TO TELL THE TRUTH
When I was 10, I experienced some
thing, which I now call “ Cheap high.“
My friend, who was going to school in
Oklahome, came back from school.
She used to ask me to go to the store with
her. We’d walk up town. One day we
went to a hardware store and bought
some clear plastic spray paint; then we
went to a Safeway store and got some
bags. On the lawn of the museum
she sprayed some in a bag, and we
breathed the air in. 1 got sick. When 1
got home, no one knew what was going
on.
1 wasn’t home very much, only to say
“ hello” and “goodbye.” But I only tried
it a few times. Then my other friend
asked me if I wanted to drink. I didn’t
want to, but she wouldn’t let me go home
until I’d take a drink. 1 did. I drank
more. That went on for awhile. All
these girls were way older than me. So
they had control.
Then in my Junior High, I never
bothered to tough anything. My older
brother told me, 1 was the only smart
one in the family and if 1 keep up the bad
stuff I would be so dumb. I was the
smartest, but the minute I got to Junior
High, 1 met up with new friends. We
always goofed up. Later on in the fail,
these two girls came back from Chemawa
and said they have a new way of getting
high. I knew what they had in mind. So
at night, my friend named Carol of
Nevada (she was a Paiute Indian) begged
me to go along, trying to say it’s fun.
But the answer was always “ No” . It
made me so mad to see her with that
bunch every night.
She’d come to
school kinda half-minded, and a few
spots of gold on her shoes or fingernails»
spray paint. Then they started on Pam
(oven spray). I told Carol to stop hanging
around with them. She ignored me.
She got worse every night doing the same
thing. Finally her mom said she was
going to send her bach to her grandma,
because she had to listen. So she did.
And 1 got word about two weeks later
that Card had died, 2 heard the story -
She and her cousin were by a bridge,
Card went down there. She tried to
call her cousin to come along and have
some, her cousin wouldn’t go. Then her
cousin saw her sniffing the Pam. She got
so high, she sprayed it in her mouth and
it went all over her system, and killed
her. Her cousin saw her fall straight on
I
Then she ran and got help. The am
bulance took her all the way to Winni-
mucca from McDermitt to the hospital.
It was too late. She died, and blood
came from her eyes, nose, mouth, and
ears, it was awful the people said. So
that I lost one of my close friends. I
tried to tell her but she didn’t listen.
In Junior High, three other friends and
I used to hang around after Carol had
past away. Something weird went on
through the years 77, 79, and 80. First
Carol died of sniffing. Then my cousin
of Warm Springs, Oregon, hung him
self in jail. He was under the influence
of alcohol. Then last year 1980, an
other cousin of Neveda died in a car
wreck. She was also under the influence
of alcohol. Now there are two of us left.
Ruthie of Warm Springs, and me. I
never attended any of those funerals.
Never again do I do any sniffing. Nor will
I ever take drugs. This is all true.
ALM
R IP -O F F S
Here I sit in my room with bad
thoughts. Ail this stealing going on in
these dormitories! Indians never did
steal in the olden days. They either gave
to each other for friendship or as gifts,
but never did they steal from each other.
Money isn’t everything. Why do they
steal? To buy more dope? Booze? What
is wrong with the Indians today? Why do
they turn to alcohol or dope to hide their
problems? Why can’t we all live freely
here?
Chemawa means “ Welcome” and it
welcomed you here to go to school, to
get an educaton, not to fool around and
do things you’d never do at home. It
hurts me very much to see the madness
and sorrow on one’s face who just got
something stoles. But what can I do?
When things get stolen from me 2 sever
do see them again. Yet it is my property
that has been stolen. IT HAS MYSELF IN
it .
Stealing from others, you hurt them,
but you will be hurt too. There’s always
something that will happen to you. It
is true. 1 have seen it happen. This is
not some kind of witchcraft, but it is the
Indian way.
I hope many will feel guilty and return
all the stolen property.
Don’t think
you're making life easy for yourself.
And you're just making others hurt.
The Angel Death film was very inter
esting. I’ve seen it before, but I still
like to watch it. Now that I know what
that stuff can do to a person, I know what
to stay away from. I smoke marijuana
myself; but not very often. For sure,
I’ll stay away from P.C.P. I would hate
for me or any friend to go through what
I’ve seen from that film. I wish they could
find a way to get rid of it ail. As that one
lady was saying, I think it’s sad how those
people get hooked on it, then they even
over dose on it. But still they keep
smoking. P.C.P. ruins alot of friendships
because friends end up fighting each
other, and even killing goes on. They
get so hysterical, they don’t remember
what happens.
“ PCP”
“ Now that I know what that stuff can
do to a person, I know what to stay away
from. I wish they could find a way to get
rid of it all. “ N“ S“ E
“ It can destry your life, It just ain’t
worth it.”
“ PCP is a harmful drug that can mess
your mind up. When first taken, you
look as if you’re a zombie. On a larger
dose, you start freaking out, going into
convulsions or scissors. On the drug
you don’t know your own strength or
what you’re doing. One man on the drug
pulled out all of his teeth with a pair of
pliers! Another bit offa woman’s nose!
Smoking the stuff results in amnesia
and seizures. “ You could end up being a
freak-out person all your life.”
Smoking Pot
Some students around here consider
that smoking pot is #1. But ft’s not
#1 if you want a healthy body. Some
smoke to be in with their friends, to feel
“ good” , to get high, to be able to brag
about how much they buy and smoke.
“ Stoner” and “ Space” are favorite
names, and to show off, they talk about
“ the mundiies” . In the dorms burning
a cone of incense hides the scent.
Smoking dope is not the answer for a
healthy body. I have a friend who is
now 37. He is all wrinkled, gray haired.
He’s been smoking for many years.
My older brother does too. 1 dread to
think of seeing hime like that.
There’s more to life than just DOPE.