Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma member Stephen Jacob Price discussed the effects of forced assimilation of Native Americans and the struggles that he faced growing up with finding a sense of cultural belonging that eventually led him to an alcohol addiction.
This LBCC Zoom event, held on Nov. 17, was the last in a series of online presentations meant to spotlight and appreciate the culture and history of Native Americans. On this specific day, the conversation focused on Indigenous mental health and the issues facing Native communities.
Price pinpointed the Indian Relocation Act of 1956 to be the beginning of the “eradication” of Native American culture in the United States. As a result of the law, Native Americans were incentivized to leave their reservations and move into larger cities like Chicago, San Francisco and Oklahoma City.
“It’s a struggle to maintain traditional values while also living in the modern city,” said Price. “It’s what we call walking in two worlds. But ultimately, we were forced to assimilate.”
This assimilation produced a new group of people referred to by Price as “Urban Natives,” those who didn’t grow up on the reservation but instead away from culture and tradition. Price represents this group, as a member of the Skidi Clan who was raised off the reservation in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
In fact, Price’s journey growing up as an Urban Native is what inspired Dr. Eric D. Becerra, the host of the Zoom event, to ask Price to speak.
“While (Price) certainly has the credentials and education that some audiences have come to demand, we wanted to deviate from this Western concept and invite you to learn from our speaker simply because he is human and his experience may differ from your own,” said Becerra.
Price recalled struggling while growing up, due to the fact that he was often the only Native American in the schools he attended.
“I remember in the first grade, I had long hair and I had it in a braid, which is traditional with a lot of tribes. But I was ridiculed and the kids at school called me names. They called me sissy and things like that to the point where I actually did cut my hair,” said Price. “To this day, I have not had long hair, I’ve purposefully cut it short and I think that speaks to a lot of cultural traumas that we face that we might not even realize at the time.”
As he got older, Price claimed that finding a sense of belonging is something he longed for but couldn’t get a hold of. During high school, he found support through being on sports teams, but after he graduated, he needed a new outlet and turned to alcohol.
Price cited a history of alcoholism that runs through his Native American side of the family and said that accounting for this was crucial in order to overcome his addiction.
“I’m thankful that I was able to be accepted into a treatment facility that recognized the cultural aspects of my problem and allowed me to bring my sage and bring some things that I do traditionally,” said Price. He’s been sober for four years.
Price is currently in his 11th year as a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) in Montrose County School District, a small community in Southwestern Colorado. Although he’s overcome a lot since adolescence, Price maintained that he still carries feelings of apprehension and invisibility that he developed when he was a kid.
“To this day, I don’t find myself to be a very confident person. I have degrees on the wall behind me and I feel like I earned them but I struggle with feeling like I’m not up to par with some of my colleagues and I think that comes from some of the trauma I experienced from my childhood and being separated from my culture as a whole,” said Price.
Price wants to help students who are growing up as Urban Natives, as he did, and said that it’s crucial for kids and teens to have a group that they can identify with.
Furthermore, he believes that there is a huge need in the field of school psychology for psychologists of differing cultural backgrounds. He stated that a common reoccurrence is the over-identification of Native Americans in special education. Specifically, those being labeled as emotionally disturbed or with an emotional disability.
“A lot of (the over-identifying) happens by non-native school psychologists who don’t recognize the historical trauma aspect,” said Price. “Our ancestor’s experiences are lived through us and we transmit that through DNA and the research shows that trauma is passed down.”
As of right now, there are 574 federally recognized Native American tribes in the United States and Price maintained that in order to keep the culture alive, their traditions and languages can’t be overlooked in mainstream society.
“With you guys being located there in Long Beach, it’s important to realize that there’s a large population of Native Americans located in L.A. either from relocation or from the reservations still remaining today,” said Price.