• Native Americans die at higher rates than other Americans from alcoholism (550% higher), tuberculosis (500% higher), diabetes (200% higher), unintentional injuries (150% higher), homicide (100% higher), suicide (60% higher).

• Native Americans suffer from diabetes at a rate twice as high as other Americans
• The mortality rate from chronic liver disease is nearly three times higher for Native Americans.
• Native Americans comprise between 0.9 and 1.5% of the US population and have the highest poverty rates of all Americans
• 41% of the Native population living in either traditional lands or on the reservations living in poverty and one-fifth of these populations living in “deep poverty”
  
  About Native American Youth
  Recent federal reports and other studies reveal alarming statistics on the condition of Native American youth, identifying the problems of violence and delinquency, substance abuse, depression, and suicide. Some of these key findings are:
  
  • Native American youth represent 1 percent of the U.S. population, yet they constitute 2 to 3 percent of the youth arrested for such offenses as larceny-theft and liquor law violations.
  
  • Native American youth between the ages 12-20 are 58 percent more likely to become crime victims than Whites and Blacks.
  
  • Native American youth are disproportionately placed in secure confinement in comparison to their population in 26 states. For example, in four states (South Dakota, Alaska, North Dakota, and Montana, Native youth account for anywhere from 29% to 42% of youth in secure confinement).
  
  • As of February, 2001, 74% of youth in custody in the Federal Bureau of Prisons system were Native American youth, an increase of 50% since 1994.
  
  • At midyear 2000, Native American youth accounted for nearly 16% of inmates in custody in Indian country facilities.
  
  • Alcohol-related deaths among Native Americans ages 15-24 are 17 times higher than the national averages. The suicide rate for Native American youth is three times the national average.
  
  • From 1992 through 1996, the average annual rate of violent victimization among Native youth 12 years and older was substantially higher than the victimization rates for other children.
  
  About the Pawnee
  • Pawnee population was estimated to be 20,000-25,000 in the early part of the 19th century.
  
  • The population underwent a steady decline in the latter part of the nineteenth century due to warfare (with traditional enemies), disease, and the hardships produced by the Pawnee’s relocation to Oklahoma.
  
  • By the start of the twentieth century only 600-700 Pawnee tribal members remained.
  
  • Tribal membership has subsequently rebounded to a present day enrollment of 3,190 members.
  
  History of Pawnee
  The Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma is a federally-recognized, sovereign American Indian Nation. The Pawnee are comprised of four distinct bands (1) the Chaui, (2) the Kitkehahki, (3) the Pitahawirata, and (4) the Skidi. The Pawnee Nation’s traditional homelands lie in the present-day states of Nebraska and Kansas.
  
  The Kawarakis Pawnees, the ancestors of the Chaui, Kitkehahki, and Pitahawirata Bands, settled in southeastern Nebraska in approximately AD. 900.
  
  The Chaui, Kitkehahki and the Pitahawirata speak the South Band dialect and the Skidi Band possesses its own dialect, both dialects comprise the Pawnee language.
  
  Under three treaties with the United States 1833, 1843, and 1857 - the Pawnee ceded all of their lands to the United States Government except a reservation 10 miles wide by 30 miles long along the Loup River in Nebraska. This reservation was sold, and in 1876 the Pawnee Nation was relocated to its present day location in central Oklahoma. By 1893, individual allotments of 60 acres had been made to 821 tribal members. The remaining lands, 169,320 acres were opened up for white settlement. After the 1893 allotment, tribal members began selling their land, and this trend continued to diminish the land base of our Reservation.
  
  In 1988, all that remained of the 113,700 acres of allotted acreages was 28,292 acres on 207 tracts. Of the original 300,680 acres comprising the Pawnee Reservation, there remains today 684 contiguous acres that comprises the Pawnee Nation Reservation. The Pawnee Nation exercises jurisdiction over a total of 29,951 acres of tribally-owned, individually owned, and federal trust lands.
  
  According to historical accounts the Pawnee population was estimated to be 20,000-25,000 in the early part of the nineteenth century. However, the population underwent a steady decline in the latter part of the nineteenth century due to warfare (with traditional enemies), disease, and the hardships produced by the Pawnee’s relocation to Oklahoma. By the start of the twentieth century only 600-700 Pawnee tribal members remained. Tribal membership has subsequently rebounded to a present day enrollment of 3,190 members.
  
  Pari Pakuru: Revitalizing Our Language, Strengthening Our Nation
  (in the words of the Pawnee)
  As one of a number of smaller tribes forcibly removed from its traditional homelands and relocated to Oklahoma in the late nineteenth century, the Pawnee Nation bonders many other Indian Nations in the area. With the Pawnee’s forced removal, the trauma of dislocation followed and aspects of the culture and language began to disappear with those who perished as a result.
  
  Today, the tribe considers itself fortunate to have retained certain ceremonies, songs, customs, and it’s Language. When once it seemed likely that all traces of the Pawnee culture would disappear due to combined policy forces that included removal and the establishment of the Indian Boarding School system, the Pawnee Nation now stands poised to create both economic development and academic initiatives that will foster unprecedented growth in our modern history.
  
  In the past decade, we initiated a Pawnee Language Program and established a Cultural Committee that, have successfully orchestrated renewed interest in our history, culture, and language. With the opening of our Hukasa Child Learning Center and Pawnee Nation College in the fall of 2005 and the subsequent partnering of the Language Program with the College’s American Indian Studies Program, we anticipate yet another surge of interest in things Pawnee-related.
  
