Rise (2016) s01e08 Episode Script

1 We don't even got a Native television show but we got all these other Mexican television shows, Asian, American, European.
Where the fuck's our people? Besides Hollywood showing us getting killed in buckskins.
- I don't wear no buckskins.
- Don't nobody do shit.
The second a Native says, "Nah, fuck that, we don't want to deal with that shit no more," oh, that dude's a bad guy.
Because he don't want to accept the fact that we're ok with just tossing these people to the side.
I was like yo, I'm not going to do the tour, I'm not going to do no kind of documentary shit.
Because I already know it can be played out any way that the people who edit it want it to play out, you know what I'm saying? People can make it look however they want it to look.
But nah, nah, that ain't happening no more.
(Drum beating) (Chanting) (Chanting) SARAIN: This is Ant Loc, the leader of Savage Family, a super militant hip hop group whose focus is to decolonize Indigenous youth.
They call themselves a movement, and their music pushes to resist colonialism and capitalism.
Which, when you get down to it, basically means resisting popular Western society.
I'm fighting to the death 'cause they ain't ever stop Yeah I cock back I'm only reconciling when they drop dead Even the blind could see these people dead wrong I ain't prayin for 'em I'm out to cut they heads off I'm not scared of anybody.
I'm not scared of the feds, I'm not scared of private police.
I don't recognize the United Snakes' territories.
I'm trying to figure out a way to be able to dismantle this society.
To pay for what they doing and every way they wronged us They caught us out of pocket, only one way to correct that That's grab 'em by their faces and shake 'em until they necks snap, yeah The only thing that will ever resolve the pain and the frustration, the inadequacy that our people go through is being sovereign, is being autonomous, is reclaiming land.
They bought us with their strip mine We feed them devils strychnine They morning coffee CEOs get hung up by they neck ties Don't believe it? I got Natives older than Jesus Who's only thing is war now, roll out, We blow 'em to pieces I absolutely made serious thought about whether or not having VICE follow us around, but I'm a firm believer that yes, the master's tools can be utilized to destroy the master's house.
Fuck they prisons and they churches fuck they system 'cause it's worthless To be perfectly factual I'm actually down to fuck the president then burn down the capital They call it the "American Dream", but it's really an American Nightmare.
I'm showing these kids that they ain't gotta be American slaves.
When I get out there, I tell 'em rise! I tell 'em to rise because I believe in that.
I believe that in my soul; in my heart, it's time.
I don't hear it enough But a spirit become a thunderous drums that comes to crumble the cities and buries 'em all (Seagulls squawking) So, I'm in Washington State right now.
I'm heading to Klallam territory.
I'm going to meet Ant Loc and his family, and I'm really interested to see what the dynamics are like, and what Ant Loc is like at home.
Because from all the videos I've seen and everything that I've witnessed online, you know, it's pretty intense.
Savage Family doesn't operate in the mainstream.
They aren't signed to a record label, and they don't play to sold out stadiums.
Instead, their following is an underground movement rooted in Indigenous revolution.
Their dedication to the process of decolonization means some pretty radical changes have to happen in one's life.
Hey guys! Is this Ant Loc's house? (Knocking) Come in! How you doing? - Good to meet you, Sarain.
- Hi! - Thanks for inviting me into your house.
- For sure, for sure.
Everyone's eating right now, yeah.
Late breakfast, early lunch.
I think they call it brunch.
(Laughing) As soon as I enter Ant's house, he sets me at ease, introducing me to a large group of friends and family including his four sons.
So, it's one, two, three, four, in order.
Yeah, my wife is my wife is in the kitchen trying to hide too.
- I'm Desiree.
- Nice to meet you.
(Laughing) I'm not sure what I expected, but the entire scene looks like a happy and close knit family.
Maybe the only thing a little unusual is that it's late morning on a weekday, - and all the kids are at home.
- When they were in school, there were these issues that just around being in public school that I didn't like.
For example, Marius wouldn't do the flag salute.
