Q: Is the term Native American the correct or appropriate term?
A: The correct terminology, how the people addressed themselves back in the old days, is just “the People”. There were no tribal labels. There was no separation of the two-legged beings, or human beings, from any other beings. We even look at plants and animals as “the People”. We are apart of them as they are apart of us. So Native Americans is not the correct terminology. That term was first utilized by the first phase of Irish immigrants. They had a very tough time when they came, but they fought tooth and nail to get established. They had children. So when their children start to grow up there was another phase of Irish immigrants. And they were the ones to establish the term Native American.
Q: So, we read about Native Americans in out textbooks. What then would the correct term be?
A: Indigenous. With the term Native Americans, you have to look at the People. Our People are older than America.
Q: Why do you feel it is important to educate others on the Indigenous people of America?
A: Because we are the last bridge. We are that last bridge to the importance of the understanding to be able to coexist with the first five of creation. We are people born without language. We are people born without a religious way of life. We are people born without even a label, an identity. We get language from them (the first five of creation). We get songs from them. My personal understanding is that they are the eyes and ears of God. They are the jury of the judge. How I treat them, how I communicate with them, how I coexist in their world will determine whether they are going to speak for me or whether they are going to speak against me. That is my responsibility. I desire to be free like them. We are accountable. We are the ones as common people that are going to face the jury and the one judge. And so, it is very important for the indigenous way of life because we are the last bridge. If we eliminate that bridge then so shall we no longer be seen as what we are created to be. If we let the Indian die then we let ourselves die.
Q: Do you think life would change for the Indigenous people if the American culture unmasked its ignorance towards them?
A: Everybody’s lives would change, not just Indigenous people. Everybody’s life would change and for the better. A Christian person would be Christ-like. Why? Because now they incorporate spirituality; it’s no longer just religion. Spirituality is something that is your life, everyday life. Spirituality means you have accountability. Spirituality means consciousness. So now we longer look at God as a god, we look at God as the great consciousness of life. And so, everybody’s life would change, not just in America, but everybody’s life would change.
Q: What are three things you wish every American knew about the Indigenous people/culture?
A: 1. The understanding and the importance of water. Not one color of the human population, not one plant, not one animal, can live without water. So, I hope that the people will wake up and come to an understanding that our paycheck isn’t worth the lives of our children and grandchildren. Our grandchildren’s lives are more valuable than a stinkin’ paycheck, and we’re going to stop messing with the water; we’re going to stop polluting the water, and we’re going to stop terrorizing the life of the water. Without it we can not live.
2. Bring back humanity. What I mean by that is we look at the life of an animal. We look at the life of a tree. We look at the life of God’s creation and we try to find an understanding of how it really is that we are related to them. If we can obtain an understanding of how it is so that we are related to creation, then we have an understanding of who we are.
3. Love. Love the generations to come. Love them, dream them, think them, breathe them, so that we can love ourselves.
Q: What is your hope for future generations of the Indigenous people?
A: To live. To live as we are created to live, to be free. Free from be enslaved, incarcerated mentally, physically, emotionally to so many things, to big business, to currency. You can’t raise your own children anymore because the man, the woman always have to have a job. Why? Because we are always raising taxes, inflation, the cost of living rises while the paychecks lower because of big business. It’s not personal anymore, now you’re just a number. I don’t like being a number. I’m a human being. So not only are we (the Indigenous) fighting for human rights for us, but we are fighting for human rights for you and others. I don’t care if are you Caucasian, Asian, black; it doesn’t matter. We want human rights for all people. So, to answer your question in a round-a-bout way, the bottom line is we want to live. Free.
Q: What does it mean to you to be Indigenous?
A: There is a dream and there is reality. What I mean by the dream is that the dream is beautiful. The dream is peaceful. The dream is full of laughter and joy. Now the reality of being Indigenous, what it means to be Indigenous for me is it’s abusive. It’s ugly. We are wounded people because of the fact that we see everything and something within us gives us the memory of what it was probably like for the people. It’s painful. I think about the children. What are we leaving for the children? What are we leaving for the grandchildren of our children? So, it’s painful. It’s overwhelming. It’s not romantic. That’s what it means to me.
