Role models said key to Indian success

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CALGARY - Because of the lack of positive role models, Indian people are allowing the government to destroy their way of life through alcohol abuse, drug dependency and high suicide rates, said the executive director of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, (AISES).

Speaking during the first day of a two-day conference on Career Planning for Native people of Alberta, organized and run by Petro Canada and held in Calgary last week, Norbert Hill, Jr., an Oneida Indian from Wisconsin, said he was both angry and worried over the treatment of Indian people both in Canada and the United States.

"I worry to see Lysol and glue sniffing teenagers. I worry to see fetal alcohol babies and that 50 per cent of the jail population are Indians. My paranoia is that the government permits this. If you keep people drugged they do not become politicians, they do not have strong leadership and they are easy to destroy."

Hill added that this gloomy scenario need not happen if Indian people start looking at their positive attributes instead of dwelling on the negative.

"Alcohol abuse is an enemy, but it is internal. We've all experienced outside assault and we've survived. But alcohol is devastating us. It has been medically proven that 50 to 80 per cent of Indian people are genetically predisposed to alcoholism."

Hill pointed out that white people have been drinking alcohol for more than 2,000 years, whereas Indians were only introduced to alcohol about 200 years ago and their bodies cannot metabolize the alcohol and thus they become dependent upon it.

"If white people had the same predisposition, you wouldn't see a liquor store or a bar open in this city. But we have to realize that only abstinence can save us. We just cannot handle alcohol."

Hill feels that Indian people often do not realize that there are many positive scientific achievements made by Native people.

"It was Indian people who first discovered that the bark of the willow contains ASA, or aspirin, long before the white man came and "discovered" it. The canoe we made centuries ago is still a perfect example of engineering. It cannot be improved. We made snowshoes, irrigation, perfect time-keeping methods - this list goes on."

AISES was founded in 1977 to provide Indian youth with the opportunity to enter the world of science and engineering without leaving their cultural heritage or way of life behind, Hill told the audience, adding that he hopes that another chapter, this time in Alberta, will be opened soon.

"But even before AISES, we had role models. People like A.T. Anderson, a Mohawk scientist, who worked with Alberta Einstein during World War II. There is Mary Ross, who was the first Native woman engineer to work with Lockheed and the space program. And there is Bob Crippin, who's commander in the space shuttle. He is a Cherokee."

Hill pointed out that it is up to Indian people themselves to go out and get an education and to believe in themselves enough to go out into the workforce.

"You must realize that the buffalo have gone and the whiteman's staying. We need coherent planning and education, which means more than just a job, but whether our people are going to survive or not."

Hill encapsulated his ideas into four principles. You can do it if you believe you can do it. Don't give up. Your dreams can come true. And you can make it because the Creator will help you.

"The most valuable resource is the minds of your young people. It's a crime that there are only about 50 Native medical doctors. There should be at least 500, and it's not because we are not bright enough."

"We must use the wisdom of the past and the wisdom of the land. We are the 20th century warriors and the tool is education. The next war is going to be won or lost in the classroom.