All language subtitles for For.Walter.And.Josiah.2022.720p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

(wind howling)

Downloaded from
YTS.MX

Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

(birds chirping)

(slow dramatic music)

- [Elder] Thousands
of years ago,

the elders would
gather the children

and tell these creation stories.

(slow relaxing music)

Before we're here
as human beings,

it was just the
spirits that were here.

The Creator assigned each
spirit a different animal,

a certain animal.

The eagle was given that title

of being the chief
of all the birds

because of his strength,
his wisdom, his power.

(singers vocalizing)

Way back, when a young person

becomes old enough
to go out hunting,

there's always somebody watching

and keep track of the good deeds

that these young people did.

They'll knock their coup sticks,

and after they'd get
so much on there,

the next gift would
be an eagle feather.

Eventually they'll get enough

to make a headdress out of them.

People can look at him and say,
"Ah. He's come a long way."

(singers vocalizing)

(elder speaking in
a foreign language)

(wings whooshing)

♪ Happy birthday to you

♪ Happy birthday to you

♪ Happy birthday, dear Josiah

♪ Happy birthday to you

- Whoo!
- Give it a blow!

Heat ball right here.

(all cheering)
(all applauding)

- Do you want to hear
about that whole night

or do you want to hear about?

- [Interviewer] As much
as you're willing to talk

to us about.

(slow somber music)

(wind howling)

- Josiah was my eldest son.

He was my world.

(sprayers clanking)

Every morning, he'd wake up,

he'd kiss me, tell me,
"Good morning, Mom."

Then he'd scream really loud
in the hallway, you know,

all the way up the
stairs, just singing.

(object whooshing)

Sunday night came along.

I didn't get a
phone call all day.

And then that night,
my phone got crazy.

It went crazy, crazy.

"Sheri, get to the hospital.

Sheri, come here."

They're like, "Sheri, your
son committed suicide."

And it's like,
"Fuck you (sobs)."

I said, "Don't tell me that."

(slow somber music)

I parked my Suburban right in
the middle of the parking lot.

And then I ran past everybody.

The hospital was already packed.

And the doctor looked at me.

He's like, "Are you the mother?"

And I said, "Yeah."

He looked at the time,
and he called his time.

And I said, "No!"

"Not my baby, no!"

(slow somber music)

Cop came in, and he had a
folded-up piece of paper.

And he's like, "Your
son left a note.

And I'm gonna read
it to you guys."

"Tell my family I love them.

Tell them I'm sorry.

I never wanted to be
the bad guy(sobs)."

And that was it.

- Suicide has always
been a major problem

across Montana and the country,

but now the rates are
growing by the day.

(slow traditional music)

(singers vocalizing)

- [Reporter 1] On
an average day,

15 Montanans try to
take their own lives.

- [Speaker 1] There's
been a 200% increase

in the last half-century.

- [Reporter 2] Montana's
Native Americans

have the highest rate of suicide

in a state that already has

one of the highest
rates in the country.

(birds chirping)

- [Speaker 2] Way back,
suicide wasn't something

that was a common
occurrence like it is today.

Think about the reason why
things are happening today

and that didn't
happen back then.

We have to rethink
some of the things

and reestablish
who we really are.

The values of life have changed.

The values of who we are
as people have changed.

(slow somber music)

(singers vocalizing)

(sneakers squeaking)

- [Coach] Push it, there you go.

There you go!

There you go, boys!

All right, fellas,
take a breath.

- [Claudette] Two basketball
players from Two Eagle

committed suicide.

- [Speaker 3] Two very
young, gifted players.

Walter and Josiah.

- Everybody knows everybody.

And Walter and
Josiah in particular,

it affected a lot of people.

- It affected everybody.

Nobody could function,
like, literally.

Like, teachers
couldn't function.

Students couldn't function.

It was, like, a huge hit.

- [Elias] The thing
I think about most

is what pushed them to do it,

what hurt their hearts so much

that they had to go.

- [Player] There
you go, out, out.

- [Kesean] With what
happened with Walter and Josi

pulled our team apart.

A lot of our team kind of
stopped a lot of things,

kind of quit going to school,

kind of didn't really
play basketball no more.

- Go, go, go!

Come on, Travis!

- This epidemic
or whatever it is,

it's like a gut punch.

- [Elias] I still
question myself, why.

Or, you know, why did Walter
and Josiah have to do this?

You know, they could still
be here with us today.

- This should be
his senior year,

not just ours, it
should be his too.

He should be on this team
with us playing with us and.

- [Kesean] A lot of us
are hurting, you know?

We're trying to bring
each other together.

And in memory of Walter
and Josie, you know,

we're trying our hardest
to keep each other going.

- And this last
year, it's (sobs).

(stammers) it's, yeah,
it's changed a lot.

- [Kesean] The majority of
us are still lost, though.

It's hard to pull each other
together when you're all lost.

- What do you do with these
kids that have been thrown here

and told they were never
going to amount to nothing?

Dude, I've seen so
much improvement

just day by day with you.

Amazing.

- [Schall] DJ, he loves
to build the kids up.

You know, he is a
positive role model.

He's trying to teach
the kids, you know,

on and off the court, you know,

"This is how you're
supposed to act.

This is what you're
supposed to do."

- [DJ] These guys
are my life, man.

Come on, Shane!

So, I see these kids
most of the day.

I'm practically helping
raise them, you know?

And that's all educators
across the whole nation.

We help raise our youth and
help the parents with that.

Go full length then come
back, then three quarters.

You're cheating yourself
one little section, yeah.

- [Elias] To me, he's
like a big brother.

He's like an uncle.

When I first met, man, I just,

"Man, this guy's
cool, you know?"

He's one-of-a-kind kind of guy.

- Keep it straight, yeah.

- Oh. Okay.

- Okay?

What you want is
your 90 degree here.

- [Rodney] We have some
awesome players come through,

and DJ happened
to be one of them.

He's very small in
stature, but he's dynamite.

I used to call him, like,
Mighty Mouse or Superfly.

He holds the school record
for the most points scored

in a game.

He would charge the crowd up.

We'd pack the gym.

They had a lot of success.

And he went on to college
to play basketball.

- You know we get these done.

We can move on to
the next, you know?

I could have chose to play more.

I had my first kid, like,
right out of high school.

2004, I graduated, he
was born in November.

My life wasn't about me no more.