They were like, "Oh, why don't you?" "Oh, hmm, okay," you know what I mean? So they were assholes about it in their weird way.
And I was like, my kids don't need to be fucking doing this shit.
Ant and Desiree are the first to say that the process of decolonization begins in the mind.
And this means questioning some of the most basic ideas taken for granted every day.
So they've taken their kids out of the public school system, instead choosing to educate them at home.
They call their approach "unschooling".
Basically all that is is it's simply like teaching them things that we feel is important, that is important for them to be able to survive.
If you've got a master's degree, people talk like, "Oh, you got a master's.
Why would you do that?" For me, Western education can't be the answer for us because of the reason it was set up in the first place.
Everything, like the constant degradation of our territories, our lands, our mind states because of the active oppression of the Canadian and US governments.
We need them to be able to be cognizant of that.
And if they're in school, they can't.
(Beatboxing) We have this one cousin, she said, "If they don't graduate, what are they going to do? You need your grade 12 even just to clean toilets.
" But Ant says to her, "Well, they're just not going to clean anybody's toilets.
" (Laughing) (Beatboxing) (Laughing) That's gas! Ant and Desiree have an open door policy at their house, and today is especially hectic here as Savage Family is working on writing music for their new album.
Group members Alas and Alchemy arrive early to rehearse before recording.
Ant's son Marius works on writing his own lyrics.
Sitting by the fire loaded guns Getting ready to protect the ones I love That's one bar.
(Laughing) Seven more of those gems.
We went clam digging, which is our right to do.
And we had this fucking old cracker walking down the beach saying, "You can't dig clams here, this beach is closed.
" So Ant says, "Well, we're subsistence harvesting.
" And then he's like, "Subsistence my ass.
" When we go out, we pick oysters or we dig clams.
We get questioned by everybody, and it's okay for them to question us.
And the second that we respond is the second we become troublemakers.
You have to ask permission to go do something that we've done since time immemorial.
As the sun sets, the family takes a break from their music to visit the ocean where they use traditional methods to fish for smelt.
Just as their ancestors did before them, Ant's family relies on subsistence harvesting as their main food source, and fish play a central role in their spirituality.
When Pacific Northwest tribes signed treaties to give up their lands to settlers, the treaties explicitly guaranteed hunting and fishing rights both on and off reservation.
But that doesn't resonate well with non-Natives, and racial tensions still exist.
No one wants our culture to still exist, our traditional culture.
No one wants us to be able to have access to land or resources and a say over what we do.
No one really wants that.
I came to a realization that we are alone in the real struggle for decolonization because the average person doesn't understand what decolonization means.
My kids, they don't do sports.
I'm like shit, my kids are amazing, the things they do.
Pick oysters, dig clams, know the songs they know, sing them with pride.
Those things are amazing.
But they're not recognized as that.
So they don't get the praise because they don't hit a home run or they don't do something.
And you know, part of that is from our choice to keep them away from that.
And I know that they probably yearn for that.
You talk about your kids so much, and your investment in your kids.
What do you hope for them? I want my kids to know they're free.
The worst thing you can do is forget you were ever free.
You know what I'm saying? And I want them to know they're amazing, because (Exhaling) What So what this world teaches us is like it's like it's ugly to be who you were born to be, like who you feel like you're supposed to be.
And And everything shuts that down.
And I think there's like no worse feeling than that, know what I mean? I meet all these youngsters and shit, and it's always the same.
They don't even want to exist because they're not allowed to exist.
That's who they're supposed to be.
In the '60s, they had a relocation program.
My grandma left to try and make a better life, what she thought would be a better life for her family.
They dropped people off in the middle of what they called at that time "red ghettos".
They just dropped them off in the middle of the hood.
I was like hardened through shit to be able to like shut off emotions.
That was through dealing with, like, fucked up shit.
