My name is Alison Black and I live in Red Rock, OK. I am a full blood Native American belonging to the Cheyenne, Ponca and Osage tribes of Oklahoma. I am working on a degree in education with the hopes of becoming a high school teacher.

Currently, I work with Native American youth directly under a Substance...

My name is Alison Black and I live in Red Rock, OK. I am a full blood Native American belonging to the Cheyenne, Ponca and Osage tribes of Oklahoma. I am working on a degree in education with the hopes of becoming a high school teacher.

Currently, I work with Native American youth directly under a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administraion federal grant in affliation with the Tonkawa Tribe. My husband and I both work as Native American substance abuse counselorsfor adolescents ages 12-19. We don't get to see the beautiful side or creative side of being Indigenious. We see despair and children swept under the rug. Every week we see youth with no hope and who are apart of a vicious cycle. Same story over and over. We take each Native case in our program personally because at some point or other in our own lives, that was somebody telling us, "you won't amount to anything" or we have seen the affects of substance ravish a family member. Will we save the world? No. Will all Native youth in northern Oklahoma change their ways? No. But my dear husband and I refuse to sit back and take part in the cycle that has ruled the Native world for too long.