Native Youth Are More Than Statistics | Elyssa (Sierra) Concha | TEDxYouth@DinosaurPark

my name is ELISA Sierra Concha and I am from the Pine Ridge Reservation here in South Dakota I am Lakota Ojibwe and Taos Pueblo I am here to give you a face to the news articles and stereotypes you may have read or heard about Native Americans in today's society being a young indigenous woman is definitely a unique journey and I am here to tell you my story the following are some of the negative statistics that dominate the mainstream press coverage of my people Native Americans make up about 2% of the nation's population we are a true minority the Indian Health Services reports concluded in 2009 that 20% of Native American adults were in dire need of drug and or alcohol treatment according to the Aspen Institute Native youth commit suicide 2.5 times higher than the national average the Oglala Lakota College reports that over 60% of students on the Pine Ridge Reservation won't will drop out of high school and one in every 100 will graduate from a four-year college the Department of Justice reports that one in three Native American women will be raped from the moment I entered school in kindergarten the weight of the negative expectations loomed over my head even though I didn't know it at the time in middle school I attended an elite private school and that's when it hit me the undeniable differences between me and the entire student body I was one of two natives in the entire school which ran from sixth through twelfth grade I felt like I wasn't good enough to be at a school like that I was surrounded by kids who had a lot of things handed to them I saw their gorgeous houses and for the first time in my life I realized that I wasn't upper-class for the first time I truly realized that I was a minority in a sea of lighter skin tones most of whom had privileges I never expected and had expectations laced on them that I never imagined I was different I came from a different culture and background but was I less I certainly felt like less although my peers never explicitly acknowledged it there was a clear divide between me and them I was less than I couldn't identify with my peers because their childhoods were vastly different from mine I have seen drugs and alcohol consumed my relatives and as a child I was powerless to stop it they suffered from a disease that I grew to fear to this very day they coped with their past demons through drowning themselves drink after drink it transformed those I love most into those into strangers I hardly knew and it scared me as a young child I found myself wondering which version I would see that night the one I knew entrusted or the one I had no idea how to talk to I struggled with my identity and why I couldn't relate to anyone around me I had completely lost sense of who I was and I felt this connected so my mom and I then decided it was time for us to move to the reservation it was time for us to go home and we four high school I moved to the reservation and I finally belonged I was around kids who actually understood me we all struggled in one way or another some more than others I vividly remember the afternoon standing in my school library when I heard the news of a friend committing suicide that day we had our first three classes together and I considered texting her when I didn't see her but I didn't everyone's voices dull to his silence I couldn't hear anything but my own thoughts why didn't she talk to me how could I not have noticed what were even the last words she said to me I look back on that day and I still wonder if anything would have been different if I had reached out almost seven years later and the guilt still overwhelms me I have felt the guilt of losing a friend to suicide but for most of my life I have struggled with an entirely different level of guilt it has taken me years to finally accept that what I had experienced really wasn't my fault sexual violence is a painful subject and often ignored because it's an uncomfortable topic to address however it's an unfortunate reality many women are forced to struggle with one in three Native women will be sexually assaulted and that's just the reported assaults there are so many more that will never go report it I am the one of three I was only six years old when someone I trusted began violating my body I lost my innocence that day that moment it began I it silenced me for months I withdrew into myself and to this day I still have trouble finding the courage to genuinely be myself at fifteen I swallowed a bottle of painkillers prescribed to me with no intention of waking up again I had cuts carved into my arms when I was admitted to the hospital many don't stand the amount of power depression has over the mind it had taken my soul by force and completely tore me apart I looked into my future and I saw none I had fallen so deep into darkness that I saw there was no way out except escaping I almost became one of the negative statistics that others used to define my community recovering I was forced to piece myself back together at fifteen and I found my way through prayer and my culture I began going to traditional ceremonies more and talking to sin cos Allah which is the lakota language for the creator I own my healing to my culture to my people I found my strength through the love of my family and the power of my spirituality I was faced with depression and suicide all while in high school which is a hard time for many the low graduation rate amongst Native Americans is apparent in all our minds while going through school I went to high school knowing of the expectation that I would drop out but I beat that statistic and graduated from high school with a full-ride scholarship to college I started college knowing of the expectation that I wouldn't make it through but I am now in my third year almost done with my bachelor's degree although the work is rigorous I have been exposed to many different backgrounds and ideas I have met friends and professors who continue to encourage me and push me even on my bad days this past school year I have had some especially awful days I was raped by a complete stranger who wounded my already damaged heart once again there are days when I feel as though I have made all this progress to be brought back to six years old again when a piece of my being was ripped away from me but then there are some mornings when I wake up and I feel happy and I feel strong and I have hope I am 20 years old and I am still struggling to be completely whole again but I find strength and knowing that I always have my reservation my Lakota way to turn to in the days I do struggle I know that I am never alone and I always have someone to call I go back to the reservation and I am surrounded with love and laughter we find medicine through laughter and so I can always count on feeling cheered up when I go home the happiness that we find through going home is often never spoken about yet the daunting statistics facing Native American communities are common knowledge it's easy to read numbers on a screen or a piece of paper but more often than not you won't hear about or even think of the real stories or people behind these numbers pictures have posted in magazines and they depressed me every time I look at them where are the pictures of the beautiful black hills and Badlands in every direction where are the photos of us walking out of a sweat lodge purified and peaceful you haven't heard all our voices singing in perfect harmony as we pray to our ancestors for our families and friends the depth and beauty of our culture is mesmerizing and I am so blessed to live this way of life this generation my generation has felt the negative statistics and prejudices weighing heavily on our shoulders throughout our entire lives certainly I have seen friends suffer through depression the loss of friends addictions and worse I have held my sister as she cried when she lost her friend to suicide just as I did a few years before her I have cried for my family members who can never break free of their addictions but I have also hugged my classmates when we graduated from high school so excited for our bright futures ahead of us the path I walked has humbled me and I look back on what I have experienced and I am grateful I have infinite support for my close family who continue to build me back up when I don't have the strength to do so myself and my journey doesn't end here when I graduate with a degree in secondary education I will go back home to the reservation to teach and I plan on incorporating our language and culture into my classroom to emphasize the importance of how we're a unique and beautiful people one by one we are breaking through the low bar of expectations the media and America's founders have set for us we are facing the problems of our people head-on more and more and Native Americans are going to college and using their higher education to help their communities more Native Americans are embracing our culture and fighting against cultural appropriation and racism if you are a Native youth when you hear the negative statistics do not let them define you you can rise above them and if you are writing these statistics please include in the dialogue the stories of people like me and so many others in my generation who are changing these statistics yes we may have lived through some or even all the statistics that you have read about but we are fighters we are indigenous we are proud of our heritage we are more than a statistic thank you

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 34,308

Rating: 4.9495268 out of 5

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, United States, Education, Achievement, Activism, Adventure, Advertising, America, Ancient world, Career, Creativity, Failure, Friendship, Future, Global issues, Goal-setting, Grit, Happiness, Hardship, Health, Higher education

Id: TMSyBmQt7iY

Length: 13min 37sec (817 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 01 2016