We ain't worried 'bout a mascot 'cause as far as I'm concerned I'll let my rifle burn for freedom and see our life return It's like the current of the ocean and the coast that sees The moonlight is burnin' will return to what it's supposed to be We was born to be connected to the wolves The defenders of this land while the rest of them consume Let's bring death to all they do And bring breath to all of who Lost their lives in the struggle and become messengers of doom Ain't no room from here, they done prove through the years I got bullets 'cause we fooling shit, they fool us again We fuck with rebels, tell them devils they can go to hell We 'bout defiance and alliance with the orca whale Our warrior societies out here were based off of the female wolf's defense of her cubs.
And that she's unwavering and she would never leave her cubs, she will die trying to defend her cubs no matter what the outcome is.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.
So you're about to make a music video.
Can you tell me what it's about? You know, the empowerment of primarily of Native youth, but also Native people in general.
A lot of your imagery crosses the barriers of what people are comfortable with, and I think especially when I see children bearing arms.
Can you tell me why you why you wanna use this imagery? You know, we do it on purpose, but we do it because we want to be able to incite conversation.
We want to incite that.
We know it's going to be an issue.
We know that.
It isn't okay for us to learn to defend ourselves in any way, shape, or form, let alone with with weapons.
If these kids become properly trained, if these kids become properly aware of who the enemy really is, they become a threat to the system that imprisons them.
I teach them to defend themselves by any means necessary.
These ideas aren't new, these ideas are old.
These ideas are old, these ideas come from a wolf.
The wolf that's not extinct in our territory, because of the murder and the slaughter of that wolf, you know what I'm saying? Come forward.
Come forward.
Alright, you can play it.
You keep saying be patient and pray for peace It'll be okay, but let me tell you what it is Let me push it to the side I'ma let my guns fly fuck patience, I ain't getting played in the dark You keep saying be patient and pray for peace It'll be okay, but let me tell you what it is Let me push it to the side I'ma let my guns fly fuck patience, I ain't waiting (Rapping) I ain't no peaceful coexistence This mission is something sacred though I'll never let the hatred go until the crimes are paid in full I promise that I'm conscious of they dirty fucking lies I know too many of my Natives who just couldn't wait to die Do you feel that? And would you hate me if I killed them? Same crooked pigs who couldn't wait to rape our children? fuck them for every empty grave that they drivin' Keep their cities burnin' without concern for the consequence What was the reasons it was so powerful to push different Christian denominations on us like turn the other cheek, the meek shall inherit the earth? Because those are the things that keep us subjugated, right? It's that fucking colonization because our mind is trapped in America and that Christian mentality.
SARAIN: Savage Family is about to embark on a three week tour across northern California, where they will visit reservations, playing in schools, community centres, or wherever they can best reach the youth.
Ant and Alas met up with fellow members Stewie G and group manager Big Mike.
We've been travelling this whole week like five, six hours to get to where we're going.
Our people are literally in concentration camps, and we have to drive through America which is really our ancestral land to even see our people.
It's not no Walt Disney Pocahontas where everybody wants a thing.
Like it's really like woo-woo-woo.
Like for real, like they really think that's what Natives are.
How fucking bad do we have it when when you gotta have a rap group come in to try and help the situation that you're faced with? Where we're from, the term colonization, to speak minds, you know, the overturning of our canoe.
We carry all these things in this canoe that make us who we are.
And then this wave of new people came and caused our canoe to capsize.
It got lost at sea along with us too.
And we're trying to find our way back to the canoe.
Trying to find these pieces of who we are to put back into the canoe.
We're just barely keeping ourselves afloat.
We're still going in a direction of like self-destruction.
(Children chattering) P'Da-Hau Youth Camp is the first stop on Savage Family's tour.
(Children chattering) Founded by Isaac Rios, the camp is place where kids can spend time on the land and get in touch with their Pomo culture.
What's up, buddy? You ain't swimming? - I wanna make a drumstick.
- Alright, make a drumstick.
- I don't know how to.
- Here, let me show you.
- What's your name? - Matthew.
Yeah? Nice to meet you, Matthew, I'm Big Mike.
- You like the river out here? - Yeah.
Awesome.
No matter what you do, don't give up, alright? - Okay.
