Inside the America Nobody Talks About

Jul 13, 2024 1.9M Views 4.5K Comments

Straddled between the high mountains and the desert is a special land, home to the White Mountain Apache Tribe. The rez has fallen on some challenging times of crime, drugs, and unemployment but also has hope and some fantastic people. Join me and the locals as we travel into a surreal corner of America that most of us have no understanding of.

► If you want to get art from Chom email him here: [email protected]

► 🎞️ Video Edited By: Natalia Santenello

MUSIC USED IN THE VIDEO 🎵
► Headlund – Heart’s Reprise

[twangy guitar playing]
[Peter] Okay guys, we’re here
at the Fort Apache Indian Reservation.
Home of the White Mountain Apache Tribe.
1.6 million acres,
three hours east of Phoenix.
We’re picking up a local named Hawk
who will cruise us around the res.
-So this is it, Hawk, yeah?
-Yeah, this is it.
-This is the center of the res?
-The center of the res here.
-This is your local store?
-The only store we have in town.
This used to be like
a shopping center pretty much.
-That used to be a theater, you see?
-Okay.
Right by it used to be the public
swimming pool but now that’s closed.
[man] Hey, bro.
-You know everyone here?
-No I don’t. How you doing?
I know you… just kidding.
[laughing]
-You speak Apache?
[Apache]
-What’s your name, sir?
-Peter.
-What’s up, Peter?
-What’s up?
So everybody down here,
we’re f*cking misunderstood.
Like we’re Apache and sh*t
but just think… there’s no jobs here.
You have free healthcare.
You have free everything,
and everybody’s gonna
keep us down no matter what.
Like that’s the way we live,
like it’s free.
Like free.
-Everything’s free?
-Yeah, I hate that sh*t too.
I want a job. I want to work.
I want to work f*cking bullsh*t.
I’m married. I have a wife,
I have kids and everything.
Just sucks there’s no jobs
around here, bro.
Honestly, if you want
to go to f*ckin’ Wells Fargo.
-You want to be a bank teller?
-F*ck no.
-What do you want to do?
I could be a f*cking salesman at Cell One.
-Sell what? Cell one?
Yeah, I could be a salesman
but sh*t, that sh*t ain’t right.
I could go to Bashas’.
Look what Bashas’ is.
You want me to be a f*cking…
Everything’s bullsh*t here.
Do you take the free stuff though?
You said you don’t like it.
-Exactly!
-You do?
Free healthcare, free food stamps.
-Okay.
But you’re saying that’s no bueno?
Oh, it’s good. It’s f*cking free, right?
Okay.
I can go to Bashas’
with my food stamp card
and say, “Hey, gimme some food.” [laughs]
-So you don’t have to work for anything?
-Exactly.
That’s how they keep us down, yo.
[laughing and slapping]
I love you, brother.
And that’s how the videos go.
-We just run into what we run into.
-Yeah, yeah.
Take care, boss. All the best.
-Hey, bro.
-Yeah?
You have a dollar?
We don’t have cash, man.
That’s bullsh*t.
All right, we’re jumping in.
[Hawk speaking Apache]
[Peter] Okay, so…
[Apache]
Hawk, this is your bro in the back?
This is Randy Hawkins, call him Randy Boy.
-Okay, Randy.
-[Hawk] Yeah!
-Oh, you got the full tat on there, okay.
-You gonna chill in the back? Okay.
-Yeah.
-Hawk, let’s go.
-Let’s go, man.
[Hawk laughs]
[Peter] Take care.
That’s interesting.
So he doesn’t want free stuff
but then he asked me for a dollar
-[laughing] I know.
-Characters, man.
-Okay.
So Hawk, this is the full monty tour.
This is no North Korean tour
as I can see so far.
-You know what the North Korean tour is?
-No, what is it?
Where they make everything look perfect
and bring everyone to the nicest hotels
and most beautiful streets.
No… [laughs] No.
I’m just gonna give it to you raw, man.
That’s what we’re gonna start off with.
-That’s my style. I like the truth, Hawk.
He’s just gonna cruise in the back, huh?
-He’s used to it.
[Peter yells] Randy, how’s it going?
Your good?
Oh nice, look at that.
So for a while, this was one of our
biggest main employment
and source of income for the tribe.
Which was the FATCO.
Which stands for
Fort Apache Timber Company.
-See now it’s kinda closed down.
-Okay.
But part of it’s still running.
I may be wrong but I think
this is one of the only sawmills
that’s still open in Eastern Arizona.
-So it has some jobs here?
-Yeah, see how the boards are?
-Okay.
-They’re stacking boards.
Particularly during
the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s,
this is one of the biggest
timber companies in Arizona.
-So it used to employ a lot of people?
-A lot, yep.
So as that guy was saying,
just not many jobs around here?
-Yeah, I think probably
70% to 80% unemployment.
-Okay.
-I see a lot of people wandering around.
-Right, lot of walking here.
-Mm-hmm.
-Super dad?
-[both laughing]
[Hawk] This is another area
of the tribe that has a lot of enterprise.
My brother works here as a mechanic.
Randy works here?
-My older brother works there, yeah.
-Okay.
So we have a cement company.
-You do research, right? In Phoenix?
-Yeah, research.
-What kind of research?
-Mostly medical.
-Oh, cool.
This is our local bar here.
-Can we cruise in?
-Sure, we can if you want.
-Is it still open?
-Mm-hmm, it’s open.
It’s Saturday morning, what, 11:00?
11:00, and I think it opens at 10:00.
-Okay, so it’s not a dry res obviously?
-No, it’s not a dry res.
You walk in there and purchase it at
a counter or you can drive through here.
-Okay, so you buy your booze there
but you’re not sitting down at a barstool?
No, we used to have one of that
which we’ll pass later on.
Used to be called Apache Flames.
-Okay, so that’s the alcohol store?
-Hey Randy boy.
[Apache]
-So you guys speak Apache together?