- [Kesean] There's
just a lot of things

that he's been through
that we're going through,

and he knows how we
feel about everything.

- [DJ] Good, D.

How do you re-break down kids
that are already broke down

to build them back up?

How do we do this?

Those are questions I
ask myself every day.

I notice a lot with our kids,
and especially around here,

that they choose not to survive.

(tense dramatic music)

- One thing I believe is
part of this trend in suicide

deals with the treatment

of Native American Indian
people throughout history.

There's a boarding-school system

that they indoctrinated
these Native people

that your hair's too long,

cut your hair, your
eye color is no good,

your skin color is no good,

your language is no good,
your religion is no good.

So there was a lot
of self-hatred.

- A very large percentage
of Native peoples

from the late 1870s
through the 1930s

and somewhat thereafter

attended these boarding schools,

and also known as
Indian schools.

- I went to a boarding school
until the second grade.

Trying to become
something you're not

affects you inside to the
point to where you can't do it.

It produces, It produced
a lot of other problems.

- [Selina] We have high
substance-abuse issues,

and that stems from trying
to cover up the pain

from those traumas
with alcohol and drugs,

and which in turn left people
my age without parents.

- [Finley] Mark Twain
had written an essay

where he said the solution
to the Indian problem

would require two things,
soap and education.

He said you need soap,

because we're
dirty human beings,

and we need to be cleaned up.

The education part, he said,
was the most important.

He said, "We have to
concentrate on the children.

If we took the children,
put them in our schools,

taught them our language,
taught them our beliefs,

our values, in a
few generations,

the problem would be solved."

From today's perspective,

that's probably one of the
worst things you could do

to a people.

- It wasn't just like
any school environment

where any kid will struggle
with certain issues.

(stammers) It was far
more traumatic than that.

Sports was something
that was a refuge

in the boarding-school
experience.

Basketball was something not
only that they loved to do

but as an outlet for trauma,

for emotional trauma,
for social trauma.

That's always been something
positive in their lives,

even when there's not a
lot positive going on.

(birds chirping)

- (laughs) "Travis
the one and only"?

- Nah, wait, oh, yeah, that's
my, I'm the one and only.

This is my brother,
Tyler Pierre,

my younger brother.

People think we're
French, but we're not.

Like, I'll see some, like,
I'll meet some new people,

and they'll ask me what's
my name, and I'll be like,

"My name's Travis Pierre."

And they'll be like-
- "Are you French?"

- "French? Are you French?"

And I'll be like, "Nah, I'm not.

Just a Native person (laughs)."

(ball thudding)
(footsteps thudding)

I'm on my senior year.

This is Tyler's freshman year.

So my mom's happy that we're
actually going to be playing

on the same school this year.

- Oh, wow.
- Get that rebound!

- [Travis] Basketball is kind
of a way to get out of the res

and off of it and
to better places.

We're treated as family here.

And I'd rather stay here than
going to a different school

where people don't
treat me like family.

Get that shit out
of here (laughs).

- [Rodney] All these kids
have their own stories.

(Water whooshing)

(Travis humming)

Travis, he certainly
came from a background

that wasn't the best.

- What's wrong?

You want some?

I've never had a dad.

He's always been in
and out of prison,

and he's not in
our life no more.

(Travis sighing)

My mom got in like
two car crashes.

Had a car crash and
almost died, so.

She was too drunk, and she was
swerving and she hit a truck.

I didn't get the call
till the next morning.

(sneakers screeching)

- You're gonna be teaching
me to bowl, right?

- [Travis] I had all
this pressure put on me

to raise Neesa, Tyler,
and they're telling me,

"Oh, you got to make sure
these guys are all right."

All that pressure, I don't know.

It just, it just hurts.

(footsteps thudding)

To me, how I see it,
it is basketball.

It's an escape for me.

I can be having a rough
time at home or at school,

and I grab a ball and
I go shoot around,

and forget about
all the bad times.

I certainly don't.

I have a lot of responsibility
at the house now.

After all the stuff
that's happened,

it makes me feel more
of a man, though.

(slow dramatic music)

Life on this reservation is,

it's different
than other places.

- You know, these kids grow up

crossing railroad tracks in
our little housing projects

that we have.

Section 8, most
people know them as.

- [Travis] Pablo's kind of
a trench town, you know?

It's whether you're, I like
to say it or not, it's ghetto.

- There's two sides to Pablo.

The left-hand side of
Pablo is all rough side.

The right-hand side of Pablo

is kind of all the
nice non-tribal side.

- We live in, like,

what they call the Suicide Belt.

You know, all along the
Rocky Mountain Front.

Why? Is it the elevation?

Is it the lack of sunlight?

But I know that it's
not an experience that

is okay.

We have to fix it.

- [Finley] It isn't something

that you need to
sympathize with.

It's something you need
to understand, you know?

We got here to this
place and this way.

It's what's in our path.
It's what's in our road.

We have to address it in
order to get through this.

- [Dana] Now we need to
come together as a community

to reverse this.

And that means everybody.

We are in an epidemic.

It's scary, It's like.

It's scary.

(slow dramatic music)

(ball thudding)

- Growing up on the reservation

is different from other places.

Being Native American,

we're looked at different
by a lot of people.

We're kind of looked at as less.

So being at an all-Native
school, it's awesome to me,

because I can be myself.

Whenever I step out of my
bubble, and go to other places,

it's everybody for
themselves, you know?

(slow dramatic music)

I moved over to North
Dakota with my mom,

and I got in with the
wrong crew over there.

I kind of started into a gang.

They were into pills,
and into spice,

and into drinking.

But I realized where I was,

where my life was
going at that point,

and I knew that wasn't
the life that I wanted,

so I moved back and
started playing basketball.

We have a lot of rough
families, you know?

The kids being thrown
around house to house,

you know, dealing with
CPS and dealing with,

you know, dealing
with this and that.

And it sends a, you know, a
person can only take so much.

(slow dramatic music continues)

I looked at Walter
as a little brother,

and I was always
around him, you know?

He was always at my house.

We was always hanging out.

You know, I was just like,

it's more emotional
for me, you know?

Like, it was tougher,
I should say.

We were super close,
though, me and Walter.

(slow dramatic music continues)

When I found out about Walter,
I was sleeping in my bed,

and my dad woke me up,

and told me that
Walter was dead.

And I didn't believe him,
but he was crying, though.