Q: What aspects of the Indigenous culture do you take most pride in?
A: What I take the most pride in is that I have long hair and I’m sexy! No, let me rephrase that. Honestly, the pride I have in being Indigenous is that we still are able to have an understanding that we are related to all of life, but not so much pride that it makes me prejudice against others.
Q: Do you feel like you have specific responsibilities?
A: This isn’t from an Indigenous perspective; it’s from a human perspective. I think we should all feel the responsibilities. Again, we are accountable for generations to come.
Q: Do you feel as though what you do, your job at the Indian Center, is affecting your culture?
A: Yeah. Yeah I think it is. I think it’s letting people know that we’re still here. I’ll never stop being Indian. No matter where I’m at.
Q: In your opinion, what are the top three most important, most influential events that happened in the history of the indigenous people? Or that you have lived through?
A: That is… Wow! That is a lot. 1. Wounded Knee 1973 Wounded Knee Occupation. 2. I’ve lived through some very racists times. 3. I’ve lived the victimization of self.
Q: Was that growing up?
A: Yeah. You grow up with this concept. You grow up and you’re so confused on who it is or what is you’re supposed to be and so you victimize yourself. By victimizing yourself you feel like the world is out to get you. Then you become racist, and, without a consciousness of doing so, you also victimize others. A lot of the horrible things I’ve ever done to people I’m sorry for. I’m trying to make that right within myself. I’m trying to find a place of peace. They didn’t deserve it. We wonder why there are bullies in school. Someone made that individual feel like a victim. I stopped accepting being a victim, and I when I did that my life changed; my world changed. People became beautiful to me. The world became beautiful. Despite what’s going on in the media. My world. My space is beautiful.
Q: What was life like growing up in Pine Ridge?
A: It was beautiful, yet hard. I grew up without running water or electricity. My father was a minister. My mother definitely was a minister. A lot of my uncles went the traditional route. My parents chose their route. We used to fight tooth and nail, but everything is good now. There was a lot of racism. The ones that were really bad were the ones that came from people that were supposed to be like you. I think that’s the worst racism that exists is those of your own. But my parents were very loving. They provided a home and food for us. I didn’t know we were poor; that’s how good of a job that they did. I had a lot of heroes growing up. Chief Leonard Crowdog being a hero I don’t just have to read about. Russel Means I a hero. Dr. Martin Luther King. There are a lot of non-Natives I looked up to. Great leaders. JFK was a good guy. There were a lot of great loving people that I felt cared about a lot of people. Again, not just non-Native people.
Q: What do you feel is the largest problem or problems facing the Indigenous people today?
A: A lack of understanding. A misconception of who we are as Indigenous people. Religion. Unfortunately, religion is probably the biggest ones that has been most destructive to life as we knew it. Nothing against people today, but I am just being honest and real. And so, that has to be the biggest one for us.
Q: Do you think there is anyway of combating that?
A: Yeah, love the hell out of them. Because, again, we are not victims because those that try to victimize us are truly the victims. As long as we obtain love in our life, the afterlife, the forever life, is going to be beautiful. It is not our place to judge. Only a fool thinks it is his place to judge.
Q: What does the education system look like?
A: This day and age we have some really great teachers that work really hard. But the children are torn between two types of educations. You have the industrial education and you have the natural education. And unfortunately today the industrial education is more dominate because that is what we base our lives off of. All of our lives, decisions are based off of industrial education. So few of us are able to obtain an industrial education and also let our lives be based off the natural education. We can still do both, and there is a balance. What do you call it? Schizophrenia? Well, we are all that. Everybody is that. It really bugs me when people call them schizophrenic because you know every single human being is that way today. You can either be a happy schizophrenic or a depressed schizophrenic. It’s entirely up to you. So the education system today still needs a lot of work. A lot of work, but primarily among the Indigenous people because we are constantly reminded of who we once were, not through the education system because they are trying to eliminate us, but just in everyday life. And then you go on to other struggles. You have the right brain and the left brain aspect, and so if someone (a teacher) could come to that understanding it would be better for a child to connect. They would no longer look at your skin color; they will begin to look at you as someone they can trust.