-Mm-hmm.
So you and your family only speak Apache?
-Yeah.
-That’s awesome.
-A lot of Natives lose their language.
-Yep.
We’re losing it pretty quick.
Randy’s one of the few his age
that speak Apache
but after that it’s pretty much
majority just speak English.
I think a lot of it has to do
with boarding school.
Generations and generations
forced to speak English
and then later on they…
Kind of embarrassed
to speak their own language.
We’re losing our tradition quickly,
losing a lot of our culture,
but it all starts from our language.
You didn’t go to boarding school
or did you?
I went to boarding school.
I actually got sent to Phoenix.
-Okay.
-Yeah, it was a Christian boarding school.
Very strict.
The same thing
my mom went through pretty much
but I think it was more stricter
because it was religious.
So we couldn’t watch
secular TV shows, music.
-Okay.
-So super conservative?
-Yeah.
Now you say boarding school,
was it just Natives there or–
Yeah, Natives from all over.
Or was it White guys?
-It was only Natives?
-Only Natives.
-So they still have that?
-They closed it I think in 1997.
They closed it because one of
the former students sued the school.
This is where Randy Boy’s friend
was murdered down here somewhere.
Randy’s friend was murdered?
-Two days ago.
-Two days ago?
Yeah, I think he was stabbed
like 15 times.
-For what?
-I have no idea.
I think he was walking through here and–
-Is it that dangerous back here?
Yeah, I think at night especially with
alcohol and drugs like Fentanyl and meth.
Intermixing both of them together
is really–
-Okay, has that hit the res hard here?
-Oh, yeah.
Like back in, I think
2007, 2008, pretty bad, man.
We actually became the murder capital
of the United States.
Which was like seven per thousand.
I think nationally they’re five
per thousand or something like that.
I’m not trying to degrade my tribe,
I’m just trying to give you the facts.
But it’s… I mean apart from
the stabbing, where it’s at now,
it’s gotten better than those days?
-It’s getting worse I think.
-It’s getting worse?
Because a lot of the kids,
The parents that took meth,
now they’re raising kids
and they’re not disciplined,
and they’re not being advised,
or talked to, or disciplined at all,
or no guidance.
So it’s just kinda getting worse.
And they don’t speak their language.
-No self-identity I guess is a big thing.
-Right.
And so that guy
we ran into in the parking lot, right?
He’s like, “I want a job.”,
no one’s gonna hire him like that.
-He’s on something.
-Yes, he is.
-So then that’s the problem, right?
-That’s the problem.
Like even if there was a job,
you’re not gonna hire him.
And then I’ve seen it through and through,
you give someone
that has an alcohol problem more money
and they’re not working,
they’re just gonna buy more alcohol
and nicer cars.
Like that doesn’t fix the problem.
-I guess priority is a big thing too.
One thing that my dad taught me
was how important your life is.
-Mm-hmm.
-At a young age
he taught me these lessons
I didn’t value when I was young
and neglected it
but as I’ve gotten older, now I understand
what he meant by these lessons
that he was teaching me
about hard work and discipline.
To look ahead, pretty much.
-Mm-hmm.
-Not just now.
Kinda use your head.
Think about the consequences
of what you’re doing right now
but how it’s gonna also
affect you in the long term.
-There used to be a trading post here.
-Oh, wow.
-Back from the day?
-Yep.
This is what they considered
Jack’s Trading Post here.
-Jack’s Trading Post?
-Yep.
And it closed I think back in the ’80s.
You were able to buy food
and stuff off of credit.
-So then eventually pay that credit off.
-Okay.
And right by there a little bit more,
I think was bakery right next door.
Used to buy cakes, bread,
all that stuff here.
-So is it fair to say
the ’80s and ’90s were much better here?
Yeah, definitely. Mostly
the ’60s, the ’70s probably were the best.
’80s, there was kind of like
a transition going on on the reservation.
-Okay.
And so every reservation
operates differently.
Like if you go to
the Seminoles in South Florida,
they’re all, from my understanding,
multi-millionaires, right?
Yep.
Or Cherokee in North Carolina,
they’re doing pretty well.
If you go to Pine Ridge, South Dakota,
not doing well.
-And how do you say the geographic?
-Yeah.
Where, how much…
This is very beautiful land.
If we can actually put it together
we can make a lot more financially stable.
[Peter] So this is your
average community here, right?
-They all have different names
like Lifesavers, Lonesome Dove,
One Step Beyond, Smurfville.
So this is called Upper East Fork now.
Be careful ’cause this is a wake, man.
You can record it.
This lady that passed
was about 93 years old.
-A big tent.
-Yeah, so 93 years old.
-Okay.
-Yeah, so…
But as I can see there, ton of cars.
-Strong community?
-Yes.
Or depends the family you’re in?
Depends on the family
and also the individual.
Like she was very well respected living
93 years old, she’s seen a lot.
That’s the community building right there.
-Community building?
-Mm-hmm.
-So this is where you grew up?
-Yeah, this is my house.
There’s my mom right there.
-Oh, cool.
-How you doing back there, Randy?
-All right, good, man.
-This is a nice little zone.
-Yeah.
[Hawk speaking Apache]
She even put on
a camp dress for you, Peter.
[Peter] Oh, beautiful dress.
-Nice to meet you.
-Yeah.
-Your name?
-Andrena.
Andrena, okay, Peter.
-Traditional dress?
-Yes.
I made this one.
-You made it?
-Yeah.
Nice.
-I wear to church and then where
the special case I wear the camp dress.
-Okay.
-And so you raised Hawk here and Randy?
-Yeah, my boys.
Four, and then two adopted girls.
The last one, the two girls
didn’t learn much Apache
’cause their mom was alcoholic
and their dad…
They were having a good marriage
but after that she had these girls.
The mom start running around
with the friends drinking.
-Okay.
-So you adopted those girls?
-Yeah.
And their father the same too.
