Vol. 15, No. 4, Spring 2002

Taking Change By The Horns

Mikela Jones

Sin Wa Ma, hello. My name is Mikela Jones and I am from the Redwood Valley Little River Band of Pomo Indians. I am twenty years old and a sophomore at California State University, Sacramento. I was asked to write this article about youth and issues that youth are facing. The best way I can write this is to share the issues that I grew up with because a lot of young people growing up now have to deal with the same things.

I grew up on the rez for more than half my life and enjoyed the peace and chaos that it brought into my world. It does bring both. It brings peace of heart and mind because you have all your family there in your community. It was a blessing to have them there as I grew up. It was also chaotic because of some of the behavior common in everyday life. Fighting and drinking become the "norm" for the rez. When we develop a tolerance for the violence and abuse around us, it becomes common or natural. As I grew up as a young Indian man, the search to learn about my people and myself was hard. My father left us when I was very young, so I attempted to find those father figures or other male role models to look up to as I got older. I tried to find out what a real Indian man was. You see, in our community, we have role models as we grow up, good ones and bad ones, real ones and fake ones. But no matter who you are, you always have younger ones looking up to you. That makes you a mentor whether you like it or not. A lot of my role models as I grew up were drinkers and partiers. I thought they were cool because a lot of them were family, and they treated me like a friend. As I grew up I started following in their footsteps, the steps that lead to abuse. I found myself drinking and fighting with those that I thought were friends. My mother tried her hardest to keep me from following this path but it was her against a lot of other people and she was out-numbered.

My mother is a blessing to me and I thank the Creator every day for allowing me to be her son. My trouble was I was angry with my father. The only way that I knew how to cope with the pain was to drink and fight around. That is what my mentors taught me. Not only was I mad about my father, I was also mad about my people, the loss of our culture and land and all of our ancestors. But my mother was always there to keep my eyes on the right path. I might have been walking on the wrong path for some time, but I could always see the right one, so I was not too far away.

My mother has always worked with youth, first as a pre-school teacher and now she is actively involved in youth leadership and wellness. As I grew up I always went with her to the trainings, but I never participated. I sat and watched as she facilitated trainings and watched the response of her audience. One day when we were riding in the car and she turned and said to me, "Kel, I do all this work for young people, leadership conferences and community events, but you never attend. How does that look when I am doing all this work for youth and my own son doesn’t even get involved?" From that moment on my life changed.

It felt like my eyes had been closed for more than half my life and then they finally opened. My mother taught me the Gathering Of Native Americans (GONA) model, a curriculum in which she was trained. The steps of this wellness program include Belonging, Interdependence, Mastery, and Generosity. I tried to use these aspects to shape my beliefs and the steps I take in life. I began to change my lifestyle and follow the steps to balance all aspects of the medicine wheel: Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, and Mental. Most importantly, that meant sobriety.

When I committed myself to following this lifestyle a lot of things changed in my life. This is where the doors started to open. I started with Belonging. I had to have something that I felt I belonged to and for me it was a local youth group called the Alliance of Adults and Youth. This group involved youth in community leadership. When I felt secure with this group I took the next step, Interdependence. A lot of us grow up with the notion of independence. Though that’s good at times, so is Interdependence, or working with and trusting others. I looked to my peers in this group to complete the goals of our program and promote wellness among our communities. For the third step, Mastery, I practiced and developed my skills as a trainer and began consulting on my own. I also came to college to get educated so I can master other things. As a college student, I see that these steps repeat in a constant cycle and now I am starting the last step, Generosity. I work for a program on campus called the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) where I am the outreach assistant. I do recruitment and outreach for the EOP and the campus. I am now giving back by helping students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds get into college. And the cycle continues on in this life and the next.

I am proud of the work I do; I love the work that I do. I am blessed for all the people I have met and all the opportunities in my life. I am one of those young men that started on the wrong foot and fell a couple times, but got up and brushed myself off. Thanks to so many, I am here, doing good things to help my people. I have to send a special thanks to my mother. I love her because she did not attempt to try to raise a man, but instead, to just raise a good person. I hope that if you are a young person and you’re going through some of the things I mention here, remember that success is not by chance but by choice, so choose to do your best and follow the path that leads to greatness. I feel that my ancestors did not fight and die for me to live today to work at the casino. I am not trying to disrespect anyone who works there; what I mean is that our ancestors knew how wonderful and beautiful we are and that we can be leaders, so why not manage the casino, aay! If you are not a youth, share your experience and knowledge with a young person that may need some guidance. There is only one thing that you can count on and that’s change. It is up to you to make it a good change or a bad change.