And that’s another thing, the trust barrier. So we want to build a trust barrier because so many of us are distrusted. Shoot, we don’t even trust some of our own family members. Sad to say but we don’t, and so if we can’t trust our own family members, then wow, we are really missing the mark. And again, we want to use education to get back into safer energies, safer means of producing things. If you look at the education system of years ago, like if your mother was the best pie maker in the county, she would pass that trait and educate you in that and pass it on to you. So then you become the best pie maker. But, we don’t have those family traits any more. So we want to bring that back through education. Education helps us communicate. If it weren’t for education, I’d be speaking a language you wouldn’t understand.
Q: What do you think the ideal education would look like for an Indigenous child?
A: The ideal education, it’s full of encouragement. Encourage people in who they are and who they are created to be. Especially teachers; if you have different types of nationalities of students in your classroom, you have to find something about them. I don’t care how little, because that is where it begins. You have to teach them and encourage them in leadership – not in the ways of them making it up as they develop, but show them something to develop in that will make them a good leader for all people.
Q: Did you like school?
A: Did I like school? I had my days.
Q: What are some of your strongest memories about education and growing up in school?
A: I had some good teachers. I had some crappy teachers, you know. Geez, I’m trying to think of the positive aspects; I’m so tired of talking about the negative things. I grew up poor so I got to eat some hot meals, but materialistically poor. There were some days that I would look forward to school, and then there were some days where it was like – ah dang, man, this bites. But every child goes through that; you can ask any child that. And it all depends on the atmosphere. If there were some students that I didn’t get along with, it changed everything. I didn’t even want to go to school; I didn’t care. I used to have perfect attendance, as a little guy. I remember getting those reports of perfect attendance.
Q: What happened?
A: What happened was it became an identity struggle. My best friend committed suicide. Just a lot of things, you know. I don’t want my people to die. That happened. The love and the caring for my people; the existence of my people happened. We’d be here all night if I tried to get into those things.
Q: Do you feel like Pine Ridge Reservation has changed since you were growing up?
A: Yeah, yeah.
Q: How so?
A: Lost respect for the elders for some people. A lot of misunderstanding of who we really are, and not only Pine Ridge, but a lot of reservations. It’s different. But I know there are still a lot of good people there – and even young kids. I see some young, good kids and I think, thank goodness. We’re still here. By seeing them I know we’re still here. There are a lot of good people on reservations, but unfortunately the few bad apples seem to stand out the most. That’s all that we have – a few bad apples, but as I said before there’s no such thing as bad people. We have a few people that are a little lost or unconscious, more so than others. I think for me, there is no such thing as “have to” - there’s only choice. So we make a choice in how it is that we want life. Are there some things that we can change as the masses of people? Most definitely! But is that going to be the solution for everything? No. The solution for everything begins with the individual. For them, it is the first step in what choice they are making. And so, if there are not good people there to encourage them, the outcome is going to be bad. It doesn’t matter if it’s a reservation, an inner city, in a small town - it doesn’t matter.
Q: What’s it like for you going back to the reservation? Do the people that are still living there question why you left?
A: It’s the same thing on both sides. I am so happy to see my people, as they are happy to see me. There’s nothing different or odd about it. Its good to go home sometimes, but I’ve established a home here for myself. Honestly sometimes I think – dang, I need to go home.
Q: How often do you go home?
A: I go home as often as I possibly can. Because like I said, I have a life. And I still feel that I am making a difference for the people no matter where I go. Because I’ll never stop being Indian. What also comforts me is knowing that there are a lot of good people back home. So it’s not like I’m the go-to guy, I’m not the Indian savior! I just like to be around my people. I miss that sometimes. It’s all good though.
