“Got this history in my blood
Got my tribe that shows me love
So when I rise,
You rise.”
–Frank Waln
“It comes down to the decisions you make in your life. Most of the time the right choice isn’t the easy one. It’s easy to run away. To run away to drugs and alcohol and I’m not judging, but I am here today because I’m always making the difficult choice,” stated Native American Hip Hop Artist and Motivational Speaker Frank Waln. Along with Tanaya Winder, Megan Red-Shirt Shaw, and The Sampson Bros, Frank closed out the final day of the Annual Community Wellness Conference at the Tulalip Resort and Casino on August 11.
Frank shared his entire life story with the future of the Tulalip Tribes for one reason: inspiration. The history of Native America isn’t well known to the rest of the world. Our story is often watered-down or not mentioned at all in schools throughout the United States. Growing up as a Native American in today’s society, we always had difficulties finding role models that weren’t appropriated by stereotypes. Frank easily flipped the script by actively advocating Native American rights, and is clearing up any misconceptions during the process.
Now in his mid-twenties, Frank spoke to the youth about everything he went through as a young Indigenous man. From a fatherless childhood to the culture shock of leaving his reservation for college, Frank has seen it all in only 27 years.
Frank spoke about his own experiences with drugs, alcohol, depression and suicide, so the youth can identify when they are caught up in one of those life-threatening cycles and can ask for help. More importantly, he shared those experiences so the youth, who might be going through a difficult time right now, could relate. He let them know that they aren’t alone, and how finding a healthy outlet is crucially important because it can break those cycles.
Before Frank took to the stage to perform his music, three of his colleagues and close friends shared their uplifting words with the conference attendees. Frank’s long time friend, fellow activist, dancer, and half of The Sampson Bros, Micco, encouraged the youth to follow their passion and to give it everything they got. Poetess, activist, and Frank’s manager, Tanaya Winder, performed poems from her new book Words Like Love and spoke about losing a loved one to suicide. And activist, writer, and founder of Natives In America, Megan Red-Shirt Shaw, talked with the community about finding and utilizing your voice while encouraging the youth to pursue higher education.
In between speeches, airbrush artists from Dzul Ink were at hand, making custom t-shirts for the youth with slogans such as Smoke Salmon Not Cigarettes and Pizza Rolls Not Gender Roles. Each person in attendance had the opportunity to choose a slogan they wanted to advocate for and the Dzul Ink artists created the t-shirt while the youth enjoyed the performance by Frank Waln and The Sampson Bros.
The perfect way to end any conference is with a musical performance. Frank and Company took it a step further by incorporating the message they were expressing with the most influential genre of music in the past three decades, hip-hop.
Frank performed some of his notable songs including AbOriginal and My Stone and debuted a new track, What Makes A Red Man Red, which samples dialogue from the Disney classic, Peter Pan. The inspiration for the new song came from the frustration of how Tiger Lily and Native Americans are portrayed in the movie.
While Frank passionately spit bars over beats he made on his own, the Sampson Bros performed along side him playing the flute and both fancy and hoop dancing. Micco shared the story of how he met Frank followed by spoken word poetry he wrote for his father, Will Sampson, who played Chief Bromden in the classic film adaptation of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
The event was a success from the first day to the last. Each speaker gave the youth something to reflect upon and let them know they are loved, because sometimes when people get caught up in the everyday struggle it can be hard to overcome the overwhelming pressure of todays society. Sometimes we get lost in depression created by multi-generational trauma, and we desperately search for an escape. The wellness conference not only acknowledged that depression and anxiety are disorders that Native Americans are suffering from on every reservation, but also gave the Tulalip community healthy ways and the tools to help cope with those disorders.
