
of wisdom

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and knowledge on plants.

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I take pride in incorporating
Indigenous practices

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such as smudging or herbal
medicine into my practice.

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A plant has a spirit,
so any time we're using a plant,

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we're asking to give its spirit
to us.

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Medicines that we burned,

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we're taking that energy,
and it helps heal.

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Sweetgrass,
it's a feminine energy.

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It reminds us of our mothers,
of our grandmas.

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It's sweet, it's springtime.

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And sometimes,
when a patient is,

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they're bringing in a lot
of grief,

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it can just clear that
out of the room.

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Remind them that
life is still sweet, you know?

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Spring will come.

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In a lot
of the creation stories,

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like, cedar was the first tree,
right?

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So, cedar is
a very powerful medicine.

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It has a lot of, like,
physical benefits,

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but it also helps us
get rid of grief

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and also helps us
deal with fear too.

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I think in my own community,

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my dream is that it will become
less stigmatized

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and people will be more open
to seeking help

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when they need it.

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And that's why therapists,

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that's why we do what we do
is to help.

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So, if I'm able to include,
like, traditional art forms

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or things connected to history,

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I think it's a form
of radical healing,

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of building identity,

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of being proud of who you are,
knowing who you are.

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'Cause someone once told me,

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"If you know who you are,
what can stop you?"

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[singing in Ojibwe]

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["Prayer Loop Song" by Supaman]

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- Keller Paap: We knew that
the number of existing elders

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who spoke Ojibwe fluently,

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who were raised
with Ojibwe as a first language,

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were vastly diminishing.

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So, we knew we had
to do something quick.

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And so, that's why we started
"Waadookodaading."

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[speaking Ojibwe]

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- Brooke Ammann:
Waadookodaading, it's a place

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where our language lives,
where the Ojibwe language lives.

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- [speaking Ojibwe]

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["Prayer Loop Song" by Supaman]

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- Keller: Language-- I think
with any cultural practice,

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it has a specific vocabulary
and teachings

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that are associated with
each activity in that practice.

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So, for instance, all the words
about boiling sap,

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the way that it boils,

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have specific terms
that describe it

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very, very accurately

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and allow you to develop
a deep comprehension

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of the activity and why
you do it and how you do it.

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- [speaking Ojibwe]

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[children singing in Ojibwe]
- Keller: I always say

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it's an educational
experience for students,

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but it's a community movement.

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We're facing some really unique
challenges right now.

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- Brooke: We have a lot of
statistics that are against us.

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We have a lot of issues
with abuse and suicide,

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that show us as not being
the most healthy of communities.

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And I always think of it,

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not just in terms of
our culture surviving,

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but really,
our people surviving.

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- [speaking Ojibwe]

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- Keller: I didn't learn
to speak Ojibwe as a child,

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but when I started studying it
as an adult in college,

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I quickly realized how much
knowledge and capacity

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there is in a language

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to know who you are,
where you come from,

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how to see the world
in that unique way.

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- [speaking Ojibwe]

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- Keller: It's certainly
academically rigorous.

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It's not just a culture program.

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It's not just
a language program.

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[speaking Ojibwe]

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Ultimately, it's prepping them

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and building
an intellectual framework

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that they'll be able
to apply to and adapt to.

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No matter where they are in the
world, that will help them.

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And I think they're prepared

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with knowledge and ability
that they feel proud of,

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that they feel connected to
their ancestry in a deeper way.

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They have a much broader
and deeper understanding

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of Ojibwe perspective
in relation to

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the local community,
the local environment,

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and the world.

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[vocable singing]

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- Chris McGeshick: So,
the Creator put these gifts

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on Earth for us.

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And we too
are one of those gifts.

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These are all lives
that are being provided to us

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so that we can continue to live.

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But in order to do that,
and to do it the right way,

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we have to provide an offering
to the Creator

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and to the fish itself.

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Everybody's putting out their
tobacco.

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It's called asemaa
in our language.

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And they offer this aseema
and they pray to the Creator,

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and they pray to that being,
that life

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that's about to give itself up.

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You can now harvest
and you can feel good about it.

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The Creator respects that.

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The animals respect that.

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The life expects that.

