I came across a piece that’s been circulating again… the one about the seven riders—Lakota ancestors—coming back and looking at their people today with disappointment.
You’ve probably seen it.
And I’ll be honest… it didn’t sit right with me.
Not because everything in it is wrong.
There are truths in there that are hard to ignore.
We’ve all seen it.
We’ve all felt it.
Now—I’m not Lakota.
But I am Native.
And what it’s speaking to isn’t limited to one tribe or one nation.
I’ve seen sober Natives look at those who are struggling and judge them harshly.
That happens. It’s real.
But what didn’t sit right with me was the tone of it… the idea that our ancestors would look at our people and feel mostly shame.
I don’t believe that.
I can’t believe that.
Because I believe they see more than that.
I believe they see what happened.
They saw children taken from their homes.
They saw language beaten out of them.
They saw identity stripped away piece by piece.
They saw families broken in ways that didn’t just affect one generation—but every generation after.
So when I hear people talk about “what’s wrong with our people today”…
I don’t see weakness.
I see pain that didn’t have anywhere to go.
And that pain had to go somewhere.
For many, it started with alcohol. But addiction doesn’t stop there—it never does.
It shapes itself to whatever is available—substances, behaviors, anything that numbs what was never allowed to heal.
And when you understand where that pain came from… you can’t look at it the same way anymore.
And I’ll be honest about something else.
There was a time in my life when I couldn’t stand that my dad was what people would call a “drunk Indian.”
That’s hard to say out loud—but it’s the truth.
And it’s also why I wrote Warrior Spirit Rising.
Because what I witnessed wasn’t just that part of him.
I witnessed the transformation.
I witnessed the strength.
The healing.
The spirit that never actually left him.
And over time, what I felt shifted from embarrassment… to understanding… to pride.
Deep pride.
And that’s why I struggle with messages that feel like they’re looking down on our people.
Because I don’t believe our ancestors would do that.
I believe they would understand.
I believe they would recognize the wounds.
And I believe they would want healing—not shame.
Do we have things we need to face? Yes.
Do we need to take responsibility for how we move forward? Absolutely.
But I don’t believe the path back to who we are comes through judgment.
I believe it comes through education.
Because education leads to understanding.
Understanding leads to forgiveness.
And forgiveness leads to love.
That’s the path back to who we are.
Not because we’re being shamed into it…
But because we remember who we are.
And maybe that’s the message we actually need right now.
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