Community Biographies/Individual Profiles
Trisha Mountain Horse
I am from the Moses Lake Community, which is located by Cardston. There are a lot of things I see that goes on the community. I see people drinking, using drugs and sniffing. Because this stuff is going on, all these young kids see that and watch their parents do it, and especially the violence that goes with it. But we have programs that go on, like Blood Tribe Recreation. The programs that recreation provides are geared to sports, movie nights, and swimming. Working with the Kainai Youth Council, the Moses Lake youth club host meetings, we gather kids and have a meeting about what they want to do; some days we will go for drives, or swimming in the summer. There are only a few youth that attend our meetings. I have tried to get more youth involved but due to what is going on in the community, it is hard to get them involved.Denny No Runner
The community I represent is Old Agency. Old Agency is a traditional place. It dates back to traditional days. There are some old tribal markings around the agency. A medicine wheel is located in the Old Agency community. It also has a recreational facility located in the agency residence. Old Agency is a traditional campground used many years ago. I am a part of the Old Agency youth club; we host meetings one day a week. We have about 10-12 youth club members involved. We meet at the Old Agency Hall, or sometimes at a club member’s house.Eugene Black Water Jr.
My name is Eugene Black Water Jr.; I live in the Standoff Community. Standoff is the largest community on the Blood Reserve. There are a lot of negative things in the community. There are a lot of youth doing drugs because of the number of drug dealers in the community. On top of all of the drug dealers, there are bootleggers. That makes it hard for the youth not to come in contact with it. There were two murders in one year and they were both gang-related. There are people and organizations that are helping the youth to stay away from drugs and alcohol, like the Kainai Youth Council and Recreation. We also have our own baseball diamond, rodeo grounds, ice rink, basketball court, and a big water tower that says “Standoff.” Every time I see the water tower after leaving home for a while, I just have to cry because I know I am home.