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Subsistence harvest is really,
truly that.

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It's so that you can survive.

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It's part of our culture,
it's part of our ceremonies,

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it's part of our daily life.

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We're looking
to pass on those cultures,

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those teachings,
those methods of harvest.

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With the tribe, what we did was

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we put together
all of the harvesters,

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and we gave them the opportunity

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to provide
what their knowledge was

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to share
with the community members.

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We're gonna be running some
unattended lines,

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some jig fishing,

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and we'll also be doing
some tip-ups,

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and we'll be spearing
through the ice as well.

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And some of the kids
are gonna be working tonight

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on making their own decoys
for spearing through the ice.

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That's what we're gonna
focus on,

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as well as having
really good food.

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In this camp is nothing but fun.

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Their first harvest,
it's spectacular.

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You see the smiles
on these kids' faces

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and these parents' faces when
their kid's hugging this fish

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and carrying it around
and getting all slimy and wet.

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Once that happens,

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the individuals seem
to get hooked on the practice

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and they come back out,

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and they'll do it
from year to year.

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Those kids that were there
in 2014 are now adults,

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and they're coming out

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and they're teaching
what they learn.

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We're highly adaptive.

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You know,
if something comes out,

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we're gonna try it
and we're gonna utilize it.

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If there's a new harvest method,

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we're gonna try to encompass
those within our camp.

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We really wanna get 'em
hooked on fishing.

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And so, here at this camp,
we're also gonna infuse

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a little bit
of that new technology

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and bring the electronics
out on the ice

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so that they can work with it.

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We want our family members
and our youngsters

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to learn how to take care
of themselves.

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Whatever we provide,

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when you're provided
this equipment

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and you're provided this
knowledge, you utilize it

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so that you can survive
in the event you need to.

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I think it's important
to thank our relatives

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and our ancestors
for preserving

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and protecting these rights

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for us and for the
future generations.

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We have that responsibility.

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They had that responsibility.

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They endured
what they had to endure

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to preserve the right for us
to go out there and harvest.

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And the subsistence harvest
is just the next opportunity

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for that next generation.

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The tribe is investing
in itself.

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The tribe is investing
in its future.

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You can sit there
and you can think sometimes

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and visualize seven generations.

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That first generation had the
responsibility to preserve

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and protect what that last
generation that you see

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is now able to enjoy.

00:14:41.375 --> 00:14:44.500
[gentle music]

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- Dylan Jennings: Sometimes,
it gets hard

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to balance these two worlds.

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There's different
responsibilities

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that I hold at school.

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There's different
responsibilities

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that I hold
for the Powwow Trail.

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I'm a junior
at UW-Madison.

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I come from the Bad River Band
of Lake Superior Ojibwe.

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["Electric Pow Wow Drum"
by A Tribe Called Red]

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[vocable singing]

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- Announcer: All right,
don't go away gentlemen.

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- Dylan: A powwow
is a social gathering.

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This is like our way

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of bringing our whole
Native community together.

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- Announcer: Okay, I believe
we are ready

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for our first round entry.

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So, we are gonna ask
those of you that are able

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to please rise, remove the
covers off your head,

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to pay respects not only just
to our Stars and Stripes,

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but to the original flag of this
continent, our Eagle Staffs.

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- Dylan: The veterans
play a huge role

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because they
went to battle for us.

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They went to battle
for our people,

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and they always have.

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Powwows are used as a means
to educate people.

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That's why they're so open
to the public and everything.

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A lot of people classify
Native Americans

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as you know, "Oh,
they're all Indians."

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Well, no, you know.

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We're all from
different nations

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that are all really,
really different.

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We all have
different languages.

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We all have
different ways of life.

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And we're
completely different.

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Just from being
on the Powwow Trail,

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you get to learn so much
about different Native nations.

00:17:08.250 --> 00:17:10.834
When I was just a little guy,
I'd watch those

00:17:10.834 --> 00:17:11.542
men's traditional dancers,

00:17:11.542 --> 00:17:16.291
and they always had a big
impression on me, you know?

00:17:16.291 --> 00:17:16.999
And I always saw them as

00:17:16.999 --> 00:17:20.709
you know, like, almost like the
protectors of the powwow.

