Gangs take a back seat

Page 8

Ryan Runearth wants to change the whole world. Not a small feat, but with his mother's help, Ryan believes the two of them can at least make the world a better place.

Vicki Runearth raised her four children with a sense that nothing is impossible if they believe in the Creator and in each other. Now, her two eldest daughters are mothers and they still follow what Vicki calls the red road.

That road began on the Swan Valley Reserve in Manitoba where Vicki grew up and learned the legends and the traditions of the Saulteaux and Sioux people.

"I was one of the fortunate ones. There were seven kids in my family and always other foster kids as well. My dad would go and pick up the Elders, bring them to our house and they would tell us stories."

Now Vicki is the one telling the stories. For 22 years she has worked with young people and families as a social worker and as a volunteer. She pushed for anti-sniff laws, for a Native child welfare agency, and for the rights of children being taken by the Children's Aid Society of Manitoba and sold across the border.

"CAS were selling our children for $4,000 per child into the United States. We had to stop it. We had to speak out."

When Vicki worked in the 1970s for Eastern Child and Family Services, she was one of only two Aboriginal people working in the field in Winnipeg. She said there was no recognition then of how important it is to have people of your own background to work through problems with.

Today, Vicki and her son Ryan have turned their attention to one of Winnipeg's biggest problems - the gangs. The Runearths go to schools and give workshops teaching children, Native and non-Native, about the legends, about the pipe and the smudge. While Vicki tells the traditional stories, Ryan speaks to the kids in their own language. Four years ago he was heading in the direction of a gang when his father died in an accident.

"My father's death brought me back. I was into the gang thing. I had no control over myself and no one had control over me."

When Ryan decided to turn back to his mother's teachings, he also started dancing. Hoop dancing is now a very big part of his life. He holds the record in Manitoba for the number of hoops handled at once - 100.

As a youth ambassador last year, Ryan traveled with Manitoba's Lieutenant Governer, Yvon Dumont, to communities throughout Manitoba as part of the 125th anniversary celebrations for the province.

An opportunity that saw him travel to Big Cove, N. B. as a youth ambassador was exciting, but Ryan was shocked at what he found there.

"There was so much drinking. So much partying. People laughed at us, laughed at the idea of sweats, of healing. They think it's a joke. They made fun of us because we had long hair. They called us Pocahontas. They are the lost people.They have lost their culture."

Ryan is determined not to let that happen to Aboriginal children or teenagers in Manitoba. Mother and son travel daily to schools all over Winnipeg, working to help young people turn their lives around.

Since receiving the premier's 1997 volunteer services award, Ryan's life is so busy at times he barely has time to unpack before he is off again. This summer he plans to pack up again to travel with his family to the powwows and dance competitions across the country.

"My dream is to go to Arizona and become the world champion hoop dancer. When I dance, people can't believe I'm only 16. It fills me up somehow."

Vicki has complete faith in Ryan, as she has in all the children she talks to every day. She says the most important part of her life is to teach the children about who they are and why they should be proud of who they are. She said when the children learn, they have no need for gangs.