His wife, she and start
fooling around like that.
So they end up with their life.
So I end up with those two girls.
-Jut because you wanted to help?
-Yeah.
That’s a noble cause.
[Peter] American flag,
so was your dad in the military?
[Hawk] Yeah, he volunteered
for Vietnam back in ’69.
-He volunteered?
-Mm-hmm.
Back in the ’50s President Eisenhower
implemented a federal program
called Eradication Act
and that was to actually move
Native Americans off the reservation
to assimilate them
into the general public.
-Yeah, yeah.
So that was later kinda renamed
the Assimilation Act.
So my dad actually signed up for
the program and he was gonna be shipped…
Not shipped but assigned to San Francisco.
So that’s why if you think about it
you have San Francisco,
Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Phoenix.
-Oakland too, a lot went to Oakland.
-Yeah, Oakland also, that’s why you see–
I met some guys on Lakota that
went to Oakland when they were younger.
Yeah, so that program
was to help them get a job
and then hopefully not return
to the reservation
and to assimilate
into the general population.
So eventually they wanted
to take control of–
-Grab the land?
-Yeah, pretty much
Oh.
-You drew that? Nice.
-Yep.
Nice, Randy.
[Andrena] You wanna see
my garden there too?
[Randy] Championship basketball.
-You dunk, Randy? Can you dunk it?
-Yep.
[Andrena] I have zucchini,
squash, corn, beans.
If the zucchini and pumpkin come out
I’ll put it on the fair.
[Hawk] Contest, yeah.
-You grow some good vegetables?
-Uh-huh.
-The best in town?
-Probably, I’m the only one. I don’t know.
[laughing]
-So your the best
and the worst at the same time?
-Yeah.
-This is… Okay, I’ve only been
on the res like 45 minutes…
-Uh-huh.
You know when you’re in
a new place for the first time…
-…you’re trying to feel what it is?
-Yeah.
There’s something very powerful
and very calming here I feel.
-Really?
-Yeah.
I always pray.
What’s that?
We always pray in the morning,
noon, and the evening time.
Are you religious?
Like you’re Christian
or you’re traditional?
-I go to Lutheran.
-Okay.
But I still have like tradition, you know?
Prayer in Apache.
That’s why probably…
That’s why it’s quiet place right here.
Pray for my house,
for my boys, for everybody,
my neighbors and everybody around.
So this is a good place.
-What was it like for you growing up here?
-It’s good. I liked it.
-You liked it?
Way back, everything was hard.
Nowadays we have water in the house.
Everything, stove and build
a fire in the middle.
Bed on this side, no mattress,
just use some kind of [Apache]
-Straw.
-Straw under it and put the tar on it
and the rain can’t slip on it.
Kinda make it soft.
And you would always live
far away from school.
About five, six miles,
and then in the morning
my grandpa put a saddle on that mule.
White mule and I used to sit behind him
and then go to school from there
and by 4:00 he would be
waiting for me outside
and then I’ll sit behind him,
go back to the house.
To the house over there.
I went to school at beginner,
first, second, third.
When you get to fourth
you go to Fort Apache Boarding School.
So I learned a lot of things.
How to clean, take a shower.
Kinda naughty.
And there’s this lady, her name Mrs. Wat.
I always say Andrena
and her gang get downstairs.
[laughs]
You said you were naughty? Yeah?
Now I look back, probably.
[laughter]
And then we used to go
to the office and they’d say,
“This week you’re not going
to the movie, nothing.”
“You’re gonna scrub the wall and…”
you know, all this stuff.
We used to do that.
-You got into trouble a lot?
-Yeah.
-I was naughty.
-Me too.
[laughing]
-I think everybody does that.
-Right.
What about this one?
Was he playing the death metal
loud in his bedroom?
-[laughing]
-Ooh, yeah.
Dad always get after him.
-What do you think of his music?
-She didn’t like it. [laughs]
No, I don’t know what kind of music…
I never… I don’t hear the words.
-So might not even call it music, right?
Screaming?
-It started from down there,
the Daisy Brothers.
-Oh, is that where the band started?
-Yeah.
Anything I should know about your son
before I spend the day with him?
-[laughing]
-He was a good boy.
-He was a good boy?
-Never in trouble when he was a teenager.
-Yeah, right.
I even went to captain’s mass
’cause she probably doesn’t even know
when I was in the navy.
-How many years in the navy?
-Five years.
Oh, okay, so here’s a story.
Hawk was telling me one day
he went off the res to Walmart
saying he was gonna get some things
and then he came back
saying he joined the navy.
Yeah.
-How was that?
-Oh, surprise.
One day I went straight
to recruiter’s office.
And then I was just waiting,
and waiting, waiting.
He was only 17 when he, you know…
-Joined the navy.
-Joined the navy.
I finished my high school
then I was begging the recruiter
to send me to boot camp the next day
after graduating from high school.
I was begging and begging
and the closest they could do
was two weeks.
So I had to wait two weeks
and then after I got shipped off.
Joined… Went to boot camp at San Diego.
And we have to wait for then…
We have big dinner,
chicken scratched eggs, and he left.
I used to cry lying down on the bed.
And then Alvina used to say,
“Don’t cry, he’s doing good job.”
He’s not a baby. He’s growing up man.
Was telling me that.
-And then at that time you would have
loved to hear Death Angel?
-‘Cause that would’ve meant he’s around.
-[laughing]
That was cool.
-That was really interesting.
-Yeah, man.
So we couldn’t put that on the camera
but Andrena gave us
a really beautiful prayer.
Protection.
That was an interesting ritual
with the wheel.
Yeah.
And the placement in the circles
and the paint.
-Thank you for bringing me into that.
-You’re welcome.
I want you to be protected, you know?
-So that’s what that was for?
-Protection.
-For riding around the tribe today?
-Even just meeting people.
So you can…
People have good intention, bad intention.
I don’t want you to follow it
or I don’t want it to follow me.