00:17:20.709 --> 00:17:24.041
[vocable singing]

00:17:24.875 --> 00:17:26.709
It's almost like I'm hunting,

00:17:26.709 --> 00:17:27.999
especially when you
do the sneak up.

00:17:27.999 --> 00:17:30.041
You're out there
looking for your prey

00:17:30.041 --> 00:17:33.375
or for your Waawaashkeshi,
we call it.

00:17:33.375 --> 00:17:35.667
That's our word for deer.

00:17:47.500 --> 00:17:50.625
I started singing with Midnite
Express a few years ago.

00:17:50.625 --> 00:17:53.583
Those people on that drum
are my family.

00:17:53.583 --> 00:17:56.999
[vocable singing]

00:17:58.333 --> 00:18:00.458
Sometimes, like when
it's not a contest song,

00:18:00.458 --> 00:18:03.417
I'll get to look out there
and see all those feathers

00:18:03.417 --> 00:18:05.125
out there, moving
and bobbing with the beat,

00:18:05.125 --> 00:18:09.291
people just jamming out,
and that's a great feeling.

00:18:10.875 --> 00:18:14.500
[drumming and vocable singing]

00:18:21.500 --> 00:18:25.500
["Electric Pow Wow Drum"
by A Tribe Called Red]

00:18:27.917 --> 00:18:28.500
When you're dancing,

00:18:28.500 --> 00:18:30.999
you're dancing for the ones
that can't dance anymore.

00:18:30.999 --> 00:18:31.583
That's what they say.

00:18:31.583 --> 00:18:34.999
You dance hard so the ones that
are watching that can't dance

00:18:34.999 --> 00:18:37.792
or the ones that aren't
able to make it to the powwow

00:18:37.792 --> 00:18:40.041
can feel those feelings
from here.

00:18:42.041 --> 00:18:44.208
I really try
to encourage younger--

00:18:44.208 --> 00:18:47.458
I call them little brothers
on the Powwow Trail.

00:18:47.458 --> 00:18:49.041
That's another reason
I dance and sing,

00:18:49.041 --> 00:18:51.250
is to help motivate
these young ones

00:18:51.250 --> 00:18:53.999
to carry on our traditions.

00:18:59.959 --> 00:19:02.542
I really feel that I was
put here on this earth

00:19:02.542 --> 00:19:04.999
to help pass things on.

00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:12.375
I want to see these traditions,
these ways, passed down

00:19:12.375 --> 00:19:14.999
'til I'm gone, and on.

00:19:29.709 --> 00:19:32.999
- Hunter VanZile: It's very
nerve-wracking at the start.

00:19:33.750 --> 00:19:34.625
We could all crash

00:19:34.625 --> 00:19:37.583
and we could all go through
smoothly.

00:19:38.041 --> 00:19:40.709
But when they wave
the green flag,

00:19:40.709 --> 00:19:45.999
all the pain, all the anxiety,
nervous,

00:19:45.999 --> 00:19:48.000
everything just drops.

00:19:55.583 --> 00:19:56.625
My name's Hunter VanZile,

00:19:56.625 --> 00:20:00.625
and I drive a Pro Spec
for Championship Off-road.

00:20:01.333 --> 00:20:04.667
This one is the
Forest County Potawatomi Cup.

00:20:05.999 --> 00:20:07.625
We're all as a family,
we're all communities

00:20:07.625 --> 00:20:11.125
coming together
and enjoying the racetrack.

00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:14.999
That's Forest County Potawatomi.

00:20:21.041 --> 00:20:23.999
My dad let me race
short-course karts

00:20:23.999 --> 00:20:26.208
about nine years ago.

00:20:26.417 --> 00:20:28.667
He supports me
more than anything.

00:20:28.667 --> 00:20:30.125
It's just, he's my backbone.

00:20:30.125 --> 00:20:32.709
He's taught me everything
he knows,

00:20:32.709 --> 00:20:34.041
and I've learned from that.

00:20:34.041 --> 00:20:37.875
We kind of had
that bonded, two heads at it,

00:20:37.875 --> 00:20:44.125
and we knew what we needed
to do to be involved in racing.

00:20:44.834 --> 00:20:47.625
He'll tell me, like, to do this.