And my dad don't ever
cry that I see, you know?

So I knew it was serious.

(slow dramatic music continues)

Weeks before his suicide, I
was hanging out with Walt,

and he asked me a question
that was really deep.

You know, like, he asked
me, what if he was gone?

You know, what would
I think about it?

Then I took him into my
hands and told him, you know,

"Like, what are
you feeling, Walt.

Like, what are you
going through?"

He didn't even respond
to me, you know?

He just kind of stared
off into the field

where we were parked at, and

life just moves forward.

It's almost just like
live television, you know?

You just can't,

you can't fast-forward
it or nothing.

You just got to
watch it, you know?

As you look at it in a pattern,

it's always the person
that's so bright.

All of my cousins,

the ones who killed
theirselves, you know?

Ashley, Josiah.

So it's kind of like
a shock, you know?

Like, of course, you
don't believe it.

You know, it is hard
to lose these people,

but, you know, you
can't sit there,

and let it hurt you to the point

where you're just
not gonna do nothing.

(slow dramatic music continues)

All's we can do
is remember them.

Now I could live my life
in remembrance of them,

you know, and kind
of, like, represent,

you know, like, represent them.

- [Team] One, two, three,
four, five, six, seven.

- Just, like, I'd wear "Two
Eagle" on my shirt, you know?

I wear them on my back.

I want to be a person people
can look up to and say,

"Yo, look, Kesean did
this, and he did that."

You guys are all my
brothers, you know?

And I'm proud of all you
guys, too, just Elias said.

And that's how I want
to make my team feel.

(all laughing)

But I could always think of
ways to push my boys, you know,

to keep them going,

encourage them to
not drink, you know,

to stay on the
path and do right,

you know, keep pushing forward.

- [DJ] Let's go,
be safe out there.

(people murmuring)

(crowd cheering)
(crowd applauding)

- [Announcer] Two
Eagle River School

boys and girls
basketball to Arlee.

(people murmuring)

(uptempo electronic music)

- [Player] Like step back.

- Yeah, yeah.

- [All] One, two,
three, brothers!

- [Kesean] Going against
the Arlee Warriors,

defending
state-championship team.

Everybody's looking
to take down Arlee.

The environment
here is different,

way different than Pablo.

- [Team] One, two,
three, brothers!

- It's our first
conference game now.

I don't want to sound
all clingy or cliche,

but I'm just gonna play
for Walter and Josie.

- [Crowd] Defense,
defense, defense, defense.

(crowd cheering)

- We have a lot of newcomers

that never, ever
played organized ball.

Our kids are, like,
throwing them out there,

and, "Get your feet wet and
let's see what you got."

(crowd cheering)

(whistle blowing)

Shake it off, yeah?

Keep your head up, shake it off.

(sneakers screeching)
(crowd cheering)

Let's go, go!

(whistle blowing)
Fuck.

- I'm telling you, guys,
too, catch, ready, shoot.

Get your hands out ready, man.

Be ready to shoot that jumper.

Get ready for in case Dom or
whoever dishes it down low.

They're jumping for
everything, too.

So you pump fake, jump,
get them in the air.

Frickin' lean into them.

- Play hard, play with your
heart all the way through.

Okay, fellas?

This is where it's all
right here, your heart.

- "Brothers" on three.
- One, two, three, brothers!

Some of them got their
jitters out of the way.

You know, it's only
their first game.

You know, we played
a really tough team.

- [DJ] You learn
a lot from losing.

You learn a lot from failing.

Their heart was excellent
today in the game.

Once we get them to
work hard and everything

and work on their
basics and all that,

and their discipline,
and everything,

that discipline with the
heart is gonna be, you know,

it's gonna be a big threat.

(buzzer buzzing)

(tense dramatic music)

- [Travis] We need to
work on our chemistry.

We need to work
on our endurance.

We need to work on everything.

And it's just, you know it's
a lot we need to work on,

but we can get it done.

(car engines roaring)

(birds chirping)

- I've been driving for
a Two Eagle River School

since November of 2012.

I like interacting
with the kids,

and a part of that job
is driving for sports.

And I loved, oh,
I'm gonna lose it,

watching my boy play.

(slow somber music)

Here are pictures of
him when he was a baby.

Suicide, I don't know what
gets it in their mind.

With Walter, I think it
was a lot of buildup.

He did talk about it before,

and I thought he was
doing better (sobs).

He was a real good kid.

He had a lot of potential.

He always told me that
basketball was life.

He loved playing basketball.

His last game, he did play
against the Arlee Warriors.

(crowd cheering)
(people murmuring)

Oh, come on.

Yeah!

And we didn't know that
was gonna be the last time.

(slow somber music)

You know, the seniors, you know,

I've been with them through
their whole basketball season

at Two Eagle, you know,
and I've watched them play,

and I've watched them
play with Walter.

And don't know if I can, you
know, make it to the games.

(door thudding)

I'm not sure.

He's got his initials over
there, and you can see other,

his friends signed
their names to his wall.

I'm gonna try, but,
you know, it just.

I basically (sobs)

go to work, go home, and
hibernate in my room.

It's all I do.

(slow somber music continues)

I don't know if you should,

it's better to talk when
it's still fresh or,

you know, if I got to give
myself more time to process.

But eventually I know I
got to talk to somebody.

(slow somber music)

(wind howling)

(chimes tinkling)

- This time of year,

and especially when the
snow is on the ground,

is most sacred to our
story of our identity,

our story of who
we are as a people

and where we come from.

The animal people helped
in laying the foundation

for those of us to
come spiritually.

He laid that foundation for
us to keep things in order

and to keep that value in place.

And so I give thanks
today for this time

of this space and place.

I come here to these grounds

and ask for the
road of these kids,

because it gives
order to my life,

to our life as a people.

The smoke provides
for us every day

in our prayer, in our
song, in our walk,

and the road that we
make for ourselves.

(Elias singing in
a foreign language)

(Speaker speaking in
a foreign language)

(Elias singing in
a foreign language)

- Some people, they talk
about how Natives are lost.

And I'd say the reason that is

is because there's two
worlds that I live in.

I live in this
white man's world,

and I live in a
Native American world.

That's our culture,
that's our drumming,

our singing, our dancing,
you know, our language.

All that just all
coming together,

and it's waiting for 'em,
and it'll make 'em strong.

(singers singing in
a foreign language)

(uptempo drum music)

Some people look up
to Jordan and LeBron.