  Given these facts, we must prepare ourselves to build on the work done in previous ANA-Language grants. While much of that scope included both the development of curricular materials for high school and adult students as well as the standardization of coursework for those specific age groups, the Nation recognizes it must take the next steps to teach the language, culture, and history across all age groups in more formalized settings. With this, the proposed Teacher Training Program and Language Nest Model will allow a greater number of our tribal members (and others, if they wish) to attain accurate and thorough knowledge about our Nation and our language.
  
  Why is it important to empower Native Youth?
  Today, Native youth struggle with their identity as Native people in a globalized, increasingly fast-paced world. Native peoples are still largely invisible, misunderstood, and misrepresented. It is rare today for Native people to see positive representations of themselves in the media or mainstream society. Because of this, Native youth grapple with an often overwhelming sense of alienation.
  
  This identity crisis derives from attempting to strike the delicate balance between adjusting to the requirements of non-Native society and maintaining connection with their traditions and culture.
  
  Tribal peoples who live on the margins of both the traditional and the majority cultures are at the highest risk for substance abuse. Native youth are the most likely of any racial group to become victims of violence, be arrested for an alcohol-related offense, and commit suicide. Native youth face staggering exposure to substance abuse problems. Abuse of drugs, such as meth-amphetamine, is also a major problem in the communities NVision visits and is youth suicide and violence.
  
  In a study of suicide among Native Americans, suicide ranked as the second leading cause of death for those from age of 10 to 34.
  
  The high suicide rate has been associated with Native youths’ struggle with their own tribal identity as it plays into mainstream society and the unique history of Native communities.
  
  About NVision
  NVision’s mission is to decrease this alienation through role modeling, skill development and empowerment through positive tribal identity, self-esteem, cultural awareness and self-expression. The need to provide positive programming, strategies and solutions to address the profound issues impacting tribal youth today is immense.
  
  In the last 20 months, NVision has been inundated with requests for assistance and work from tribal communities and organizations across the United States and Canada. At least 10 tribal communities have voiced interest in NVision traveling to their communities to work with their youth.
  
  However, financial resources to fund these intensive NVision Tour stops has prevented NVision from fulfilling these requests for assistance as the majority of these tribal communities lack the financial resources necessary to assist in providing funding for NVision to come to its community.
  
  What can I do to help?
  
  • Support groups like NVision, which is dedicated to empowering Native youth and indigenous culture.
  • Stay informed.
  • Watch and tell others about the 4REAL Pawnee episode.
  • Check out Nvision's website www.nvisionit.org
  • Read books and articles about Native Americans. Know the history!
  • Make conscious decisions as a consumer. For example, do you spend your dollars buying products and services from companies that directly or indirectly negatively impact Native land or ways of life?
  
   

Created by: Sol Guy, Josh Thome
Executive Producers: Chris Haddock, Laura Lightbown
Executive Producer: Joaquin Phoenix
Produced by: Shoshana Guy, Sol Guy, Josh Thome
Supervising Producer: Natasha Nystrom
Editor: Jason Schneider
Cinematographers:  Josh Thome, Catherine Lutes
Music by: DJ Kemo & Don Cristo for Vanguard
Music Supervisor: Ryan Barkwell, Velma Barkwell

Host: Sol Guy
Directed by: Shoshana Guy
Written by: Shoshana Guy
Production Coordinator: Melahnie Moodie
Associate Producer: Jade Thome

Produced in Association with CTV
Developed in Association with CTV
Produced with the participation of Government Of Canada

Production Accountant: Karen March
Additional Camera Operator: John Kuhrt
Location Sound Recordists: Steve Dalton, Eric Harwood Davies
Production Assistant: Christine Walker
Stills Photographer: Farah Nosh
Styling Provided by: Janet Han for Getjanet
Business Affairs: Emily Alden
Post Production Supervisor: Judi Babcock
Assistant Editor: Andrew Stromotich

Titling: David Robinson
Colorist: Claudio Sepulveda
Supervising Sound Editor/Sound Designer: Miguel Nunes
Sound Editors: Gina Mueller, Jeff Shannon
Re-Recording Mixer: Miguel Nunes
Title Design & Graphics: Glasfurd & Walker/ Tx Post Production
Video Facility: Technicolor Creative Services Post Production
Sound Facility: Post Modern Sound

Insurance Provided by: Jones, Brown & Associates
Legal Services Provided by: Arthur Evrensel,  Carol Horn & Sarah Tarry of Heenan Blaikie Llp for CTV Executive Producer MTV Ben Rotterman, VP of Production MTV Mark Mcinnis

Programming Administration Coordinator: Naomi Glenn-Baker
Director of Program Administration: Corrie Coe
VP of Documentaries: Bob Culbert
President, Creative, Content & Channels: Susanne Boyce

Jeff Vespa/WireImage/Getty Images
Certain photos courtesy of: Oklahoma Historical Society, Research Division; Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division

Music Performed by Happy Frejo:
All Outta Love Written & Produced by Happy Frejo , Co-Produced by Quetzal Guerrero
Music Performed by Quese IMC:
Turahe Written and Produced by Quese Frejo

Special Thanks: Ina Guy, Ngozi Paul, Rod Beckstrom, Heart Phoenix, Keith Porteus, Dennis & Diane Thome, Leora Gesser, Bobbie Ogletree, Pedro Lacaille, Rob Sebastian, Dacia Moss, Indiana Affleck, Summer Phoenix, Francie Roughface, Dawna Hare, William Richard Guy, McLean Mashingaidze Greaves