- See that? (Tapping) - Hear that? - Mm-hmm.
What's that sound like, your heartbeat? (Drumming and chanting) (Drumming and chanting) I'd like to give this opportunity right now as we're all gathered here, to introduce Savage Family to everybody - to the P'Da-Hau people right here.
- My name is Michael Free.
One thing that was important for me to support Isaac and the youth here is that connection to the land.
Like we were never church people.
We were never Christians.
This is our church.
This is what feeds us, this is our healing, this is our everything right here, and we lost that.
We started getting away from the earth and not listening to the trees and the wind, you know? A lot of people know us as a rap group, whatever, but we're just a bunch of Native cats who had nothing at one time and tried to find ourselves amongst the madness.
We're probably gonna do some music when everybody shows up, so I thank y'all.
- Oh.
- Oh.
(Music playing) Hold on, let's see if we can keep this going, let's see if we can keep this going! Savage? Savage! Savage? Savage! What the hell is going on with all the Native people? Crying about your life yet we're still underneath you Making up stories pretend to be real I've been raised in this life no I'm not totally still Don't need to kiss ass or to suck any dick You simply cheat and you're a two-faced bitch Don't need ya, you can stick it up your ass (Music stopping) (Cheering) So apologies, apologies for the foul language.
- Yeah, sorry.
- We didn't review everything that was online, so apologies for that.
We know there was rules to the camp for certain language, so we will keep that from happening again.
So last night basically, yes, we had a song that, you know, had a certain phrase that just said you know, it was like saying, "Don't suck dick to get ahead," or whatever.
This woman comes up and is like, "How is this empowering our youth right now? I need to know how this is empowering our youth.
" Dude's from the rez, and like those he is those kids, you know what I mean? Like, he is like talking the way they talk.
He comes from what they come from.
People more worried about cuss words that we write than the rest of the message, and you know, all we're addressing is don't sell the fuck out.
We'll go up in this building right here real quick and ask them if they know whose land they're on, you know what I'm saying? Like, I think it's important.
They got the playoffs going on.
You know.
(Crowd groaning) (Crowd shouting) Hey, can I get everybody's attention? Time out real quick, you know what I'm saying? I just want a minute of your time.
You know, we over here watching this American television, this American sports game, but I wanted to ask you all: do you know whose land you're on? Do you know whose ancestral territory this is? This Native land right here.
When you get a chance, just pick up your trash.
Respect the land, you know what I'm saying? And if you hear about any Native issues going on, support it.
Because they're stealing our water, these grape vineyards are stealing our water, and they don't give a fuck about my people.
You know what I'm saying? So much respect to you all.
- Native pride, you know what I mean? - (Applause) The name of the team is called The Warriors.
They still see us as mascots.
You know what I'm saying? What if the team was called The Honkies, or The Whities? You know what I'm saying? Would America be offended by that, but it's okay to call us The Warriors, The Chiefs, The Indians? Like, when are we going to be human beings? I'm going to say something.
To be like to ask them to like see us in a different light means that we're trying to fit in with what the fuck they doing, but why the fuck do we want to be equal to something so evil? Why do we want to be equal to a system that doesn't want us? I'm not trying to get their fucking approval because I don't need their fucking approval.
That's not what I'm doing, is asking for acceptance.
I'm making them motherfucking recognize by me being present and me still being here that we're still alive, and I'm going to use my voice.
I don't give a fuck, really.
I'ma go up in a store and say whatever I want.
I'm not pleading to these motherfuckers, man.
I'm feeling a little hostility.
You know what I'm saying? Everybody thinks this shit's a fucking joke.
A motherfucker going up in there and making them recognize and letting them know what time it is, and telling them to respect my ancestral land - Okay, so I was responding - That's another thing.
When you're trapped in America, how the fuck do you rise? What do you do? What's the pathway? Where can you buy a handbook that tells you to take your land back, take your culture back, protect your children? Where do we find that at? I ain't no slave, man.
I choose the path that I walk on.
And I know that I'm going to die on this path.