00:20:47.625 --> 00:20:49.999
And then I'll say,
"No, let me do this."

00:20:49.999 --> 00:20:50.999
And there's just,

00:20:50.999 --> 00:20:52.750
he knows a little bit more
than I do,

00:20:52.750 --> 00:20:54.750
and I know a little bit more
than him.

00:20:54.750 --> 00:20:56.583
We work our way through it.

00:21:00.834 --> 00:21:03.999
My first-ever race,
my dad was my spotter.

00:21:04.792 --> 00:21:06.999
I had no idea what I was doing
out there,

00:21:06.999 --> 00:21:08.999
but we got lucky
and got a third.

00:21:08.999 --> 00:21:11.999
As soon as I got up on the
podium, I knew, I was like,

00:21:11.999 --> 00:21:14.000
"All right, this is exactly
what I wanna do

00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:17.000
the rest of my life is do this."

00:21:17.625 --> 00:21:20.375
Back then, was just,
it was just a family thing.

00:21:20.375 --> 00:21:22.875
And now we have sponsors,
the community,

00:21:22.875 --> 00:21:26.999
my family, friends,
everyone's there with me now.

00:21:29.250 --> 00:21:32.083
After I won in Bark River,
the tribe,

00:21:32.083 --> 00:21:36.500
Forest County Potawatomi
and the whole community seen it.

00:21:36.500 --> 00:21:39.500
And that really exposed me
out there.

00:21:39.500 --> 00:21:40.959
I got my name out there,

00:21:40.959 --> 00:21:45.166
and I was the first-ever
Native American to do it.

00:21:45.166 --> 00:21:48.166
That caught a lot of people's
attention.

00:21:48.166 --> 00:21:49.834
That's when I felt like

00:21:49.834 --> 00:21:53.625
the community was right with me
the whole entire time.

00:21:55.125 --> 00:21:57.999
Yeah, I try to give back
as much as I can.

00:21:57.999 --> 00:21:59.625
I would love to work
with the tribe.

00:21:59.625 --> 00:22:03.999
I usually bring my truck
up to the rec center

00:22:03.999 --> 00:22:06.583
to show the kids, like,
what it's all about.

00:22:06.583 --> 00:22:10.083
Yeah, they always wanna get in
and touch every button in there

00:22:10.083 --> 00:22:13.917
and just slam the gas
is what they wanna do.

00:22:16.125 --> 00:22:20.000
Anyone is willing to help,
if you ask.

00:22:21.458 --> 00:22:23.208
I might not know the guy,
but if I ask,

00:22:23.208 --> 00:22:26.041
"Hey, can I get a hand with this
on my shock setup?"

00:22:26.041 --> 00:22:28.375
I mean, they're willing to help.

00:22:29.959 --> 00:22:31.999
There's been times
where I broke parts

00:22:31.999 --> 00:22:32.999
and I needed help.

00:22:32.999 --> 00:22:34.834
Yeah, there's always people
that are willing

00:22:34.834 --> 00:22:37.458
to help us get there.

00:22:39.999 --> 00:22:43.709
I got a lot of friends
that are supporting us.

00:22:43.709 --> 00:22:44.375
Sponsors is a big thing.

00:22:44.375 --> 00:22:48.083
I mean, Forest County Potawatomi
has been there since I started.

00:22:48.083 --> 00:22:50.875
I have a lot of family
supporting me,

00:22:50.875 --> 00:22:53.375
a lot of friends
that will support me.

00:22:54.583 --> 00:22:55.291
I have my dad helping me,

00:22:55.291 --> 00:22:58.542
and my mom's there to cook
and keep us fed and everything,

00:22:58.542 --> 00:23:01.250
and my sisters are there
for the entertainment.

00:23:01.250 --> 00:23:05.166
Everyone, every single one
of them keeps me happy.

00:23:06.834 --> 00:23:11.375
Even if I travel out far,
Crandon's my hometown.

00:23:11.375 --> 00:23:15.041
This whole community
is all there with me.

00:23:15.999 --> 00:23:18.959
[gentle music]

00:23:29.750 --> 00:23:32.999
[drumming]

00:23:34.583 --> 00:23:36.125
- Jessica House: I started
playing ball

00:23:36.125 --> 00:23:38.125
when I was eight years old.