Q: How many tribes and languages are there within Pine Ridge?
A: Pine Ridge is primarily one tribe, we might have some individuals that are married into other tribes that might speak another language, but most of it is Lakota.
Q: And the language?
A: The language is Lakota. Well now, it’s mostly English.
Q: Tell us about your name.
A: Moses John Brings Plenty. People were forced onto these concentration camps that are today known as reservations. They couldn’t comprehend that people had an identity. There is no such thing as independence amongst our people. So Brings Plenty, when he went in with this society they took away the man and took his name and made it the household name. It’s been in our family since the beginning of the incarceration into these ‘concentration camps’. And then so, they couldn’t register that Brings Plenty could be an individual name. So we’re going to give you a first and a middle name and let Brings Plenty be your last name. So they gave him the name Jackson Joseph Brings Plenty. Names were biblical names. Like Moses. Moses was my grandfather’s name on my mother’s side, and John is my grandfather’s middle name on my father’s side. My Lakota name means ‘He catches his horse’, and in our tradition the horse is symbolic. If you dream of a horse, you dream of a spirit. Horse meaning sacred dog. A dog is sacred, but a horse is bigger and sacred. So a lot of the warriors rode horses their whole life as a reminder to stay on the back of a spirit and you will never stumble or fall. So, in a sense, I caught my spirit.
Q: Do Indigenous people celebrate the same holidays as others in the U.S.?
A: This day and age, yes. There was a time when everyday was a celebration. A day of gifting. A day of love. Everyday was Mother’s day. Everyday was Father’s day. Everyday was a birthday. Because, again, it was just simply a celebration of life. You never spoke about love; you just showed love. You really expressed it through your actions. Our people were people of minimal speaking. When you're so spiritually in tuned you could look at someone and you could communicate without even opening your mouth. So they showed everything it didn’t matter. Now we have expectations. When it's Christmas what do you expect? We expect gifts. When it's Valentine's Day what do you expect? Gifts. We're always expecting versus giving. So that has changed a lot. So we've fallen into that whole concept.
Q: What are some celebrations that still occur?
A: Well, I can only speak from a Lakota perspective. We celebrate the sun dance ceremony.
Q: What was your wedding ceremony like?
A: Our wedding ceremony was different from the standard society wedding. We brought together water. Because when you look at water I can guarantee you I can take a cup of water from the Atlantic Ocean and a cup of water from the Pacific Ocean and even though they have different names and are from different parts of the country, if you them put in one pitcher they are not fighting to separate. They come together. That's the whole concept of what our wedding was based on. It was based on life; a transitional aspect of life. Traditional chiefs were there. Father said prayer in Lakota language. So it was different. We had people sitting in a circle. Everyone was integrated to let people know we acknowledged every single one of them. So, it was beautiful. We didn't say your standard vows. We said our own vows. We didn't write anything. If you're going to say something then you better mean it. If you have to write it down then you don’t mean it. I live moment-to-moment. So I want to know what you feel in your heart in that moment. As I want you to know what I feel in this moment in my heart. That's love. That's the real love. I'm going to speak from my heart, and that's more meaning. We want leaders that are able to speak from their heart.
Q: Does your wife speak Lakota?
A: She speaks some Lakota, but she can sing Lakota.
Q: How often do you speak Lakota?
A: We try to speak it as much as possible. I have to call my dad sometimes to get understanding of some words that I forgot or some words I don't know. So I always call my dad or my older brother. And I'll call other relatives. I want to be able to obtain it. I told my wife that one day I want to go out and be able to speak Lakota in public.
Q: What do you want your legacy to be?
A: Well, in a simple way to put it, I would like for mine to be none existent for the reason that when I think of legacy I think of something that is no longer here. For me, I want the understandings of life to be lived and not just talked about. When people are able to live it then there will be no need to remember a person. Why? Because in a sense that person is still living. For example, my grandparents still live through me. What I mean is that I catch myself doing some things as my grandfathers and grandmothers did. My life is not my life, but it is the Creator’s and the Generations’ to come.