And I know that all our great chiefs and great spiritual leaders all were killed.
I respect I respect your point of view But when are we going to stop all this and come together, and be the people who we're born to be? I even dream about it, where I'm in an Indian war.
It might be a waste of time to you time to you, but it ain't a waste of time to me.
You think you the only cat who give a fuck about this shit though, for real? So you all have a nice motherfucking life.
Well, that shit went crazy.
SARAIN: During Savage Family's tour in California, we stopped in Elem where Stewie, one of the members, is originally from.
Stewie first met Savage Family in 2007 when they were marching as part of the American Indian Movement's demonstration known as The Longest Walk.
What was life like before? Before Savage Family? Um it was kind of rough.
Honestly, I didn't know who I was.
When I first met them, it was like they could be their selves.
They could be Native, you know.
They could really be who they are.
So it made me like proud, like yeah.
Can you tell me what The Longest Walk is? (Cheering) At the time, my father and my uncle, they were fixing a sweat house.
(Cheering) They walked in, like 50 people, like all kind of people.
Like I think some AIMsters, Savage Fam.
(Cheering) What does it feel like to think that that to be on this road, where they were walking? It's pretty amazing.
In 1978, the American Indian Movement organized a walk where hundreds of Native Americans marched for five months from San Francisco to Washington, to protest threats to tribal lands and water.
Thirty years later in 2008, AIM led another walk that drew support for the protection of sacred sites and tribal sovereignty.
They all came in and um, helped us and gave us some good words.
They gave us a couple CDs.
I listened to one song, it was Ancestors, and that's the one that touched me.
Yeah, that's the one.
If our ancestors came back and asked us who we are Would we be too far gone to recognize them Through the stars and the stripes of the Flag? Living our lives, what would they say If our ancestors came back, would we fight them today? If our ancestors came back and asked us who we are Would we be too far gone to recognize them Through the stars and the stripes of the Flag? Living our lives, what would they say If our ancestors came back, would we fight them today? So, like I really took that like dang, like would we? Like, if they came back, all our people here in the cemetery, would we do that to them? Would we really, you know, stab them in the heart? Would we go against them? Would we fight them today? (Motor roaring) This car's, like, so loud! (Motor roaring) Fine then, don't say hi! (Laughing) That's my people are stuck up like that.
It's crazy, like on one side (Motor roaring) Like one side of the village don't even associate with each other.
Like, this whole deck right here doesn't associate with these people in the AC.
Why? 'Cause of the disenrollment and the politics.
Tribal disenrollment is like having your citizenship taken away from you, or being deported from your country of residence.
To be disenrolled means you are no longer considered to be Indian in the eyes of the federal government.
And Stewie's dad, Gary, knows all about what that feels like.
His family was disenrolled 10 years ago and forced to leave their home.
And that was I would say 2007 when myself my family, the Kelsey family and the Geary family, were disenrolled.
Because in California, Elem Casino was the very first casino within California.
When family was taking upon the responsibility that oh, we're the ones that started this and we should get a bigger cut than the others, and the other side were like, "No, no, no, we get it all equal.
" And it just became it just escalated from there.
So it's an ongoing process of cutting the numbers basically.
The less numbers, the more money they get.
So it's totally based on greed.
And then it came to a head in '95, when we all had an all-out gunfight out here.
Over green, over money.
- Casino money? - Casino money.
There was a lot of people that were hit and shot, but there was one casualty.
Yeah Thinkin' 'bout this life and the way it is Mother Earth's getting raped killing our elders and kids Ain't no sleep for the wicked devil's got us going crazy Chasing money and fame no time for our babies America's got us fooled making us a bunch of targets Ain't no aliens out here USA's a fucking martian Got us programmed to kill on movies and video games Whatcha gonna do when you're raped by the fame? It's bigger than what you think, it's a new world order Got us running in the court like I'm running for a quarter You ain't hearing what I'm saying 'cause you trying to make that dollar I stand for my people all the way across the water So fuck the casino that shit just killing us Y'all saying you're for the movement, y'all say Indigenous What the fuck you waiting for us? Still waiting for Jesus Christ? He's nothing but a myth don't believe the hype (Singing) We're here at Round Valley Indian Reservation in California, and right behind me Alas is performing.