Those are my Jordan
and LeBrons to me.

I want to be like Patlik Pierre

I want to be like
Willie, Caye Louie Caye,

Uncle Junior Caye,
'cause, to me,

those are the guys I look up to.

I want to be just like
them when I grow up.

- You know, I look up to Elias.

You know, I look
up to Elias a lot.

When he sees
something going wrong,

he'll say something, you know?

The drum pushes him to
want to be a better person

for his community, and
for his well-being,

and his person, you know?

- That drum I got from my tupia.

That's my great-grandma.

I sing.

I go to, like, medicine dances.

I go to lodges.

I didn't realize it until
I got a little bit older

that, you know, these
things I've been picking up,

like, as a culture,
that's just who we are.

And, you know, when I
lost Josiah and Walter,

the only place I wanted
to be was with his body.

I wanted to be around everybody
that was gonna be there.

When we go to
funerals and stuff,

they sing these hymns,

and whenever I hear those hymns,

it makes, I guess
it strengthened my
heart that much more.

In the dictionary that we have,

the Ksanka dictionary,
(speaking in a foreign language)

translate into
spirit, Creator, God.

All I can do is thank (speaking
in a foreign language)

for what He's given me.

To me, this reservation is home.

I want to work for the tribe.

I love it here.

♪ Let it breathe

(footsteps thudding)
(contestants laughing)

(singer singing in
a foreign language)

♪ Foreshadow,
foreshadow, foreshadow ♪

(people murmuring)

♪ Misdirected

- Now we're getting to the
end of December, pretty close.

We know what they
need to work on.

We know their strengths
and weaknesses.

We need a lot of work.

Our offense and our free
throws is what's struggling.

Time now to work on it.

(sneakers screeching)
- Dude.

- [DJ] Square up, take your
time, take some breaths.

All right, it's all right.
- It's okay, D.

- [Elias] What they're
trying to teach us

is making a free throw
while we're tired.

You know, you miss
it? All right.

Run and go get
our blood pumping.

All right, now you're
up on the line.

Make it, if you miss it,
oh, we're running again.

- [DJ] You got this, come on.

I'll do every one
of these with you.

- [Speaker 5] Come on, Mac,
you got this, come on, Mac.

- [DJ] Mac, he was the
one that had troubles

and left the ball team.

Not good enough for his mom.

Not good enough for his dad.

Now he's not good
enough for the school.

And so he was looking
for a way out.

- [Speaker 5] Come on, Mac!

Push it, Mac!

You got this, Mac!

- [Elias] Mac, he tried to
quit, but I made a petition.

I said, "Mac,"

I said, "You know, you
can't just quit on us,

you know, you're
part of our team now.

You're one of us.

If I get everybody to sign this,

you're gonna have
to join again."

Everybody was like, "No,
Mac's not quitting."

- [DJ] This is
game-like scenario, Mac.

Fourth quarter,
we're gonna be tired.

Our legs are gonna be shot.

This is where you want to
center yourself and focus.

- [Speaker 6] We all believe
in you, Mac, remember that.

You're our brother, Mac.

- [Speaker 7] Mac,
you can make the shot.

Ooh.
- Oh.

- I told him, "We
love you, buddy.

You're needed, and
you're wanted here."

- Let's go, Mac,
double or nothing.

Double or nothing.
- You got this.

- Yeah!

- [Elias] Whoo!

(team barking)

(people murmuring)

- Whoa!
- Yay!

- Nice, Mac.

I was really proud of him.

My heart grew 20-fold tonight

because of that, 'cause
he was back here.

It's not about teaching
these guys to win games

and, you know, and all that.

It's about, it's teaching
them something in life

that they can take forever
and hold onto that.

(people murmuring)

- It just means more
than basketball.

Basketball is, you
know, kind of therapy.

My name's Camas McClure,
I'm 24 years old,

and I've always
wanted to be a coach.

You know, that's one
of my first goals.

There's just not
enough role models,

male role models here on
the reservation, really.

I can relate to these
kids a lot in a way.

- Camas, he has worked at
learning to be a coach,

and, like, he is what
these kids need right now,

because of his
age and, you know,

the things that he's
gone through in his life.

- From my experience,

I felt like nobody, you know,

really cared for me.

I felt like I was
a ghost at times.

One day it just hit
me where I almost,

you know, took my life.

(slow somber music)

I'm glad that DJ, as well,

is showing these boys
that it's okay, you know,

to let your feelings out.

If it wasn't for basketball,

I really wouldn't be here today.

(people murmuring)

- [Speaker 8] Well, hang
them up so they dry out.

Thank you.
- I thought it was wet.

- [Speaker 8] Well,
who wants to explain

what we learned about-

- Well, right now,
we're smoking the hides.

It makes it obviously look
better and smell better.

And it adds a protection
against, like, water.

- Yeah, if you get it wet,

then it won't harden
up as much I guess.

- We have such a rich
culture and history.

There's all kinds of
things to do here.

To get our young people
reconnected to that,

to feel the value is important.

What I wanna do is go ahead

and untie the bottom here,

and look up inside and
see how dark it is.

So, this has been very,
many, many weeks in process.

Started in September.

We met maybe once a week

all day for about nine classes.

- You mean every Thursday.
- So, yeah.

So, we get our animals,
hunt them in a good way,

and then teach them how to
skin the hide really good,

because you don't wanna
nick them and cut them up.

- [Speaker 9] Ooh!

- At this point,
they're damp and wet,

so we want to keep them
not all scrunched up,

because they have to dry out.

(all laughing)

(people murmuring)

Okay, so, when we
come back from lunch,

we'll have our hides to cut up,,

and then you'll get to go home.

(people murmuring)

These kids work really hard.

They're all gonna get probably
a quarter of the hide.

So they'll be able
to take it home

and do something
beautiful with that.

(people murmuring)

- [Speaker 10] Ow!

- [DJ] This whole week has
been an emotional week.

This whole season.

And, I mean, the winter
holiday season and all that

has been very tough.

Tomorrow's the exact same day

I believe it was
Friday last year

was the day I got the
call about my son,

and I wasn't doing too well, so.

(slow somber music)

- [Rodney] DJ losing his son.

Everyone deals with
things in their own way.

And I think he's a
pretty strong person,

and if you tell him that, he'll
tell you, "I'm not strong."