A: The correct terminology, how the people addressed themselves back in the old days, is just “the People”. There were no tribal labels. There was no separation of the two-legged beings, or human beings, from any other beings. We even look at plants and animals as “the People”. We are apart of them as they are apart of us. So Native Americans is not the correct terminology. That term was first utilized by the first phase of Irish immigrants. They had a very tough time when they came, but they fought tooth and nail to get established. They had children. So when their children start to grow up there was another phase of Irish immigrants. And they were the ones to establish the term Native American.
Q: So, we read about Native Americans in out textbooks. What then would the correct term be?
A: Indigenous. With the term Native Americans, you have to look at the People. Our People are older than America.
Q: Why do you feel it is important to educate others on the Indigenous people of America?
A: Because we are the last bridge. We are that last bridge to the importance of the understanding to be able to coexist with the first five of creation. We are people born without language. We are people born without a religious way of life. We are people born without even a label, an identity. We get language from them (the first five of creation). We get songs from them. My personal understanding is that they are the eyes and ears of God. They are the jury of the judge. How I treat them, how I communicate with them, how I coexist in their world will determine whether they are going to speak for me or whether they are going to speak against me. That is my responsibility. I desire to be free like them. We are accountable. We are the ones as common people that are going to face the jury and the one judge. And so, it is very important for the indigenous way of life because we are the last bridge. If we eliminate that bridge then so shall we no longer be seen as what we are created to be. If we let the Indian die then we let ourselves die.
Q: Do you think life would change for the Indigenous people if the American culture unmasked its ignorance towards them?
A: Everybody’s lives would change, not just Indigenous people. Everybody’s life would change and for the better. A Christian person would be Christ-like. Why? Because now they incorporate spirituality; it’s no longer just religion. Spirituality is something that is your life, everyday life. Spirituality means you have accountability. Spirituality means consciousness. So now we longer look at God as a god, we look at God as the great consciousness of life. And so, everybody’s life would change, not just in America, but everybody’s life would change.
Q: What are three things you wish every American knew about the Indigenous people/culture?
A: 1. The understanding and the importance of water. Not one color of the human population, not one plant, not one animal, can live without water. So, I hope that the people will wake up and come to an understanding that our paycheck isn’t worth the lives of our children and grandchildren. Our grandchildren’s lives are more valuable than a stinkin’ paycheck, and we’re going to stop messing with the water; we’re going to stop polluting the water, and we’re going to stop terrorizing the life of the water. Without it we can not live.
2. Bring back humanity. What I mean by that is we look at the life of an animal. We look at the life of a tree. We look at the life of God’s creation and we try to find an understanding of how it really is that we are related to them. If we can obtain an understanding of how it is so that we are related to creation, then we have an understanding of who we are.
3. Love. Love the generations to come. Love them, dream them, think them, breathe them, so that we can love ourselves.
Q: What is your hope for future generations of the Indigenous people?
A: To live. To live as we are created to live, to be free. Free from be enslaved, incarcerated mentally, physically, emotionally to so many things, to big business, to currency. You can’t raise your own children anymore because the man, the woman always have to have a job. Why? Because we are always raising taxes, inflation, the cost of living rises while the paychecks lower because of big business. It’s not personal anymore, now you’re just a number. I don’t like being a number. I’m a human being. So not only are we (the Indigenous) fighting for human rights for us, but we are fighting for human rights for you and others. I don’t care if are you Caucasian, Asian, black; it doesn’t matter. We want human rights for all people. So, to answer your question in a round-a-bout way, the bottom line is we want to live. Free.
Q: What does it mean to you to be Indigenous?
A: There is a dream and there is reality. What I mean by the dream is that the dream is beautiful. The dream is peaceful. The dream is full of laughter and joy. Now the reality of being Indigenous, what it means to be Indigenous for me is it’s abusive. It’s ugly. We are wounded people because of the fact that we see everything and something within us gives us the memory of what it was probably like for the people. It’s painful. I think about the children. What are we leaving for the children? What are we leaving for the grandchildren of our children? So, it’s painful. It’s overwhelming. It’s not romantic. That’s what it means to me.
