TOMMY J. MUELLER
Tommy’s heritage is Cree, from the Sawridge First Nations, Alberta; Carrier (Nakazd’li First Nations) from Fort St. James, BC; as well as German and French. He has won many awards as a Country Artist, including 2012 Male Entertainer of Year and 2012 Male Vocalist of the Year from the North American Country Music Association in Nashville, and the 2011 Global Country Star award. He plays a principal role on the APTN hit series Blackstone, and appears on other television productions including the series Heartland. In addition, he works as a talent scout and web tech for the agency, Platinum Talent Management
Who was your inspiration growing up?
My mother was my primary inspiration. She encouragedme to keep believing in myself and never give up on life,no matter what happens. My mom was a very spiritual woman. She prayed a lot and was very confident in her faith in God. My mom has always been there for me to give me encouragement to get through many obstacles as a young child, a teenager, a young adult, and even today she is one of the primary people in my life. Others would have to be my father, who has always been there in my life, and my grandparents, who are very strong people.
Were there any issues you dealt with as a young person that you see young people dealing with today?
Issues I dealt with as a youth were dysfunction in my family—verbal abuse, physical abuse, drugs, and alcohol. As a teenager, you always want to fit in. You always want to be part of the crowd. So I found I was being influenced by the other kids that I was hanging with. You want to drink with them, be part of the crowd, and then alcohol, drugs, all that stuff, and it just makes problems worse. Dealing with all those different issues as a teenager, it was just hard to keep focused in school. You’re getting introduced to marijuana, acid, and mushrooms. All those different types of drugs were very strong when I was growing up. Now there’s all kinds of new drugs that didn’t exist when I was young. It was tough, coming from a dysfunctional family. Some of my uncles were addicts. Some of them were really bad into alcohol, so as a teenager I witnessed a lot of that stuff. I witnessed my mom being physically abused, verbally abused by her boyfriend before they split up. So there was a lot of that emotion when I was growing up as a teenager, and not a lot of outlets to express how I was feeling and deal with those emotions.
What are the values and qualities of a great leader?
Someone who is honest at heart and someone who will speak for the quiet person in the community.
What is your vision for your community?
My vision is to recreate the connection from our youth to our elders. This is a vision that I would like to see because we’ve all lost that connection with our elders. I’ve worked on a few projects up north and that’s one thing I’ve encouraged, is for our youth to reconnect with our elders. There is a stigma out there that we are just too cool, we don’t have time to visit with our elders. We need to get past that.
What role should our traditions and cultures have in the lives of our first nations youth, both in rural and urban settings?
It’s ideal for our youth to learn and never forget where they came from. It’s important to remember that our eldershave been there, and done that. You need to speak to the generation that has lived through a lot of stuff, and culture is a big part of that. Having culture within a rural area, it doesn’t matter where you are, you can always bring that culture. You can always smudge in the morning wherever you are. You can always look for a sweat lodge, and go for that healing, or you can sing songs that have been passed on. There’s all sorts of traditional ways to heal yourself. It’s just about finding enough time wherever you are, and taking those steps.
Tradition is very important—you have to have tradition within healing. It comes from the sweat lodge and your elders, just speaking with them. We have to remember where we come from and who we are. You can’t forget that. Just remember who we are as a First Nations people. It’s very important for our growth.
What advice would you give to youth who are planning on becoming the leaders of their communities?
Persevere through the many obstacles that we all meet in life. Stay true to yourself and don’t be a follower of weak-minded people who are ignorant about life and love and what good things Creator has to offer us all. If we open our minds and hearts to him, life is good.
What we say will manifest into reality. If you speak about the bad, it will manifest itself into bad; if you speak about the positive and good, these things will manifest into reality. My message is, watch what you say because it will create itself. If you want a positive life you can get it. Always speak positive—it’s a good way to live.
What is your message to the aboriginal community?
Always speak from your heart and you can never go wrong.
Why is education important for our young people and their communities?
Education is key. We are all sponges, and we start learning from the minute we are babies. We take everything and it shapes us into who we become in life. Learning is an ongoing process, and we are all ignorant because of lack of knowledge. Knowledge
is power. Education opens many doors and will give you the confidence to help you achieve the goals in your life.
I had to go through those times in my life without speaking about it. And that’s what happens today. A lot of our youth have to go through those times and they don’t have an outlet. It’s good to have outlets for kids, but there’s not a lot out there. And just knowing that they’re not alone in that situation, because if you don’t talk about it...
Exactly. It builds up and a lot of it leads to suicide. Depression is a huge thing for our people, and we don’t have outlets for our kids. Some kids don’t want to play sports because they are depressed, or they don’t have the financial stability to do sports, or they don’t have a peer who encourages them to get into hockey, fastball, running, basketball, or any kind of sports. So these kids get lost and they find a family out there that will encourage them, and it’s usually their drug family or gangs. It’s a really fine line.
What is the role of the leader in the community?
A leader is a person who speaks from the heart, and listens wisely to all within the community. A leader is someonewho is well-respected in the community and is a mentor for the youth and a voice for the people, definitely in times of struggle and hardship. A leader is someone who acts on what he says. We need more mentors. It just seems at times that there might not be enough people to step up to the plate.
How does a leader effectively listen to the voice of the people?
A good leader is a listener who acts on what the people are feeling and rarely questions them. A community speaking together is usually bang on with what is happening in the community. Somebody that does what they say, acts on what they preach, and is active in their community, and leads their community by positive example—that’s a good leader in my eyes.
How have music and acting helped you towards having a more positive life?
It goes back to following my passions—being the best I can possibly be through my music and the likes of television acting. My music helped me to express myself. I love to perform and sing music from my heart. It helped me to want to change my life, to be an example out there, to show people that if you follow your dreams you can do anything.
The arts of music and acting were primary in keeping me focused on being a better person within my work and generally as a person. You learn your art and you try to perfect your art, and you learn by working with some great people. It’s a good confidence builder to be an example for kids out there. You don’t have to go to some extravagant acting school to become a good actor; you just need to have it in your heart.
What is the story behind your story?
Key ingredients would be reconnecting with Creator first of all, reconnections with my elders, believing in who you are and not being scared to make change in your life. If you’re in a place in your life where everything seems impossible and you can’t see any vision ahead, just take that leap of faith and follow your dreams. Listen to your heart—don’t listen to your mind—listen to your heart and it will never steer you wrong.
Is the medicine wheel important for the develop- ment of our young people?
The Medicine Wheel has always been a strong thing for our people. Sometimes as human beings we don’t know where to go in life. The Medicine Wheel has those strong factors; it goes back to our culture from trusting Mother Earth, to trusting our elders, to trusting our original Creator.
We need to embrace our elders and reconnect. We need to go back to our traditional ways and hierarchy. The women used to run the whole community. It was the women that were the strong leaders, and the men were the hunters and gatherers. A lot of us have lost connections, so it’s good to see that we are creating new strength in these weak points in our culture. The Medicine Wheel is something that should be included in any teachings with our youth, whether or not they were raised traditionally in the sweat lodge or learning about culture. For me, learning about my culture was key. It gave me the strength to know who I was as a Cree and who I was as a Nakazd’li Carrier.