And Savage Family has come here to speak directly to the youth, and they're doing this all for free.
They don't get much stuff here, so this is really, really important.
They're getting all kinds of stories and access to music and rhymes and all sorts of things that they would never otherwise see.
So, it's pretty incredible.
(Rapping) So I was born in Mexico and I grew up undocumented.
I was like a top student, like I was in magnet schools.
I did judo competitively and got invited to the Kodokan in Japan because I was good.
I couldn't go.
For me it was really kind of at the age where I realized that I was undocumented, and that there were always going to be these ceilings that I hit.
You know, always the constant fear of deportation.
I was like well, like, if I'm never going to be able to do anything I fucking want anyways, then fuck it.
Like what's the point? I saw the option of just getting fucked up and kind of like tapping out.
I almost lost my life to like an overdose.
You need community to ground you.
Really just being removed from my birthplace and my family and any kind of history of myself.
Like I was just this Chicana, Latina, whatever, all these other labels that people put on themselves when they don't know their heritage.
Mexican isn't a real term.
It comes from A lot of people who are Michoacán, who are Aztec, you know, that's what that country was named after, but there's thousands of Indigenous people and tribes in Mexico.
So I had come to that understanding and came across their music.
And I was just really like damn, if they can say this shit, I can say that shit.
Like they were saying really aggressive, very blunt, true things that weren't filtered.
Just kind of seemed like they had a lot of a lot of power in their rage.
To all the young sisters always elevate your voice You can make gifts within you make some motherfucking noise If something tries to shut you down or make you feel small It's just 'cause they don't understand your power at all Now we recognize the Indigenous-led land defense Worldwide, Native lives, demonstrating excellence Bold to ride, bold to defy these crackers' colonial ignorance These rhymes of resistance are what got me on the road Believe I had to examine every word that I wrote 'Cause the youth were listening when I was standing to speak 'Cause I'm coming from the struggle and they was feeling the beat So I had to make sure that I was coming correct Took time to sit back and really reflect If you wanna build through the music you must forsee its effect But the learning curve's sharp, we don't got much time left Don't got much time As far as it comes to really talking about why your people are so sick, I feel like the earlier the better.
'Cause the older you get, the more twisted up you get.
I wish I had that when I was growing up.
It had been like years of being sober and years of trying to understand what pushed me to the point of like really almost dying in overdoses and watching so many of my friends have to go a certain route where they ended up in hospital beds or in jail cells or six feet under.
After three weeks on tour, Savage Family has travelled hundreds of miles.
For them, it's not about fame, money, or record sales, but about getting to the most hard-to-reach youth to help them have a voice.
All the currency in America got Indian killers' faces on it.
How disrespectful.
We gotta buy stuff on our own land with Indian killer's face.
- How much? - What's up, bro? - Hey, how'd you like the concert? - It was cool.
You ever seen a concert like that? - Yeah, here.
- I mean with Natives though? - No, no, I haven't.
- Wanna hop in with us? - We going to Covelo tomorrow.
- Aw, shit! - I gotta work, bro.
- Yeah.
Yeah, that's everybody else's problem.
Slaves to America, on our own land.
Come here, man, let me give you a handshake, brother.
- Drive safe, man.
- Much love, brother.
- What's your name? - My name is Manny.
(Honking) Savage Fam! Savage Family works with kids to address the issues they are facing in their lives, and it's not always easy.
Reservations across North America have the highest rates of youth suicide, and addiction and gang violence are deep seated in many communities.
Reaching young people before it's too late is a very real challenge.
(Basketball bouncing) What'cha doing over there? Just burning a grass.
Don't you think it's beautiful here? This place is good for old people.
Yeah, this is like a retirement home place.
Are there any after-school programs or anything - Not for - for the youth? They used to, but I don't know what happened to all that shit.