Interesting, so every person
you interact with?
Yeah, you gotta kinda be careful.
-They can rub their energy on you?
-Exactly, yeah.
You know the term energy vampire?
-Yeah.
-When you’re around someone for a while,
afterwards you feel like
something was taken from you.
-You’re energetically–
-Absolutely.
I can already tell
I’m having a good time with you.
-When I leave I’m fired up, right?
-[laughs]
-Yeah.
-So there’s two types,
they either add or take away.
-So that’s what this does sorta? Sorta–
-It protects you.
Oh, cool.
[birds chirping]
[Hawk] Gonna get Chom here.
-Chom?
-Chom, yep, he’s my childhood friend.
Oh, cool.
This is where he grew up pretty much.
-In this place?
-Yeah.
-We played Metallica.
-[laughs] Dude.
-Chom, is that how I say it, Chom?
-Chomba. Chom.
-Oh, Chom?
-See Chom, my nickname.
[Peter] Off-camera
you were talking about the Shire.
Yeah, like here.
This little town.
I’m just talking Upper East Fork Area.
It’s my Shire.
Maybe there’s something going on here.
You know, we have
our own little areas of homicide.
A lot of them are, you know, never solved.
That’s here and there but here,
for me, speaking for myself,
it’s peaceful.
My kid’s happy, safe,
that’s’ my whole thing.
Nevermind me, you know?
I don’t care about getting new shoes
and whatever materials.
I don’t care about that.
My thing is just surviving for my kids.
There’s a certain age where you hit
and it hits you different
and you just have to really watch out.
-That’s when you… overprotective I guess.
-Okay, you’re helicopter parenting?
-Yeah, yeah.
-Okay.
So with men here,
not a conversation any dad wants to hear,
your teenage daughters
or young 20-somethings
but like the dating,
you want them to find
someone here and stay on the res,
or do you want them to leave,
or you don’t care?
That’s a hard question for me.
The first one she met,
the Paiute, so that’s…
The wife was happy with that one. [laughs]
-Okay, why is that?
Why is it good to meet a Paiute?
Because it’s foreign.
People like different things.
They don’t want to
just be stuck with the same…
Just being ressed out I guess, yeah.
That’s a term they use around here.
I’m kinda real strict, you know?
-You don’t see beer cans here.
-Okay.
I’m not into meth stuff
and all that drug stuff.
Fentanyl’s around here now.
-Is it pretty bad?
It’s… I don’t know.
He’ll have a better understanding
of that ’cause he’s…
-What’s the Fentanyl scene like, Randy?
It’s real bad, man.
All the people are doing suicide.
They killing theirself.
There’s a couple people
that killed them self right now.
Four of them, and the morgue,
they can’t take them right now.
-The morgue can’t take them?
-Yeah, it’s full.
Lot of people are dead.
-The morgue can’t take them.
-Geez.
So that’s’ why your overprotective?
I’m overprotective
because I don’t want them to…
It’s obvious if you love your kids.
-He’s a good guy.
-Yeah, I can tell.
MS-13, the Cartel.
-Wait, so MS-13 is out here?
-Yep, they out here.
Mexicans, I ran into a couple of them
and they were trying
to pick up people, girls
to go sell them down to Mexico.
-Seriously?
-Yes.
-That’s the big thing, right?
With the other tribe that you interviewed.
-There was a lot of kidnapping.
-Yeah, kidnapping.
-They come down here right now.
-So what is it–
A lot of people are missing here.
What is with the missing girls,
women on the reservations?
You see the posters
in the gas stations and stuff.
It’s them going into drugs,
and they’re selling theirselves,
and they mess up making money,
and they don’t come back with the money.
So they get kidnapped.
They get taken down.
-Gotcha, and what about
the law enforcement here?
-They’re not good.
-They’re not looking for ’em?
-No.
Law enforcement, they don’t do nothing.
-Hawk, is this going
in the direction you wanted? This video?
[laughing]
We just had a nice ceremony.
-Yeah.
-[laughing]
-I don’t know what’s going on.
-[laughing continues]
It’s like wake up the next day,
there’s no more in this area.
I’m happy.
He didn’t bring it up
but he’s a phenomenal artist.
-He’s a good artist.
-Can you show us something?
-I have my old portfolio, let me show you.
-Let’s do it.
I do t-shirt designs.
I make this into a t-shirt.
-Oh, cool… nice.
I was drawing that for somebody,
so I drew that real quick.
That is beautiful.
Just something top of my head
and then just some studies,
nothing serious.
-Such fine detail.
-Gore.
I don’t know why
I used to draw gore stuff.
-Oh, that is cool.
-This was a friend in the valley
who wanted a… for a coffee company
that I designed for them.
That is beautiful.
This is like ’90s, you can tell.
Yeah, you do great work.
Do you have a website?
-No, I don’t have nothing.
-How do people find you?
I think you can Google me.
I’ve done that before.
I think I’m on Google.
What about an email?
[email protected]
Daryl Dazen, I’ll get that.
Do you want more work by the way?
-Yeah, that’s what I would like to do.
-Okay.
I’ll put that down below in the link
if you want to reach Daryl here.
-I mean… you’re not Daryl, you’re Chom.
-Yeah, I’m Chom.
-Daryl’s the birth name or what?
-Yeah.
-This was for school also.
-Okay.
That one is–
-Oh, that’s sweet, man.
-Big influence on my artwork also.
-You like surrealism?
-Yes.
Everything I do now is like surreal.
-Yeah, that’s why I love your work.
Here we have the bear. Which is our clan.
The eagle, roadrunner, butterfly.
-[Hawk] I’m a Roadrunner Clan.
-[Chom] Yeah.
We have a lot of UFO activity
around here so it’s like an invasion.
-In the mountains?
-Yeah, in the mountains.
We’re gonna be up there later?
We’re gonna hopefully meet Bigfoot.
-We’re gonna meet Bigfoot?