Q: What aspects of the Indigenous culture do you take most pride in?
A: What I take the most pride in is that I have long hair and I’m sexy! No, let me rephrase that. Honestly, the pride I have in being Indigenous is that we still are able to have an understanding that we are related to all of life, but not so much pride that it makes me prejudice against others.
Q: Do you feel like you have specific responsibilities?
A: This isn’t from an Indigenous perspective; it’s from a human perspective. I think we should all feel the responsibilities. Again, we are accountable for generations to come.
Q: Do you feel as though what you do, your job at the Indian Center, is affecting your culture?
A: Yeah. Yeah I think it is. I think it’s letting people know that we’re still here. I’ll never stop being Indian. No matter where I’m at.
Q: In your opinion, what are the top three most important, most influential events that happened in the history of the indigenous people? Or that you have lived through?
A: That is… Wow! That is a lot. 1. Wounded Knee 1973 Wounded Knee Occupation. 2. I’ve lived through some very racists times. 3. I’ve lived the victimization of self.
Q: Was that growing up?
A: Yeah. You grow up with this concept. You grow up and you’re so confused on who it is or what is you’re supposed to be and so you victimize yourself. By victimizing yourself you feel like the world is out to get you. Then you become racist, and, without a consciousness of doing so, you also victimize others. A lot of the horrible things I’ve ever done to people I’m sorry for. I’m trying to make that right within myself. I’m trying to find a place of peace. They didn’t deserve it. We wonder why there are bullies in school. Someone made that individual feel like a victim. I stopped accepting being a victim, and I when I did that my life changed; my world changed. People became beautiful to me. The world became beautiful. Despite what’s going on in the media. My world. My space is beautiful.
Q: What was life like growing up in Pine Ridge?
A: It was beautiful, yet hard. I grew up without running water or electricity. My father was a minister. My mother definitely was a minister. A lot of my uncles went the traditional route. My parents chose their route. We used to fight tooth and nail, but everything is good now. There was a lot of racism. The ones that were really bad were the ones that came from people that were supposed to be like you. I think that’s the worst racism that exists is those of your own. But my parents were very loving. They provided a home and food for us. I didn’t know we were poor; that’s how good of a job that they did. I had a lot of heroes growing up. Chief Leonard Crowdog being a hero I don’t just have to read about. Russel Means I a hero. Dr. Martin Luther King. There are a lot of non-Natives I looked up to. Great leaders. JFK was a good guy. There were a lot of great loving people that I felt cared about a lot of people. Again, not just non-Native people.
Q: What do you feel is the largest problem or problems facing the Indigenous people today?
A: A lack of understanding. A misconception of who we are as Indigenous people. Religion. Unfortunately, religion is probably the biggest ones that has been most destructive to life as we knew it. Nothing against people today, but I am just being honest and real. And so, that has to be the biggest one for us.
Q: Do you think there is anyway of combating that?
A: Yeah, love the hell out of them. Because, again, we are not victims because those that try to victimize us are truly the victims. As long as we obtain love in our life, the afterlife, the forever life, is going to be beautiful. It is not our place to judge. Only a fool thinks it is his place to judge.
Q: What does the education system look like?
A: This day and age we have some really great teachers that work really hard. But the children are torn between two types of educations. You have the industrial education and you have the natural education. And unfortunately today the industrial education is more dominate because that is what we base our lives off of. All of our lives, decisions are based off of industrial education. So few of us are able to obtain an industrial education and also let our lives be based off the natural education. We can still do both, and there is a balance. What do you call it? Schizophrenia? Well, we are all that. Everybody is that. It really bugs me when people call them schizophrenic because you know every single human being is that way today. You can either be a happy schizophrenic or a depressed schizophrenic. It’s entirely up to you. So the education system today still needs a lot of work. A lot of work, but primarily among the Indigenous people because we are constantly reminded of who we once were, not through the education system because they are trying to eliminate us, but just in everyday life. And then you go on to other struggles. You have the right brain and the left brain aspect, and so if someone (a teacher) could come to that understanding it would be better for a child to connect. They would no longer look at your skin color; they will begin to look at you as someone they can trust.
