My name is Derek walker and I’m and from Big Sandy Western band on mono Indians and I am a full blooded Native American grass dancer. Heres my story! I am 26 years old and I started to grass dancing when I was 6 years old. I learned from my brother and family members that are also in the pow-wow circle. I went to school in tollhouse California and graduated in 2016. After graduating reality hit and I had to get a job for the forest service fire fighters. For one season that went well but as the season came to an end that’s when my new journey started “the black road.” 

I say the black road because the red road was being sober, be productive with family, traveling to pow-wow, staying connected with my cultural, and be spiritually connected.Now to where I start my walk on the black road I was no longer working so I had so much free time on my hand. I got connected with the wrong crowd started using drugs and once that started I was involved in the streets, guns, drugs, and violence. Once the family found out I was on the dark road they started to push me away, not because they wanted to because they had too. They didn’t know when I would snap or hurt one of them and they didn’t want my little sister, nieces, and nephew see me like that so they kept me away. I wasn’t aloud to have any connection with them. It got to the point I was incarcerated for a good chunk of time in the county prison. The family all came together to check me in to rehab and the first 3 rehabs didn’t work. I was to connected with my addiction and not connected with my spirit. I let that all go when I was in my active addictions. It came to the point where I went on the run one last time. I told my brother and family I’m running till they get me. It might be suicide by cops and they all were worried that they would find me dead or on the news. So worried they would leave me food and water on the side of road by the house because they knew I would walk by. I eventually talked to my dad and he told me that he an the family all love me and to stay in the shadows. My dad knew that the path I chose I wasn’t turning back! I eventually got caught and this last time I was locked down with some of the original family members. They talked with me in the cells and told me this was not the life to live, that they knew to many family members that got life behind bars and still till this day they are still in there. A lot of my other family members life’s were taken from their addictions. So I made the choice to come out to San Francisco to a rehab called friendship house. It was the best decision I made, when I got to the rehab it took a lot for me to stay I was planning on going on the run again because I was never a city person. But making that seven months thru friendship house I got connected to my higher power and also connected back to my spirit and my cultural again. Till this day I am now 15 months sober and a honor to be connected back with family! It’s a blessing to have my regalia on today. It’s been 4 year since I’ve been in the pow-wow circle and an honor to have my feathers back with me. Staying connected with my cultural will be fire tender for the friendship house, sweat lodge, and taking every opportunity I get to dance with my native people. I want to thank my biggest support team which is my family, tribe, and friends in recovery. Also huge thanks to the friendship house. Thank you for letting me share my story with all you wonderful family and friends -a hoo 

Derek walker