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Antoine Mountain
Guest columnist
Monday, February 25, 2008
I wanted to relay an interesting little episode that happened during my Christmas break in the American Southwest.
I was down there in the Shiprock, New Mexico, locale to have some native ceremonials done for me, and so was living for a time with a young Navajo Dineh family there. I also went on to another adopted family's residence on a different part of the great Navajo reservation, at Indian Wells, Arizona, for the actual Christmas Day.
Upon my return late one evening to these first people's place at the Navajo housing, I found that both parents were busy doing something in nearby Farmington and would be back home later.
In the meantime the three boys were in a great state of anticipation and agitation, pacing the floors, checking for the vehicle's return and saying over and over that they simply could not wait for their parents to get back home, rare for teenagers these days, I thought.
I didn't pay it any more mind than this, just being happy to be back in my host's home, but it turned out the reason for all of this excitement and consternation had to do with a PlayStation, and the video games it could deliver.
The first night the three boys were up most of it, with these computerized versions of war.
Well, friends, I am no Scrooge when it comes to young people and their Christmas cheer but this one incident really brought home to me just how addicted we have become to technology.
The way these three boys were acting was exactly the way we did while waiting for those bar-room doors to open in the mornings, just so we could have that first all-important drink that would start the cycle going all over again, or the way we fidgeted so waiting for the boys to get back from a 'booze run'.
I do know that television is a powerful tool. Just by watching the news for a few minutes each day you can keep up with what is going on around you, instead of only using this tool, the T.V., for video games and movies.
The PlayStation does take up a good deal of the home life, too. Where before these boys were relatively happy to do their chores around the house, now they have to be reminded any number of times, and even do not eat properly, as only a few days before.
Any form of an addiction is a strange thing, and can cover a lot of ground. A lot of our people, though having quit drinking somehow feel alright about smoking dope or about their gambling.
These days I don't even bother to display my artworks at events where our Dene leaders are holding a meeting, for I know that even these so-called 'leaders' would rather spend their money on gambling and drinking. It is sad as a First Nations' artist to have to feel left out that way.
So, friends, how do we deal with our addictions? For me it simply had to do with quitting, along with accepting all of its new human responsibilities. And, I do hope that these little episodes, like the one with the teenagers, can be used to point out what is really going on in our lives today. Mahsi cho.
- Antoine Mountain is a Dene artist and writer originally from Radilih Koe'/Fort Good Hope. He can be reached at www.amountainarts.com