What about culture? Is your culture important to you? Mm-mm.
Really just my family is important to me.
What happened here? - Just stupid shit.
- Burn? Oh yeah.
Some of them sober, some of them drunk.
Some I always do dumb shit.
Yeah, we usually just sit here.
Smoke up, bump music.
Then when we're done with this, we go out in the living room or Or sometimes I'll pass out.
Or he'll pass out.
There's me when I'm a baby and my brother.
My sisters, my dad.
Oh my gosh.
This is your dad? - Heh.
- He's young, huh? Not no more.
- Does he live here? - No, he lives in Clements.
I see him about once every couple of years? Three years? Just depends, but I don't know.
Doesn't really have nothing for me, and he never really raised me.
So it's like like I don't know, I just don't really go out of my way to contact him.
I tried to kill myself before.
I just hit a low moment, and just didn't feel the need to live anymore.
Yeah, - I feel that.
- But I couldn't do it.
It's just too I just couldn't do it to my mom, so Just gotta wait till she passes away or whatever.
Was it like something that happened - in the community or anything? - Yeah.
Something happened in the community.
It's a little too much to say.
Telling stories in the moonlight Singing with my people everybody hold it down so tight Dancing at the ceremonies in the sweat lodge Holding down every day, yeah, you know we never gone With all them shootings, they try taking us out Drugs and fighting keep us from feeling proud Alcohol, everybody trying to drink it down Give me a word, and I'll rap it out for you.
Tell me what it is.
Throw a word out real quick.
Ostriches are really fast they got really big eggs Almost as big as Big Mike's legs (Laughing) SARAIN: I've arrived at the Cahto Tribal offices in the community of Laytonville, California.
This is where Savage Family has been asked to lead a music writing workshop meant to empower kids.
In a community plagued with high rates of youth dropouts and meth addiction, many of these kids face challenges at a young age.
By the end of this, we gonna record all y'all, whether it's singing, whether it's a rap song, whether it's a poem, whatever it is.
I guarantee by the time this is over, y'all gonna be fighting to get into the booth.
I used to get like extremely uncomfortable being in front of people.
Like maybe a lot of y'all when you first stand up and have to talk and say something, you're gonna like try to run and hide and like feel sick to your stomach.
But you just gotta just gotta do it five times, 10 times.
You'll feel better every time you do it.
Y'all want, like, me to validate myself real quick? ALL: Yeah.
- Okay, here we go! - (Laughing) The truth rest upon the lies, our people been traumatized.
So Donald Trump no different than Barack Obama in my rhymes.
They all part of a system that wish we was gone.
And history talks with forked tongues so the misery goes on.
In these illegally occupied territories of death.
Let me tell you what a squaw bag is.
Any of you adults know what a squaw bag is? Let me tell and it's not even funny.
Let me tell you what a squaw bag is.
It's what was left of Native women when they cut off their breasts.
They clean and dry the rest.
What's left was hung for the horses.
So we can tell you about genocide, we can tell you about torture On this tour, I've watched the youth embrace Savage Family's music.
But I have to admit, today I was very uncomfortable when Ant started rhyming about squaw bags.
I was raised to never use the word squaw, never mind speak it in a room full of young people.
It seemed the tribal chairwoman, Aimee Lucas, was unfazed by it all.
Maybe truly decolonizing means stripping the power from all of its colonial language.
After all, our history as Native people is one of violence.
And in expressing our trauma, we can reclaim our voice.
Why did you think it was important for the youth to have this kind of workshop? Growing up here, we really never had a voice.
Like we were seen, not heard.
So I think it's really important to get the kids now, to have their have a voice.
Since they meet with them and know that they can say whatever.
Not whatever, you know, but even the young boy, he's like, "Okay, my my lyrics have a lot of cuss words," but (Laughing) If that's the way he needs to get his message through, then that's the way he needs to do it.
It's quiet around here, but you can get in a lot of trouble out here.
- What kind of trouble? - Like there's there is people that do drugs, their parents.
I mean, I used to even be one of them.
