Native Suicide-Prevention Counselor Nurtures Hope

Help and hope — this Native suicide-prevention counselor is offering both to a community with one of the highest suicide rates in the country.

Transcript

00:00Any time you're going through anything and you feel lonely, you feel down, you feel sad,

00:13depressed, you feel like you want to take your own life, talk to somebody because I've

00:17been there.

00:18I ain't going to say when, but I've been there.

00:21I was contemplating my own life on a balcony.

00:36Don't ever, ever, ever be ashamed of who you are, what you have, and where you come from.

00:43Anybody that says any kind of BS or crap to you guys, don't hold onto that.

00:49It's ignorance that comes from those people that don't know anything or don't know any

00:53better.

00:54I was using the restroom at school when a group of boys walked in and locked the door

01:06behind them.

01:08They beat me up, pulled my hair, and put soap in my eyes.

01:23Don't ever be ashamed of your long hair.

01:25You need to understand that you having long hair makes you more connected, more spiritual,

01:32stronger, resilient, powerful.

01:36The biggest misconception is that we grow it just to grow it, just because we're Native.

01:42It's because it's who we are and what we stand for, and it's because our ancestors before

01:46us, hundreds of years, thousands of years before us, had long hair, and we're keeping

01:50the traditions alive.

01:59I stand up for what is wrong, and what's wrong is indigenous people even thinking about

02:05contemplating life, and this is why I became certified in suicide prevention.

02:10This is why I spend countless hours inside a car, sleepless nights inside a car, traveling

02:16across if it's New York, whether it's Florida, Seminole Tribe, where it's the Seneca Nation.

02:22This is why I don't sleep at night.