SHERIDAN MANY GREY HORSES
Sheridan is a member of the Kainaiwa (Blood) Tribe. She is 17 years old and attends Cardston High School where she is a scholar athlete in volleyball and basketball. This year she will play for the Lethbridge College Kodiaks. She also competes in rodeo, in barrel racing and breakaway roping. She has qualified three years in a row for the Indian National Finals Rodeo. She is extremely grateful for her parents and grandparents, who were always there to support her, give her words of advice, and encourage her to have fun and play to her fullest potential
Who was your inspiration when you were growing up?
The people that inspired me were my aunties, Amanda, Jessica, and Maggie Fox because they are all really smart.They were all athletes in high school, playing volleyballand basketball. My Aunt Jessica played for the Lethbridge Pronghorn basketball team. My mom always spoke well ofmy aunts, saying that they finished university, got reallygood jobs, and then had children. My mom said, “Finish your education first, travel and see the world.” My aunts have told me that I have my whole life to live and that I need to explore it and to do that I need my education. My mom always used my aunts as examples for us, to show us how life doesn’t have to be hard if you just finish your education.
My parents have also inspired me. I’ve seen how my mom and dad struggled to do the very best for us and to give us everything we needed, because they had us when they were young. I see how strong both my parents are; they brought us up to be very strong hearted. My uncles Truman Soop and Charlton Weasel Head have also inspired me. They are really good at basketball and are really smart. Both uncles played college basketball: Truman played for Augustana College and Charlton played for Lethbridge Collegeand Brandon Bobcats. My uncle Charlton was named All Canadian when he played for Brandon and led them to play in two Canadian College Championship games. They both always give me advice and support.
What are some major issues that our young people are facing today?
Racism is an issue for so many First Nations young people. But through sports, my sister and I could overcome this barrier. When we’re on the court it doesn’t matter what colour we are, but how well we play the game. Out in Cardston, some Natives hang out with the white kids and they get treated better by students and staff. But the Natives that hang out with other Natives are discriminated against. There is one Native guy, he hangs out with Native kids and he is really good at basketball, but he got cut. So it’s not fair when you can see plain and simple what is going on.
What is the role of a leader in the community?
The role of a leader should be based on what is neededin that community. The leader needs to get out there and speak to the people and find out first-hand what the people would like to happen. The role is to inspire, and be a trusting, fair, and caring as a person. Good leaders have their whole communities behind them. Good leaders learn new things every day and try to understand all viewpoints. Good leaders have the best interests of the people in their mind and heart.
what is your vision for your community?
Our community is more about money, and that’s all people care about. I wish it could be less about money. My vision would include more traditional and cultural teachingsfor our youth in a way that engages us. Our youth today
is all about media, so in order for us to be able to make that connection with our traditional values we need to intertwine those teachings with media. I also envision more youth groups and conferences to engage our way of thinking. Overall I see a more positive way for the youth to communicate with our community.
I got most of my education in the public school systems and my sister and I have always been the only Natives on the teams. My mom also attended Cardston High school and she was better than all the white kids. She never experiencedany racism, but she says it is because of how athletic she was. If she wasn’t athletic she would have probably experienced racism like all the rest of the Natives did back then. In the public school systems in sports, it always seems as though the Natives don’t get to play as much as the white athletes, but are just as good or even better. So that frustrates them and they leave and play elsewhere.
I wonder why the white people are so afraid of the Native athletes? I wish they wouldn’t just see the colour of our skin, but would see talent and skill. I had some problems with not getting played and my mom was really upset and went to talk with the coaches. All they told her was this is high school ball and there is no room for mistakes. They also told her that I was the number eight pick of the team; yet when I was on that court everyone saw how strong I played.I was recently selected to play for the Lethbridge College Kodiaks, and my new coach told me, “Now let’s play ball Sheridan.” He knew that I was a very talented player, who didn’t get that time to show what I could do. So now I am thinking, Was I discriminated against? How can I not get any playing time for my high school team, yet be told by a coach who has won a National College title that I have amazing potential to be a very strong college basketball player and that I am going to shock the hell out of everyone? I cannot wait to play college basketball. I just wish that by this time in history this sort of thing would have stopped, because Native athletes are very talented.
What advice would you giveto young people in the community?
Make sure you finish high school with all the right courses that you will need to move forward into college or university. Don’t be afraid of pushing yourself in high school to try out for all team sports. My mom always gave my younger sister and me a little bit of freedom each year as we got older, and that freedom allowed us to be able to make choices. We learned from our mistakes and we learned that the right choice gave you many rewards. We also learned responsibility really young and how that transforms into what you want in your life. Also, listen to your parents, because even though you think they’re nuts sometimes, they are usually always right.
why is leadership important for a successful community?
Leadership is important for a community to be successful, because the leader is the main voice of the community. The leader is the one that goes outside our community to gain more knowledge and ideas. If the leader has gained the trust of the people, that means that the people have faith in what their leader is trying to do. Then I believe that the leader has been successful, because then they have done their part.