My daughter is out there right now doing methamphetamine.
I raise her kids now, so - Is there a big meth problem in - Yes.
Mendicina, it's pretty much everywhere.
AIMEE: It's nice to get through to them and see, and see them open up.
SARAIN: Have you seen the kids open up like that before? No, and I only wish that there was the other ones that aren't, you know, they're wearing the big black t-shirts around, and they're, you know, they're defiant, and it's like come on, come in here.
Just come on.
SARAIN: We're back in Washington after about a month on the road, and times are tough at Ant's house.
Savage Family is committed to helping the youth, and they tour to where they are most needed, often volunteering their services for free.
The work may not be lucrative, but they are committed to helping the next generation know who they are and where they come from.
Obviously a lot of people might say that the message is violent or has a negative undertone, even though you're talking about things that, you know, you want to have a positive outcome.
What do you say to that? We're censored all the time.
Everywhere we turn, we're told that we can't say how we really feel.
So we we hide inside ourselves and then we implode.
We kill ourselves, and we dope ourselves up until we kill ourselves.
And so for me, I'm not going to tell a kid they can't cuss or they can't tell a certain story.
All I ever suggest to the youth is I don't want to hear about what other people are doing.
I want to hear about your life.
And I don't care how good, bad, or ugly that is.
That's the story you'll want to hear.
I want to hear how we can change that too if it is bad.
I was going to show you something that inspires me that to me is more powerful than anything that I've ever put on an album or on a record.
Ant shows me a video featuring Sophie, a young girl I connected with when Savage Family gave their workshop last week.
When I finally heard what she recorded, I was left speechless.
Dear Mother.
Yeah, what happened to you? You lost yourself, Mother.
Won't you come back into the house? Mommy, please don't go through with what you're about to do.
Not in front of the girls while I'm trying to hide it from them.
You on your knees screaming, fuck man, I wish I was dead.
" And now that you're asking me, why did she do that to you? Why did Mommy make you bleed thinking you hurt them too? And shit, what did you want me to say? I told them the truth, that you weren't right in the head.
You were blinded by the shine and by what that man said.
But what that man said, he said that you're my wife, my life, my light, the mother of my children.
I'll be damned if another trying to raise 'em right.
So now you've made your choice, you're trying to give us a dad.
Only you can say whether that was good or bad.
But here's the thing, Mom, you always wanted a family.
So you kept him around trying to live out your fantasy.
Really you did it for you, you did it for yourself, not me.
And you never figured I always wore long sleeves.
Yeah, when I was scarring myself, harming myself.
Whenever it was that I was starving myself.
I needed a mom, but where were you? You were letting me get away with way too much for way too long, and now I'm way gone.
'Cause now I'm living in Cali.
CPS brought me here to live with my daddy.
I'm set up on the rez, Creator, please hear me.
People don't believe it's okay to say that shit.
It's not okay to fucking be mad, it's not okay to say those words.
You know, whatever those words might be.
And that shit is powerful to me.
I can only try to live up to what those words are to be able to try and try and take away some of that pain.
And change that existence for the next person that I know.
So you know, people might be like fuck Savage Family and what they represent, or fuck whoever.
But to me, like that's the purpose, so like fuck anyone who says anything if I have an opportunity to ever bring out something like that.
Not because of me, but just because she was allowed the opportunity to believe that someone gave a fuck and someone wanted to listen, you know what I mean? And that's it, that's it, that simple.
'Cause I can't watch these kids die and then lie like I give a fuck And not do a fucking thing but lie down like I give enough So get a gun if you ready we gripping onto machetes For anybody involved we got a problem forgetting Now the savage path to freedom might be seeming extreme But I get losing one more soul to the booze or amphetamines See, when I was a youngster almost lost my fucking mind Didn't recognize my purpose didn't value this life Propaganda almost had me convinced I was worthless But if I kill myself I'd just be doing them a service La Where you motherfuckers been? we on the frontline walking with the dead kill 'em all kill 'em, kill 'em all kill 'em, kill 'em all