-[laughs]
[twangy guitar plays]
[Hawk] So we’re headed over to
Contero Spring.
it’s named after Joe Contero
and he was an Apache scout.
There’s a river right here.
When I was little
I used to start from below my house
and I would eventually fish
all the way to Geronimo’s Cave.
-Geronimo’s Cave?
-Yeah, Geronimo’s Cave.
-It’s up here?
-It’s about two miles.
We’ll go from there, yeah.
[Randy] This is the last spring
on the reservation.
This holy water right here
from way back in the days.
Butterflies flying beside each other,
that’s why it’s holy.
[Hawk] Wish I had a cup.
I want to drink some.
-[Peter] Can I touch it or?
-[both] Yeah.
-I’ll drink it from here.
-[splashing]
-[Peter] Oh, that’s freezing cold.
-[Hawk] Yep.
-Oh, that is really–
-It comes from the ground
from the White Mountains.
-All the way up where we’re going?
-Yeah.
My friend seen the Bigfoot here.
Broad daylight, he was walking here.
Yeah, actually this is where
one of the many sighting.
-Okay.
-Throughout the reservation.
That’s not him right there?
[Hawk] No, that’s not. [laughs]
[Randy] My cousin died, Toby.
Supposedly after you see that,
bad things happen to you.
Oh, okay.
So this gentleman takes his water here?
-Yeah.
[Apache]
-Hawkins.
-Hawkins, eh?
[Apache]
-Peter.
-Peter, nice to meet you, sir.
What’s your name?
-Nathan.
-Were you in the military?
-My daughter was.
-Oh, cool.
She was a Marine, she retired.
-Okay, so a lot of you guys
are going into the military here?
Always been, Apache scouts, yeah.
Way back in the 1800s.
My great-grandfather was in the military
and he said he was there
in during 1800s and World War I.
Which I didn’t know
until my late uncle told me that.
-‘Cause you guys worked with the cavalry?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
My grandfather was a scout, yeah.
-Okay, so I read that’s why
you kept your great land
because you had a better relationship
than most Natives.
-With the US Army, right?
-Yeah.
The medicine men saw they were coming.
-They knew what was gonna–
-Geronimo?
No, no, when the cavalry was coming
’cause what was happening,
there was Geronimo
and Cochese down south
and then the army
was sent up here to massacre us
and destroy our crops
but the medicine men saw that.
So they were prepared.
So when the army came up there to raid
they provided them food and corn.
So they negotiated.
So that’s how that became Camp Apache.
-So there was no
walk to Oklahoma situation?
No.
-No? Okay.
So sort of like the Crow?
Yeah… I don’t know about the Crow.
-Crow worked with the US Army.
-Yeah, they did, yeah.
What was it like growing up here?
I’d say it was a great place
to grow up on, yeah.
This river’s what we survive on.
I was riding donkeys in the mountains
before we got to horses.
Then from horses to bike,
from bike to cars,
now here we are.
-You’re not even that old.
-Nah.
-So you started on donkeys?
-Oh, yeah.
I started riding a donkey
when I was about mid-kindergarten.
Big brothers would put us on the donkey
and buck with us, and fall off.
We’d cry and chicken-out but they’d
laugh and put us back on the donkey.
This how today these young kids
are into rodeos now.
-They’re into rodeos out here?
-From bucking on donkeys.
-Oh, nice.
-Yeah.
Your first language is English or Apache?
Usually I started on Apache.
You have like a little Irish
in your accent I hear.
[laughs]
You part Irish?
-Nah.
-You’re not from Dublin?
If you go to, I was told,
Tucson, Fort Huachuca…
My late mother said it
but there is a barrack
I think she said it was named
after my great-grandfather.
She said there was a big bulletin board,
whatever you call it,
with his picture sitting on a horse
and it says his name right there.
And these people that were in the military
were down in Fort Huachuca,
I asked is that true, they said yes.
-Do you love living here on the res?
-Oh yeah, I do. Oh, yeah.
Can you imagine living anywhere else?
No, I don’t think so. I don’t think so.
You’re not moving to Phoenix anytime soon?
I’ve been to Phoenix,
I can’t stand the heat.
I don’t like being in crowds, so to speak.
-Look at this, it’s so green here.
-Yeah.
-I’m surprised how green it is here.
-Yeah.
If you want to have a drink.
-Oh, yeah.
[men speaking Apache]
[Peter] Why am I the only one
drinking the water?
I drank some.
[laughing]
Is this what happens?
Is this the story, Hawk?
[laughing continues]
It turns really dark soon.
[laughing]
[Peter] Geronimo’s Cave?
[Randy] There’s a path up this way.
Geronimo used to hide out in here
and in the winter
you can hear him singing in there
and that one,
it comes out from Diamond Creek,
and in the middle there’s a waterfall.
-Geronimo was a medicine man wasn’t he?
He was like a coyote my mom said.
He was like a coyote,
they said that he was here
and he used to take off to San Carlos,
in 45 minutes he was in Phoenix.
There’s a way right here.
You wanna go here?
[Hawk] Naw, I’m good, dude.
-[Peter] You wanna do it, Randy?
-[Randy] Yeah.
-All right, you wanna do it?
-[Hawk laughs]
-See ya.
[Peter] You all right to hike right now?
-Yeah, I’m good.
-All right.
This is the way.
I always go up there.
I used to play here when I was young.
-Oh yeah?
-Me and my buddies.
What do you know about Geronimo, Randy?
-I heard he was a scary man.
He started warfare
because of he got his kids murdered
and his family
got tooken away by Mexicans.
And so he started a warpath.
When they heard Geronimo’s coming,
everybody used to hide.
After his kids and his family
got murdered he started killing people.
-He killed a lot of people out here?
-Yeah.
-We have to go this way.
-You all right on that, Randy?
-Yeah, go.
-You sure?
We have to go that way.
-All right.
-Yeah, take your time though.
-Go slowly.
-Yep.
