CHEYENNE

“Resisting is hard.”

“I got involved in 2012 /2013, maybe when my grandma started getting more contracts. I noticed a lot of private mail. Watching the movie Gasland. I think that’s what really hit me. Looking at how the oil and gas industry is a complete bully to mother earth and how other communities are handling it.”

“I think what really got me angry was how tribal sovereignty is really rooted into oil and gas extraction, and coal. And looking at statements like ‘sovereignty by the barrel.’”

“I definitely feel like a black sheep… I try my best not to be fearful because who wants to live like that when our world is completely falling apart, our families are getting sick. It really scares me. But then again, I tend to over think that, I create anxiety, I create feelings that aren’t really there… It feels good when Kendra or Sam brings me back down.”

“I read a lot, I research, and I find ways to be home, be with the family… Resisting is hard, because you also have to care for your family and care for yourself.”

“My grandma is an allottee and she completely understands what’s going on. She tells me the health stories, “Your Che is over there and his legs are all puffy, he has to sit upside down because he’s so sick. His legs continue to swell and he can’t even run because he has respiratory problems. And I’m just like, “That’s what you signed up for.” And she cries and she’s like, “I am so sorry.”

“I really wish [people] would take the health assessment. I really wish a lot of our relatives would come out and say “I’m sick.”