But he doesn't see what
I see on him overcoming

and going through.

(slow somber music)

- It's hard to find a man
that does it for his kids,

his family, you know, and
not himself, not money,

you know, any of that stuff.

My boy in the past
inspires me to do all that.

All my kids do, you know?

I know he's watching
us and all that.

(slow somber music continues)

And I know he was proud
of me here, you know,

being a teacher
and being involved.

He was really proud,
so, and a coach.

And I know he would want me
to keep doing it, you know?

For his brothers, for
him, for myself, you know,

for his family, our family.

(slow somber music)

Kai, Kai!

- He's a single
parent, a father.

You don't see that much
in our society at large.

So, yeah, he's human,
it's gonna be hard,

and he's gonna have rough times,

and he's gonna, you
know, need a moment.

But the thing with
him is he's tough.

I mean, he's not gonna give up,

and he's always gonna stand
up and dust himself off

and try his best to be
there for his children,

for his significant other,
for the kids at the school.

- Whatever I can offer.

As I said, I can't offer much,

but maybe my time, maybe
my words, you know,

and I hope that's the
most important thing

because that'.

Through my life,

those are the biggest
things that was given to me

and that I took, and that
helped me grow, was words,

and time spent with me,
you know, and all that.

(slow somber music continues)

(upbeat music)

- [Elder] Our children
today are lost,

because we're lost as people,

because we're waiting for
somebody to tell us what to do.

When I grew up, we
knew what to do.

We knew our responsibilities,

and now a lot of our children,

they feel like
they don't belong.

Because their parents,
their grandparents.

didn't pass down something
that was taken from them.

- People need to be
re-educated on the fact

that the federal government
never gave Indians anything.

We have gone through
years and years

of intergenerational trauma,

and with that comes addictions

and mistrust

and different forms
of dysfunction

of how you deal with
your grandparents' trauma

and your
great-grandparents' trauma.

- It's like, how do we
change this, you know?

We have so many
things in this world,

Two Eagle, the res,

and it's going around
every day, you know?

Revolving around and
around and around.

And life's just
happening, you know?

Jobs, daily lives, no jobs,

unemployment rate
is high, you know?

- How do you deal
with the dysfunction

that happens from that,

whether it's sex abuse or
child abuse or neglect or,

you know, just not
knowing how to nurture,

not knowing how to
say "I love you,"

not knowing how to
hear "I love you."

Those are all
things that happen.

And it doesn't
happen in one day.

It happens over generations.

- And all these problems
are stemming out from here,

and we look at counselors
and people that come in from,

you know, wherever they
be, Florida, whatever.

They come in, and they try
helping and giving us the tools,

which are good.

But to break that cycle of
bad things that's happening,

do we break it from the outside

or do we break it
from the inside?

- A major part of it is
understanding who you are,

where you come from,
what your ancestors did,

and how we survive
in this brutal world.

I mean, it's a brutal world,

and to get our young
people reconnected to that,

to feel the value,
we have to help them

feel like they belong.

- [DJ] That's not
gonna be a quick fix.

It's got to be a
generational fix.

- [Dana] We have to
build relationships.

I think we have to build
connections with people.

Help find our way
back to who we were.

- [DJ] So if we can give
these kids the tools

to break that
generational trauma

of families being involved

in alcohol and
drugs and all that,

then maybe those cycles will
be broken in the future.

(tense dramatic music)

(people murmuring)

(door latching)

- [Claudette] Any of the
kids that are tribal members,

they have an IM account.

Money goes every year
into this account,

and then it builds interest.

When they turn 18, you know,
they get a huge chunk of money.

(tense dramatic music)

- [Travis] You got a lot
of rules when you're 18,

a lot of things you
have to be doing.

So I'm gonna turn 18.

I'll have 18 money.

About 38 grand.

This is the only time in my life

I'm ever gonna have
this much money.

I want to go New
York and live there

instead of being on this res.

Because the res is toxic.

I don't want to
tell no one either,

'cause anyone find
out, they'll stop me.

(tense dramatic music)

(people murmuring)

- Oh, you're playing?
- Yeah.

- Awesome.

Love that too.

- All righty.

- [Player] Let's
go, guys, let's go.

- [DJ] Today's about
having fun, okay?

- [Camas] Yeah, exactly.

- [DJ] Win or lose,
go out, play hard.

All season, we're gonna find
our positions, our roles,

you know, on this team.

(students grunting)

- What time is it?
- Game time!

- What time is it?
- Game time!

- "Eagles" on three.
- One, two, three, Eagles!

(tense dramatic music)

(whistle blowing)

- You guys, make
your good passes.

Dribble to your passes,
set good screens.

Don't force nothing.

If it's not there, then
don't put it there.

- Good luck, boys!

(upbeat music)

(whistle blowing)

- [DJ] That team did
not beat you guys.

You guys beat yourself.

We had 21 turnovers.

Keep your head up, okay?

- Yeah, I mean, it's-

- I know, I know, I know.

Remember what you
can always work,

what we need to work on,
anything you have to say,

bring it to the table
at practice, okay?

(upbeat music continues)

We got to work extra,
and we got to work hard

if we wanna go out
and start winning now

and at least making
good games and all that.

(crowd cheering)

I'd rather lose by 1 point

than lose by 30 points or
even 20 points, you know?

(upbeat music continues)

(alarm beeping)

(people murmuring)

- Kesean has been,
he's kind of seasoned.

He's been through a
lot in his young life.

He's suffered a lot of trauma.

These suicides
profoundly affected him.

- [Teacher] So figure out
what she's asking him for.

- [Kesean] I'm kind of concerned

with what's going on in my life,

and it set me back in school

because, you know,

I was still going through
it with my cousin Josiah,

you know, when he did it,

and me and Walter were
just getting close.

You know, he was
practically living with me.

- I think those things
are big obstacles.

They were big things in his
life that he had to overcome.

He's working through them.

- This needs to
be signed by Rod.

- Okay.

- [Kesean] Well, I went
in to ask Claudette

if I was still on
track with graduating.

She said that I need
my last two periods

or else it's not going
to happen this year.

What can I do about that?

I'm at 54.

- But you need 60.

6 and 54, you need 60.

Hm.

I kind of realize why I
shouldn't have slacked

in the past,

but all I can do now
is try to make it up.

I'm not really worried
about that one right now.

I'm more worried about
trying to get this one done.