[Peter grunts]
-Yeah, that’s how Geronimo
crawled mountains.
[exhales] I don’t know
if I’m getting up that, Randy.
-Oh, there’s a rope.
-Yeah.
-That’s his cave?
-Yep.
-You’re not coming up.
-I’m coming up.
No, don’t worry about it.
I’ll meet you down there in a second.
-All right, bud.
[Peter breathing heavily] All right.
That’s the cave.
Geronimo’s Cave.
Freezing air coming out of here.
[panting]
I’m not going in though.
Not doing that.
Don’t push the video this far.
Need to read more up on Geronimo.
Fierce warrior, medicine man,
killed a lot of locals.
But I’m no historian on this front
so that’s for you to take from here.
As you can see, we’ve just gone
a little bit up this road,
already into the pine trees,
and today we’re gonna get
way up there eventually.
11,400 feet I believe.
Second highest peak in Arizona exists
here on the res with a ski resort.
[rocks crumbling]
Oh, that was great.
-The only injury.
-[Randy and Hawk laughing]
-Little cactus to the hand.
-Not bad.
[Randy] It goes all around every hole.
You can come out from every hole.
-Oh, wow.
-Yep.
[Peter] Okay, a little pit stop for Randy.
[Hawk] Pit stop for Randy, man.
[voices echoing from inside]
[Hawk speaking Apache]
I’m gonna treat Randy to the beers
’cause he’s been a great guide so far.
-I appreciate it, man.
-Of course, Randy.
Yeah, buddy.
You want some M&M’s, Randy?
-I’m good.
-No?
I’m gonna ride in the back. [grunts]
-So your bro drinks a good bit?
-Yeah.
You have a hangover you kinda just…
You know how it goes, man,
when you were drinking.
It’s been a while, but yeah.
I can’t imagine having a hangover now.
That would be like a death sentence to me.
Especially with the cheap liquor
that causes a lot more…
[Peter] Okay, so coming back into town.
-That’s huge runway.
-Airport.
Who’s flying in here?
I think they use that
for the emergency health services.
Sometimes celebrities go hunting up here.
So they fly in.
-Okay.
-George Strait and others,
they used to hunt here quite a bit..
They would fly in
with their private planes.
Some of these houses, they’re rental.
So people move in and rent pretty much.
-Okay, but if you’re not
making much money
then you can get government assistance,
Section 8 type of stuff, right?
-Exactly.
-I got on the White Mountain Apache
website, I was poking around.
There’s actually a page on
promoting reverse mortgages.
-Which I found odd.
-Hmm.
-Something you’d wanna promote…
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.
…onto the population.
I don’t have the best ideas
of reverse mortgages.
Like you paid off your house
and then you want to get into debt.
You wanna borrow money against it
and get into more debt?
Seems off, right?
-Yeah, kinda crazy.
I probably need to
look into it a little bit more.
-Yeah, I can’t speak credibly
on what’s going on here
but I just saw it on their website.
Okay, so growing up, these streets,
you were constantly cruising through
with your friends and hanging out?
-Yeah, Randy Boy mostly.
Kind of like stayed out of this place.
-All right, Randy knows
the housing scene, right?
-Yep.
-Um…
[Randy speaking inaudibly]
[Peter] He came back to life, huh?
It’s gonna get more interesting soon.
-Okay.
This place is called another world.
-Where we’re at.
-Okay.
Yeah, and this is where Section 4 is at.
-Section 4?
-Yeah.
We were at 8 while ago.
Right now we’re at ‘nother world.
And then when we head up that way
it’s called Lifesavers.
-What’s going on out here?
Out here there’s
a lot of criminals out here.
Scary out here. I don’t hang out here.
-Scary out here? Why?
-Yep.
-Juggalos.
-Juggalos?
-Lot of crime?
-Yea, there are kids that kill people.
Like they don’t have no father,
or mother, or anything.
They don’t get taught or anything.
-Their faces are painted as clowns.
-Like juggalos.
-Okay, but to be fair,
a lot of good people living out here too?
-Yeah, and they don’t–
-So just some juggalos?
Yeah, there’s a lot of people they found
in a body bag all chopped up.
-Okay
-This is called another world right here.
-So is this sort of
the hardest hitting place on the res?
-Yeah.
-Right here?
-Yeah.
I don’t roam around here.
I don’t even walk around here.
-You like cruising around here with us?
-Yeah.
You feel safe with me in the car?
-I ain’t scared.
-Gringo on board.
[laughing]
-Yeah, this is where…
-This is where–
-Bald headed, Mr. Clean.
[laughing]
Got Mr. Clean by your side.
This is where the kids are at.
-The kids?
-Yeah.
Right there, DS.
That’s a gang right there.
They tag up DS, Dark Side.
They pray to the devil.
-So cruising around during the day though…
-Right here is Bengay.
‘Cause that’s where a lot of elders…
-Bengay?
-Yeah, Bengay.
-You call the neighborhood Bengay?
-‘Cause the elders.
It smells like Bengay they say supposedly.
[Peter] So how does Bengay
get along with DS?
I don’t know, man.
Probably separate ’cause they’re elders.
Just keeping the elder there so…
And right here is Lifesaver.
-This is Lifesaver.
-From here down here is Lifesaver.
-So hoods change very quickly here?
-Yeah, this is Lifesaver.
-Okay.
-Little better off, huh?
-Yeah, you’ll see, man.
So these houses are rented
pretty much, low-income, you know?
-So why are all these homes boarded up?
[Randy] They’re doing meth inside.
-They’re doing meth and they have to–
-That’s why they boarded up.
-They have to shut ’em down, huh?
-Yeah, they got tooken out.
And some of them sleep
out here in the woods.
-Okay.
-Behind the trees and everywhere.
They sleep everywhere.
-So you guys grew up
in a great place out there?
Actually this is where my…
Father used to live here
I guess before I was born.
-This one.
-You lived in this house?
-From since I was born until 1980.
