Natives' problems know no borders

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The problems for Native people are much the same on both sides of the Canadian-United States border, according to Patrick Spotted Wolf, a Cheyenne-Arapahoe dancer.

Spotted Wolf, who is semi-retired, travels the powwow circuit with his wife Sandra, daughter and grandchildren each year. This year they went from their Oklahoma home throughout the northwestern states in B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Alcohol and drug abuse and loss of identity are the major problems facing Native people he sees wherever he travels, along with a real need for more cultural training in schools. There have been improvements, but many people still have misconceptions about Indians.

"The Indian is still the bad guy, the blood-thirsty savage. The view that the Indian was only trying to protect his home as any normal person would do is not put across."

Severe cuts to federal grants for Natives in the U.S., coupled with a trend toward assimilation, may cause future problems.

"Moving to the city, getting a job and a house and a car like everybody else is good for the young people now. But when they are in their thirties, they are going to want to go back to their own ways, to their own culture."

Oklahoma granted allotments of 160 acres to Natives in the 1890's. His family is among the very few to still live on an allotment. Most have been leased to farmers and the families have moved to the cities.

Tribal governments try to do what they can to help their people through cultural and treatment programs, but too often there is not enough money.

Spotted Wolf wants his own children to have a strong Indian identity and to know they can live in both worlds.

A veteran of the Vietnam war, he was a U.S. Marine E4 (Corporal) serving in

Da Nang in 1965-66. In his time, Native men were encouraged to enter the military to become warriors. Unlike non-Native Vietnam veterans, who often returned to abuse, Native veterans returned to celebrations and dances in their honor.