- [Rodney] What do
you need in there?

What are you doing?

- Moccasins.

- Do one and start another
one, that's worth seven.

- Hmm, I'll have to talk
to her really quick.

Can't really do nothing about it

but push forward now.

I'm trying as hard as I can
to finish out my points.

- And if he puts in the effort

and takes care of business,

hopefully he'll step up

and do what he needs
to do to graduate.

(upbeat music)

- [Kesean] I wish I didn't
have to make this decision,

but it's kind of something
that just has to be done.

You know, because it's either
play basketball or graduate,

and I want to graduate instead.

(slow relaxing music)

- In wintertime,

there's a place down there
in the Bitterroot Valley.

There's hot springs down there.

They call it
Sleeping Hot Springs.

It's part of our ecosystem.

It's part of our
creation story, also.

It's where the coyote
killed one of the,

what they call the
people eaters there.

Tricked him into
going into the water.

But once he did that,
the coyote said,

"From here on out,
when the humans arrive,

this will be a place of medicine

in this hot water, hot springs,

and heal themselves, heal
their aches and pains."

(slow relaxing music)

- [Speaker 11] Oh, oh!

- [Speaker 12] Stay your lane.

- During practice, I was upset.

It's because I got news

that my mom tried
to commit suicide.

(tense dramatic music)

They were telling me, "Your
mom is in the hospital.

And she might be
going to treatment."

At this age. I mean, I'm
just starting my life.

I shouldn't, I shouldn't
be getting all that.

It just hurts, it sucks.

My brother and sister
shouldn't go through that,

and that I wasn't
there for them.

I was out of practice, like,

doing my own thing
when all that happened.

And I should have been
at home with them.

Like, I should have been
stopping my mom from doing that

instead of just
worrying about myself.

(tense dramatic music)

This is the third
time she's tried.

The third time.

I love Mom to the most.

I love her, like she's.

I'm scared Tyler might
be, like, scarred.

I can see it 'cause he
just sleeps all day now.

He tries to hide from me.

(tense dramatic music)

- Honestly, I don't
want to talk about it.

- Why?
- I just don't.

- Look at me.

(Tyler sobbing)

- The first time I was scared,

but this time, just, I
know it's not gonna stop.

And the thing that dad told me,

:If she ever tries it again,

don't take her decision away."

- [Travis] That's why he's
out of our life, though.

- [Tyler] I don't even know.

- Ty, Ty, Ty!

- [Tyler] He's practically
told me to let Mom do that,

and I'm not-
- I'm not hearing you sharing,

just be a man about it and talk.

- [Tyler] I fuckin' can't.

You guys are good at hiding it.

I'm just not good
at all at hiding it.

So one day I think it's
gonna happen again.

And that day we won't
be able to stop it.

And then we'll have to
live life without her.

- I told her it's like
dropping a rock into a river

or into a lake.

There's going to be
ripples around it,

and that's going to affect
everybody around you.

Each time, every
time she was drunk.

And that wasn't her.
- No, afterwards.

- No, no.
- She was sober.

And she said she
still wanted to do it,

and you were in there
talking to her, crying,

and said, "No, Mom."

She still wanted to do it
even when she was sober.

- No, she wasn't sober!

She wasn't, you don't
know the fucking truth!

Don't try to argue with me.

She was drugged out of it!

How else are you supposed
to fucking get like that?

She was drugged out of it.

What are you talking about?

She was coming down
from the drugs she took.

And you're sitting there
thinking, "Oh, she was sober."

- Yeah, you know most.

- I do know most.
- I know. You do.

- [Travis] If God was real

and someone you love is
hurting or even dying,

on the verge of dying,

and you pray for them to
get better and they die,

then what's the point
of praying for that?

If there was really a God,

He would have done
something about that.

(car engine roaring)

- [Selina] My
daughter once told me,

"Nobody cares about
you until you're dead."

And it made me realize, like
we're glorifying suicide.

To a certain extent, you know,

we have to address
that somebody's gone,

but we can't make it

like it was okay
for them to do it.

And we all have very different
beliefs in what happens.

What I've been taught
with the suicides

is you don't get to transition,

that you wander this Earth

without being able to
communicate with anybody.

Wouldn't it be the worst

if you took your own life,

because you couldn't
handle feelings,

but the only way to
communicate with anything else

was to feel?

(wind howling)

(people murmuring)

(telephone ringing)

- [Louis] We've seen
a drastic increase

over the last five years

in suicide and suicide attempts.

We've always had the issue
amongst Indian people

within our communities,

but lately we've had
a lot more of it.

We in law enforcement,
of course,

attribute it to
increased methamphetamine

on the reservation.

The availability has risen.

Now, I'm not saying that
the people that we have lost

or the people that have
attempted suicide are users,

but it's in our community.

That's one of the factors
that we think is attributed

to the increased rate.

- Oftentimes it's
the first answer

that comes to their mind.

"If I wasn't here, if
I just take my life,

it would solve the problem.

I'd quit hurting my family.

I'd quit hurting everybody.

I'd quit hurting myself."

That's one of the
characteristics of meth.

(singers vocalizing)

During one week, nine new
tribal members were born,

and of those, seven of
them were drug-affected.

One was my grandson.

And,

as a tribal council person,

that was probably the most
difficult part of the job,

was trying to find
a solution to that,

trying to work on it,
trying to do something.

- All that stuff
that comes into play,

the methamphetamine, the heroin,

just the dysfunctions that
come just with all of that,

it's all, like, the
perfect storm for now,

we have people feeling like
they have no reason to be here.

(wind howling)

- [Rodney] Answer
these questions.

There's no essay or nothing.

That's it, sigh here,
and you're done.

- [Kesean] All right, all right.

- [Rodney] This is
your graduation ticket.

All right, all right,
thank you, Rod.

- [Rodney] You good?
- [Kesean] Yeah.

- All right.

(people murmuring)

My last contract that
I need to graduate.

- You just got it?
- Yep.

Now I'm just gonna turn it in.

(bus engine roaring)

- [Rodney] Kesean's an
example of resiliency

because he picked himself up,

dusted himself off,

made a goal that, "I don't
care what anyone says,"

that, "It doesn't look likely

that I'm not going to graduate.

I'm know I'm going to do it,
I know I'm going to graduate."

And that's the attitude he had.

And guess what, he's
going to get his diploma.