-Okay.
’79, ’80, then we moved to
where my mom currently lives
but it was totally different.
There were like really nice yards.
Yards were green grass, you know, so…
-No one’s really taking care of things?
-Yeah, no one’s taking care of things.
-Okay, why is that do you think?
-Um… I think–
-What’s the change?
I think the change for me,
in my opinion, is that
what we were talking about earlier is
that no parental guidance, no discipline.
You know, people aren’t taught…
New generations aren’t taught to
take care of things or just even work.
Put in work.
Like kids are taken care of.
They don’t work for things as hard
as we did like my dad.
-So whose fault is it?
The parent’s fault, right?
-Parent’s fault.
-This place is called One Step Beyond.
It’s kinda creepy to me
because the graveyard’s right
behind her house too, man.
-The graveyard’s back there?
-Yeah, see it?
-Is that creepy for you guys?
-Yeah.
Like traditional is you don’t…
-You don’t live near the graveyard?
-No, you respect the dead.
This is the high school.
-So that looks pretty good.
-Yeah, pretty good and…
So they have some pretty good
security around this place.
-I think like senior league
or little league.
People play baseball a lot around here.
-Oh, that’s cool to see.
[Peter] So maybe it’s…
Correct me where I’m wrong,
it’s sort of like two worlds out here.
You can raise your kid,
have ’em in sports,
get ’em into the outdoors,
go up to the mountains skiing,
all that stuff
or crime and…
-Yeah, gangs, drugs, alcohol.
-Yep.
-There’s just two ways to do it.
-Yeah, two ways to do it.
-What was this?
-The bar. They used to sell alcohol here.
So across the way we came from,
that’s where the high school was located
and this was where the bar
was located. Where you sell alcohol.
So it was so close
that the youth group pretty much
disagreed with the location
so they moved it from here
to where the current bar is located.
-Okay.
-Yeah, so…
Are there any bars on the res?
This one used to be an old bar.
-This was called Apache Flame.
-The health center?
Yep, it used to be Apache Flames.
So that’s where–
-Apache Flames?
-Apache Flames.
-Some wild nights in there?
-Wild nights, man.
My mom, I wish you woulda
asked my mom about that.
[laughing]
Apache Flames, dude.
They used to have swinging doors in there
That’s really a bar.
-So no more bars?
-[Randy] Lot of people killed.
A lot of crime and murders,
stuff like that.
So eventually, it’s weird, they became
a hope center for the youth.
[Hawk] Civic center for the town.
John Wayne, Muhammad Ali,
showed up there back in the ’70s.
-In the civic center?
-Yep.
-And it’s closed down.
-Closed down.
And right there was basketball,
our gymnasium basketball court.
But it’s kinda gotten old
and falling apart now.
So they don’t use it anymore.
-Right.
-Mm-hmm.
-[ball bouncing]
-[Peter] Nice.
-[chain swishes]
-[Peter] Oh!
[ball bounces]
[thump and swish]
Oh, he uses the backboard.
You’re not scared are ya?
-[swishes]
-Hoo!
[Randy] I’m a baller.
That’s after a tallboy.
[Hawk laughs]
[all laughing]
[Peter] Wow.
Geez, what a shot he’s got.
Just came in, got a lot of net
for the kids and then you leave.
[Randy] Yep.
I told them all to snap your wrist.
My gang is [Apache], Apache Crip
and this is… His name is Cheifo
but he came a Christian.
-Your gang leader?
-Yep.
I’m a Crip.
-But are you still a Crip?
-I’m neutral now.
I can wear any clothes I want,
red, blue, anything.
Nobody don’t say nothing to me
but back in the day if I was wearing red
or something I would get my ass kicked.
-So you had Bloods and Crips
out here on the res?
[Hawk] Yeah, he’s pretty familiar
with that.
So this is Blood’s territory,
is that what you’re saying?
-This guy’s in the Bloods right here?
-Yep, everybody’s Bloods.
I don’t see any red. Who’s wearing red?
What are the Bloods in South Central
gonna say about this?
[Hawk speaking Apache]
[Randy] Right here, go up this way.
[Randy] Park right here
on the side of road.
[Randy and man speaking indistinctly]
[Randy] All right then.
[Peter] He doesn’t wanna talk?
-He’s scared.
[Hawk] Hey.
[Peter] I think we lost Randy.
He’s going in deep.
And now he sees some ladies.
Oh, he’s waving us in.
-There he is.
-[Hawk laughs]
[child shouting]
[Peter] All right.
[Hawk] I guess we got
some real people here.
-Yeah?
Randy’s peeps?
[man] Hey yo, who got the shock?
[Peter] All right.
[men speaking Apache]
[Randy] Hey, Peeper.
[Peter] Randy, what’s up?
-[Randy] Florida…
-[Peter] Florida man.
-His name is Peeper.
-Peeper?
Yeah, and homeboy.
-And homeboy right here.
-Okay.
-Eastside Killer.
-Yep.
Killer man.
[Peter] So this is Bloods, right?
But you’re wearing blue?
Yeah, it’s all switched up, all sides.
But look.
How you doing, sir?
How you doing, man?
Christopher Joe.
-Christopher Joe, all right.
But they call me Peeper Joe.
-Peeper Joe?
-Yeah.
I’m Peter Santenello.
I’m Apache, this is my f*cking brother.
-Are you Roadrunner Clan?
-Yes.
-All right, is this all Roadrunner Clan?
They call that [Apache].
-Okay, I don’t speak Apache but…
How you doing? Roadrunner Clan?
Yeah, Bear.
-Bear? Nice.
-Yeah.
[man mumbles]
-North Side.
-North Side?
Yeah, this side
where that house is that side.
-Yeah.
-That’s where I live, man.
-Okay, okay.
Whose kids?
-Huh?
-Whose kids?
-These people that live here.
-Oh, it’s all the people’s kids?
-Yep.
All right.
[Randy mumbles]
Good to see you again.