And that’s another thing, the trust barrier. So we want to build a trust barrier because so many of us are distrusted. Shoot, we don’t even trust some of our own family members. Sad to say but we don’t, and so if we can’t trust our own family members, then wow, we are really missing the mark. And again, we want to use education to get back into safer energies, safer means of producing things. If you look at the education system of years ago, like if your mother was the best pie maker in the county, she would pass that trait and educate you in that and pass it on to you. So then you become the best pie maker. But, we don’t have those family traits any more. So we want to bring that back through education. Education helps us communicate. If it weren’t for education, I’d be speaking a language you wouldn’t understand.
Q: What do you think the ideal education would look like for an Indigenous child?
A: The ideal education, it’s full of encouragement. Encourage people in who they are and who they are created to be. Especially teachers; if you have different types of nationalities of students in your classroom, you have to find something about them. I don’t care how little, because that is where it begins. You have to teach them and encourage them in leadership – not in the ways of them making it up as they develop, but show them something to develop in that will make them a good leader for all people.
Q: Did you like school?
A: Did I like school? I had my days.
Q: What are some of your strongest memories about education and growing up in school?
A: I had some good teachers. I had some crappy teachers, you know. Geez, I’m trying to think of the positive aspects; I’m so tired of talking about the negative things. I grew up poor so I got to eat some hot meals, but materialistically poor. There were some days that I would look forward to school, and then there were some days where it was like – ah dang, man, this bites. But every child goes through that; you can ask any child that. And it all depends on the atmosphere. If there were some students that I didn’t get along with, it changed everything. I didn’t even want to go to school; I didn’t care. I used to have perfect attendance, as a little guy. I remember getting those reports of perfect attendance.
Q: What happened?
A: What happened was it became an identity struggle. My best friend committed suicide. Just a lot of things, you know. I don’t want my people to die. That happened. The love and the caring for my people; the existence of my people happened. We’d be here all night if I tried to get into those things.
Q: Do you feel like Pine Ridge Reservation has changed since you were growing up?
A: Yeah, yeah.
Q: How so?
A: Lost respect for the elders for some people. A lot of misunderstanding of who we really are, and not only Pine Ridge, but a lot of reservations. It’s different. But I know there are still a lot of good people there – and even young kids. I see some young, good kids and I think, thank goodness. We’re still here. By seeing them I know we’re still here. There are a lot of good people on reservations, but unfortunately the few bad apples seem to stand out the most. That’s all that we have – a few bad apples, but as I said before there’s no such thing as bad people. We have a few people that are a little lost or unconscious, more so than others. I think for me, there is no such thing as “have to” - there’s only choice. So we make a choice in how it is that we want life. Are there some things that we can change as the masses of people? Most definitely! But is that going to be the solution for everything? No. The solution for everything begins with the individual. For them, it is the first step in what choice they are making. And so, if there are not good people there to encourage them, the outcome is going to be bad. It doesn’t matter if it’s a reservation, an inner city, in a small town - it doesn’t matter.
Q: What’s it like for you going back to the reservation? Do the people that are still living there question why you left?
A: It’s the same thing on both sides. I am so happy to see my people, as they are happy to see me. There’s nothing different or odd about it. Its good to go home sometimes, but I’ve established a home here for myself. Honestly sometimes I think – dang, I need to go home.
Q: How often do you go home?
A: I go home as often as I possibly can. Because like I said, I have a life. And I still feel that I am making a difference for the people no matter where I go. Because I’ll never stop being Indian. What also comforts me is knowing that there are a lot of good people back home. So it’s not like I’m the go-to guy, I’m not the Indian savior! I just like to be around my people. I miss that sometimes. It’s all good though.
Q: How many tribes and languages are there within Pine Ridge?