(slow dramatic music)

- [Selina] When the
boys say that basketball

is their therapy,

what they're saying is it's...

"It's the way I release all
my stress of everyday life."

- I'm gonna say none
of these guys this year

have had a breakout game.

It's bound to happen.

It's bound to happen.

I can see improvement.

I can see 'em trusting us more.

Just getting them to
believe and believe,

and imagine, you
know, it's possible.

Travis, I know he's worried
about his mom a lot.

I know he can do it.

- You know, they're trying
to be adults and kids

at the same time.

And a lot of times, they
don't get to be kids,

because they're thrown
in the real world

a little bit too early.

(whistle blowing)

(people murmuring)

- [DJ] Good shot, Travis.

- [Schall] They wanna
be a part of something,

you know, so they have something

that every weekend they show up.

- [DJ] Hit that, Trav!

(crowd applauding)

- It doesn't matter
if they win this year

every game or lose every game.

It's that they got
up off their asses

and they fought for
what they wanted.

- Come on, Dom.
- Nice pass!

(crowd cheering)

- [Speaker 13] Nice
pass, nice pass!

Whoa!

- [DJ] Especially after
the first couple shots,

he was like, "I'm feeling it,"

you know, and everything.

I'm proud that he
found his shot.

Super big, super big, you know?

The team has been waiting
for him to do that,

'cause they know he can do that.

I know he can do that.

I'm pushing him all
summer long to be that,

you know, to do that, so-

- [Rodney] You know, athletics
teaches you dedication,

commitment, responsibility,

all the good things in life
that you can carry with you

beyond sports.

(buzzer buzzing)

(crowd cheering)

(people murmuring)

- [Travis] When I
play basketball,

I'm a whole different person

when it comes to
being on the court.

It just changes me,
and it gets me hyped,

and gives me an adrenaline rush.

Like, I don't care
about anything

that's happening
outside the court.

I just care about what's
happening on the court.

- [Elias] Just maybe
for that hour, you know,

his mind is off everything else.

Basketball is like a
brotherhood, it's a.

We all have our own problems,
but we stand strong as one.

(slow relaxing music)

- [Gena] I believe sports
plays a big part in purpose.

I think it does
wonders for the boys.

I'm a mental-health
therapist here at Two Eagle.

I, first of all, let them
know that they have value

and purpose in this life.

Most of the players
have been in my office.

It starts at home, to
have good role models

and good mentors.

(people murmuring)

What do you wanna do?

What do you wanna be?

What are you dreaming about?

- [DJ] I noticed, I
asked them a question.

I notice most of 'em
have never been asked

by their parents,

"What do you wanna be in life?"

And when I asked them
that, they were like,

"What do you mean, what
do I want to be in life?

Nobody's ever asked me that.

I didn't think I was going
to be anything," you know?

- [Claudette] Two
Eagle River School,

it started out as an
alternative school

where kids that couldn't
make it in public school

or had a hard time
for whatever reason,

they went to Two Eagle.

- [Brandon] These kids grow up

in some of the most broken
homes I've ever seen.

They come to school,
some of 'em are not kept,

'cause they don't have
a shower at their house.

They're hungry,
they'll, you know,

eat as much as they
can when they can.

Parents who are alcoholics,
who are druggies,

who don't come home,

or come home and beat
the hell out of 'em.

(people murmuring)

- That looks good.

So, Dylan.

What did you learn this morning?

Tell them something.

- I learned howto cut
meat properly now.

- We're rolling that out.

We're cutting it up
our arm to roll it out.

- In 1994, I moved
here, I came here.

I noticed a
difference right away.

It was an all-Indian school.

It wasn't like
any public school.

It was run by the tribe,
had an Indian school board.

- Go down and filet it out.

Are you a lefty, kinda?

- No.
- No?

- I'm a righty.
- Okay.

- [Rodney] Without culture
and language in the school,

the school has no
reason to be here.

And that's the
first and foremost,

is the culture and language,

and then you build
the academic component

after we get them
on solid ground.

(singer singing in
a foreign language)

- When I come to Two Eagle,
I found my culture again.

I found, you know, where
my heart wanted to be,

what was maybe missing
that I didn't know,

that I was searching for.

- I look to my culture
and I look to my elders,

you know, and what they,

I think about what
they've been through,

and today, you know,
they're still here.

They made it through
whatever happened

throughout their lifetime.

So that's how I
like to look at it,

to help my peers now,

so that, you know, I can
put it in their hearts

that, yeah, we can make it
through, too, here, you know?

- [Dana] This place
is good to us,

so we got to get back to where
this place is good to us.

And everybody says, "I want
to get away from the res,

I want to get away
from the res."

There's trauma.

You have to get
away from trauma.

You have to repair the trauma.

It's not the place that does it.

You know, the place,
This place can heal you.

I truly believe
there's healing here.

I truly believe there's
beautiful things
right here at home.

(singers singing in
a foreign language)

- Hi!
- Hi.

- How are you?
- Pretty good.

- [Hairdresser] Good,
how are things going?

- I don't even know what to get.

- You don't know what to get?
- No.

I'm gonna do a skin fade,
but maybe start with a 1.

(clippers buzzing)

- It's, like, our last,
like, district tournaments.

It's pretty big around here.

For seniors, like me, it's
our last time on the court,

like, to play, this is the last
time for everything for me.

It's good it's over,
but it's also, like,

"Man, my last high-school game."

- You're realizing it, yeah.

- Yeah, so it's,

it sucks.

♪ Inhale, exhale, now
we're stress-free ♪

♪ My squad, yeah, we
only roll the best tree ♪

♪ Inhale, exhale, now
we're stress-free ♪

- Ty.
- Yeah.

- You look fresh.

(Tyler laughing)

You look like you're
a freshman now.

You don't look like
an eighth grader.

- [Rodney] You know, for the
boys to dedicate their season

to Walter and Josiah is healing.

It's a good thing.

And they can't measure their
success on wins and losses.

- [Travis] You look
more like a man!

- [Hairdresser] There you go.

You like it?
- Yeah.

- Thank you for making
this guy look like a man.

- [Rodney] If their heart is
in it, and they work hard,

and dedicate it to those
boys and their families,

that's a win.

(slow relaxing music)

- I had one away game scheduled,

but then I switched.

So this actually
is my first game.

And it's the last away game
for the season, so (laughs).

Like, last weekend,
I couldn't go watch.

I thought I could handle, but.