00:23:38.125 --> 00:23:39.542
I just had
a really good passion

00:23:39.542 --> 00:23:42.291
to play basketball
for Oneida Nation.

00:23:42.291 --> 00:23:47.333
Basketball is my life,
and so is the culture.

00:23:47.333 --> 00:23:48.417
My name is Jessica House.

00:23:48.417 --> 00:23:53.250
I am a senior, and I play
for the Lady Thunderhawks.

00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:59.999
To be a Lady Thunderhawk,
you have to learn discipline.

00:23:59.999 --> 00:24:01.291
I mean, you're role models.

00:24:01.291 --> 00:24:03.583
You've got to think
about how you're acting

00:24:03.583 --> 00:24:05.750
out in public.

00:24:10.208 --> 00:24:11.250
[singing and drumming]

00:24:11.250 --> 00:24:13.625
In order to play basketball
at Oneida,

00:24:13.625 --> 00:24:15.999
you have to be in the culture.

00:24:15.999 --> 00:24:17.041
You have to participate.

00:24:17.041 --> 00:24:20.291
Not a lot of girls were
raised into it, where I was.

00:24:20.291 --> 00:24:23.291
But they are starting
to find their ways now.

00:24:23.291 --> 00:24:26.375
And some of them even
come to Long House now.

00:24:26.375 --> 00:24:28.709
[singing and drumming]

00:24:32.834 --> 00:24:33.999
It's important because I think

00:24:33.999 --> 00:24:36.333
it helps know
who they really are.

00:24:36.333 --> 00:24:40.166
'Cause sometimes you get so
caught up in the other world.

00:24:43.166 --> 00:24:45.250
There's other girls,
like me and Tasha,

00:24:45.250 --> 00:24:47.375
we take separate classes
out of school

00:24:47.375 --> 00:24:49.709
for an actual language class.

00:24:49.709 --> 00:24:51.917
Our teacher, Shalihókt,
when he was younger,

00:24:51.917 --> 00:24:55.917
there was more of the elders
around that spoke the language,

00:24:55.917 --> 00:24:59.125
whereas now
we don't really hear it.

00:24:59.125 --> 00:25:00.750
- [speaking Oneida]

00:25:00.750 --> 00:25:03.500
Have you learned,
have you learned it?

00:25:05.291 --> 00:25:08.250
- Jessica: Shalihókt teaches us
words to say.

00:25:08.250 --> 00:25:10.208
Every time we go for a huddle,
we go:

00:25:10.208 --> 00:25:12.999
- [speaking Oneida]
Whoo!

00:25:12.999 --> 00:25:16.959
["Native Puppy Love"
by A Tribe Called Red]

00:25:18.792 --> 00:25:23.333
[all cheering]
Yay!

00:25:24.291 --> 00:25:27.999
- We have 11 girls
on this Lady T-hawk team.

00:25:29.792 --> 00:25:31.458
I am captain.

00:25:31.458 --> 00:25:32.250
I'm also the point guard,

00:25:32.250 --> 00:25:35.999
so I'm expected
to keep the game going,

00:25:35.999 --> 00:25:38.333
keep everyone under control.

00:25:38.333 --> 00:25:41.000
Keep myself under control!

00:25:55.291 --> 00:26:00.458
Before, we had hardly any people
in the stands.

00:26:00.458 --> 00:26:04.375
My sophomore year,
the fans started to fill in.

00:26:05.500 --> 00:26:07.583
My parents
only missed one game

00:26:07.583 --> 00:26:10.500
out of the three years
I've been at Oneida.

00:26:10.500 --> 00:26:11.166
I think it's really cool

00:26:11.166 --> 00:26:14.709
when all the parents are there
supporting their daughters.

00:26:14.709 --> 00:26:16.999
It gives us our energy.

00:26:29.458 --> 00:26:30.999
I don't know
how the other girls see it,

00:26:30.999 --> 00:26:35.458
but there's no better feeling
than when you play basketball.

00:26:35.750 --> 00:26:39.083
["Native Puppy Love"
by A Tribe Called Red]