A: Pine Ridge is primarily one tribe, we might have some individuals that are married into other tribes that might speak another language, but most of it is Lakota.
Q: And the language?
A: The language is Lakota. Well now, it’s mostly English.
Q: Tell us about your name.
A: Moses John Brings Plenty. People were forced onto these concentration camps that are today known as reservations. They couldn’t comprehend that people had an identity. There is no such thing as independence amongst our people. So Brings Plenty, when he went in with this society they took away the man and took his name and made it the household name. It’s been in our family since the beginning of the incarceration into these ‘concentration camps’. And then so, they couldn’t register that Brings Plenty could be an individual name. So we’re going to give you a first and a middle name and let Brings Plenty be your last name. So they gave him the name Jackson Joseph Brings Plenty. Names were biblical names. Like Moses. Moses was my grandfather’s name on my mother’s side, and John is my grandfather’s middle name on my father’s side. My Lakota name means ‘He catches his horse’, and in our tradition the horse is symbolic. If you dream of a horse, you dream of a spirit. Horse meaning sacred dog. A dog is sacred, but a horse is bigger and sacred. So a lot of the warriors rode horses their whole life as a reminder to stay on the back of a spirit and you will never stumble or fall. So, in a sense, I caught my spirit.
Q: Do Indigenous people celebrate the same holidays as others in the U.S.?
A: This day and age, yes. There was a time when everyday was a celebration. A day of gifting. A day of love. Everyday was Mother’s day. Everyday was Father’s day. Everyday was a birthday. Because, again, it was just simply a celebration of life. You never spoke about love; you just showed love. You really expressed it through your actions. Our people were people of minimal speaking. When you're so spiritually in tuned you could look at someone and you could communicate without even opening your mouth. So they showed everything it didn’t matter. Now we have expectations. When it's Christmas what do you expect? We expect gifts. When it's Valentine's Day what do you expect? Gifts. We're always expecting versus giving. So that has changed a lot. So we've fallen into that whole concept.
Q: What are some celebrations that still occur?
A: Well, I can only speak from a Lakota perspective. We celebrate the sun dance ceremony.
Q: What was your wedding ceremony like?
A: Our wedding ceremony was different from the standard society wedding. We brought together water. Because when you look at water I can guarantee you I can take a cup of water from the Atlantic Ocean and a cup of water from the Pacific Ocean and even though they have different names and are from different parts of the country, if you them put in one pitcher they are not fighting to separate. They come together. That's the whole concept of what our wedding was based on. It was based on life; a transitional aspect of life. Traditional chiefs were there. Father said prayer in Lakota language. So it was different. We had people sitting in a circle. Everyone was integrated to let people know we acknowledged every single one of them. So, it was beautiful. We didn't say your standard vows. We said our own vows. We didn't write anything. If you're going to say something then you better mean it. If you have to write it down then you don’t mean it. I live moment-to-moment. So I want to know what you feel in your heart in that moment. As I want you to know what I feel in this moment in my heart. That's love. That's the real love. I'm going to speak from my heart, and that's more meaning. We want leaders that are able to speak from their heart.
Q: Does your wife speak Lakota?
A: She speaks some Lakota, but she can sing Lakota.
Q: How often do you speak Lakota?
A: We try to speak it as much as possible. I have to call my dad sometimes to get understanding of some words that I forgot or some words I don't know. So I always call my dad or my older brother. And I'll call other relatives. I want to be able to obtain it. I told my wife that one day I want to go out and be able to speak Lakota in public.
Q: What do you want your legacy to be?
A: Well, in a simple way to put it, I would like for mine to be none existent for the reason that when I think of legacy I think of something that is no longer here. For me, I want the understandings of life to be lived and not just talked about. When people are able to live it then there will be no need to remember a person. Why? Because in a sense that person is still living. For example, my grandparents still live through me. What I mean is that I catch myself doing some things as my grandfathers and grandmothers did. My life is not my life, but it is the Creator’s and the Generations’ to come.