So I just sat out
in the lobby and.

Driving, basketball,

it's a step forward.

I'm sure, you
know, it's helping.

But, you know, like
I said, it's just.

I have those moments where I.

Like, I haven't gone to
the gravesite, you know,

just to visit him, but.

(slow relaxing music continues)

It just hits me at random times.

But I'm sure in
time that'll change.

But right now, that's just
the way I'm feeling still.

- [Travis] You can
lose the whole season,

but once it comes
to districts time,

you can come out winning it.

(slow relaxing music continues)

- [Elias] You know, we showed
a lot of heart this season.

Could've just left and
said, "Oh, I'm done,"

because we were losing so
much, but we stuck it out.

- [Kesean] Knowing that
you made it through.

After we lost a few people,

our school kind of
learned how to, you know,

keep yourself together
in hard moments.

- We're not going to lay down.

We're going to play to the end.

(whistle blowing)

(singers vocalizing)
(crowd cheering)

(buzzer buzzing)

What do you guys think?

Hey!

I'm proud as shit of you guys.

Sometimes in life we work
hard and we fall short, man.

But we get back up
and we continue.

We continue.

I am privileged and blessed to
have had you guys in my life.

Don't live life with regrets.

Don't live life with
resentment at all.

We keep moving on,

and we keep bettering ourselves.

This doesn't end here.

You guys are going to go
off on life, you older boys.

And the things I talk
to you guys about

and tell you in school
and in the locker room,

you continue that,
you continue to push.

When you guys have
families of your own,

you continue to push for them.

Those are the
things that matter.

Heart is what matters.

Life is made for the strong.

And you guys are all strong.

You know how I know that?

Because we won
one game all year,

but you guys still go
out and give it your all.

That's what I mean.

Keep going.
(Elias sobbing)

Keep going.

There's a lot more life to live.

We got a word in our language.

It's called (speaking
in a foreign language).

It means everybody
coming together as one.

It's what we do as a family.

It's why the Creator
gave us new days.

Always make ourselves better.

You're in control.

Ball is in your court now.

(slow relaxing music)

- I'm going to Elmo today

to pay my respects
to Josiah and Walter.

Not only important
to me, I think.

I think it's
important to our team.

♪ You drift into the sky

♪ To meet the man who waits

♪ By those big
old golden gates ♪

You know, we've been
through traumatic things

when it hurt us pretty bad,

we finish out the year
giving it our all, you know,

coming together as one.

(singers vocalizing)

(birds chirping)

Yeah. Just very emotional.

Just seeing those boys.

♪ Oh, baby sister we know

♪ That God's got mercy

At times, I feel like
it wasn't enough.

But

I know I done my part

as their coach and their friend.

They're looking
down, and they're,

they're a part of us.

(slow relaxing music)

- [Speaker 14] Okay,
everybody, did you see mine.

(people murmuring)

No mine is.

- It's just being a single
mom trying to make it

and how hard it is
here and how to,

I just wanted to
get out of here,

and the hardest thing is
getting out of the res.

(people murmuring)

I've been through
the scene of partying

and letting myself go,

because I couldn't
deal with being alone

and taking care of my children.

But they, I got a second chance.

So this is my time to be a mom.

Baby, tell me.

[Travis] I'm going
to New York, and.

- Get off of the reservation?

- Yeah.

(slow dramatic music)

- [Evie] I'm happy for you.

You need to get off
of the reservation,

experience life.

If I were to stayed away, I
would have had a better life,

but it just keeps
pulling on you.

- [Travis] I'm gonna go up there

and then I'm gonna
end up being a bum.

- [Evie] Don't be a bum.

- [Travis] 40 grand ain't
gonna last me that long there.

- [Evie] Not in your real life.

On the res maybe, but
not in a big city.

I want all of my kids to leave.

I don't want them to stay here.

I want them all to have a
life outside of the res.

Don't make the same
mistakes as I did.

(ladder clanking)

- [DJ] Right now we're
putting this little one up.

Then we're going to put
the big one out here.

So then, after graduation,

people can take pictures
by it if they want.

- Things kind of work cyclical.

I really believe that
we're in that process

of we're coming out
the other side of this.

As a whole, I see a lot
of healing took place

in the school and the community,

and I think people
are ready to move on.

I think this year was,

I could see that
manifest itself,

whereas now we're moving
on and looking forward

to other things,

and we can look back on
anniversaries that we've had,

Walter's birthday and Josiah.

(slow relaxing music)

There's more smiles and laughter

and good remembrances

as opposed to real
heavy, hard grief.

So I think that process of grief

is running its course,

and they're moving away from it,

and that's the way it should be.

I'd like to thank all the
parents and guardians,

and, families and friends
for coming out this afternoon

to support this
graduating class of 2019.

(audience applauding)

(audience cheering)

- [DJ] I think when you
go through hard things

and you learn to strive
through that adversity with it

and overcome those things,

it helps build a character
inside of a person

that can never be touched.

- [Rodney] Kesean Eugene Burke.

(audience cheering)

- [Speaker 15] Woo-hoo.

- [Kesean] The whole reason
our basketball season

was the way it was

was because we
were all just kind

of finding ourselves again.

You know, it's good
to win and everything,

but it's kind of just to be
there with each other, you know?

We lost a few people for
that to happen, obviously.

- Today was kind of tough.

We all know he's here
watching over everybody still.

- [Rodney] We wanted
a very respectful

and a subtle way to
acknowledge Walter,

so we put a chair in there
with the graduating class.

- [Irvine] There's a lot
to see out there, you know,

so I hope they take advantage
of it before they move on.

You know, I just don't
want them to think

this is the end and.

You know, there's a lot
more out in the world to see

besides the
reservation, you know?

And I hope they, you know, take
that opportunity, you know?

(slow dramatic music)

- And everybody's trying
to get back to their lives.

You know, I'm trying
to do the same thing.

It's still dark here,

but we're living.

We're surviving.

We're moving forward.

We have to.

I hear my son.

I listen.

I can hear him.

- [Josiah] Goodbye
Lucas, goodbye everyone.

- I miss him.

(singers singing in
a foreign language)

- [Travis] If you
feel depression,

don't be scared to
ask someone to help.

'Cause it's not just
you, you're not alone.

You're with everybody,
it's your life,

your life's more important
than anything right now.

If you lose it, then
you can't get it back.

(birds chirping)