[children playing]
[Peter] All right.
Yeah, it’s…
-They stay in the ride
and stay in this ride…
Oh, they stay in the cars? Yeah.
-Homeless.
-Yeah.
[Randy] That makes me mad,
know what I’m saying?
I wish I could just save everybody
but I can’t.
People around here.
People killed around here all the time.
-Right.
[Hawk] Yeah, I kinda just…
It’s hard seeing that.
You know what I mean?
[Peter] You know,
whenever there’s a problem,
my wife’s like, “I don’t want a solution
just understand my problem.”
-Yeah.
-Difference between men
and women obviously.
Um, all kidding aside, you see a problem
like that and you’re like,
what…
-What do you do?
-Yeah.
-Right, the drugs have taken hold and…
-Mm-hmm.
The poverty’s taken hold.
Then it’s just like interesting where just
it’s gonna be carrying on from
generation, to generation, to generation,
and it’s gonna get worse and worse.
-Right, like those kids, their examples
are not the best obviously.
I don’t know, my oversimplified solution
is go for the kids
full speed, as far as resources,
and programs, and help, and…
Sports distractions
or whatever it is, right?
Yes.
It’s kinda heartbreaking
to see that stuff, you know?
-I bet, I mean this is
where you come from.
-It wasn’t like that when you were a kid?
-No, no, it wasn’t.
Of course we had people that drank
but not to the point of what
I’m seeing now, you know?
-Yeah.
So that’s that wikiup.
That’s what my mom grew up in.
She grew up in one of those?
That was normal out here?
-Yeah, ‘member she told you this morning?
-Yeah, but she’s what, I forget, 80?
-Yeah, no running water.
‘Member she was saying she had to
build a fire in the center of the wikiup.
She was very content.
-It puts so much in perspective, right?
-Mm-hmm.
-How new things really are.
-Yeah.
-Where we keep the horses and…
-Okay.
The old Fort Apache.
These are old guard houses,
military supply buildings
back in the 1890s.
People live in them now, so…
-Who’s living here?
-Tribal members.
The layout is it’s supposed to be
like an urban area, the East Coast.
So that’s why you see these lights.
-There used to be a lot of trees here.
-Okay, these street lights?
Yeah, so a lot of the enlisted men
felt homesick.
So that’s why they tried to give you
that East Coast vibe.
-So these streets
back in the day were bustling?
-Yep.
-Some great architecture here.
-Yeah, definitely.
[Hawk] This right here
was where Theodore Roosevelt
stayed four times during his presidency.
-Oh, yeah?
-Yeah.
I think gaming
was a big thing for him too.
[Peter] Oh, that’s interesting.
[Hawk] People from all over the world
come here and bid.
You know,
they’re kinda guaranteed trophy elks.
[Peter] Yeah.
That’s all Victorian, yeah.
Old staircase.
-[Hawk] Pretty neat, man.
-[Peter] Yeah.
-[Peter] Randy, you ever been in there?
-[Randy] Yeah.
I used to go to court over here.
-[Peter] Court over there?
-[Randy] Yep.
-Randy was in juvi?
-A lot, man.
A lot? [chuckles]
-That’s probably like his second home
over there, you know? [laughs]
So this is like the parade ground.
-This is how–
-“Assemble here prior to departure.”
“Also provided a prime location
for baseball games
and other athletic competitions
held between different units
stationed at the front.”
-I was talking to my nephew, it seems like
this pole’s still that same pole.
-Yeah, maybe.
-[Peter] You have the old cafeteria?
-[Hawk] Yeah.
[Peter] Nice garden.
“Theodore Roosevelt School”.
-Is this still a school or no?
-Yep, still a school.
-Oh, that’s great.
-Yep.
-That’s where my mom–
-Post office?
Yep, my mom’s post office.
She uses it still.
Goes in there, picks up her own…
[Peter] This has gotta be
a cool post office I can imagine.
Old wooden floors, the old baskets.
Ma’am, is it beautiful in there?
Is that a beautiful post office?
-It is. I’ll go ahead
and let you take a quick look.
-Awesome.
Thank you. Thank you.
Old oak wooden floors.
Look at these old boxes.
[Hawk] Wow, yeah.
[Peter] What a step back in time.
-Look at this beauty.
-Wow.
When things were made
with quality, right?
Mid-week, is it busy out here,
the school’s in session?
-It’s the summer so they have lot of
activities going on here at the school.
Different programs I guess.
They mostly come over here and use
the school grounds or the school building.
Basketball tournament or whatever.
-You guys got a good team this year?
Uh, I don’t know.
I don’t go to basketballs or anything.
-You definitely are better
than Gila River.
I can guarantee that.
[laughing]
It’s all about beating the Navajos
at the end of the day, right?
[laughing]
[Hawk] No comment. [laughs]
[Peter] I’m just trying to stir the pot.
I’m just having fun.
[laughing continues]
C’mon, let’s be honest, the Hopis
are not bringing a team this year.
Lot of rivalry between
the different tribes in basketball.
I’m just stirring the pot.
Thank you so much, ma’am.
-So where’d you pick these guys up?
-[Hawk laughing]
-[Peter] Yeah, it’s a long story.
I don’t know if my life
will ever be the same.
It’s a good time. We’re loving it.
[laughing continues]
Take care.
When I said the Hopis
aren’t fielding a team this year
that was pretty spot on, right?
-Yeah.
‘Cause their average, like…
They’re pretty short.
-So what I’mma do real quick I’m gonna
pick him a beer if you don’t mind.
-No, no, do what you gotta do.
So I…
I can tell he’s…
You know how it is, man. I feel sad.
-Randy’s got a savage hangover
and he needs something to keep him going.
-Is that what’s happening.
-[Hawk laughs]
[twangy guitar plays]
[Peter] All right, so only 19 miles away
but 15 degrees cooler.
Then we have a mega-casino up here.
Which is always a component
on many reservations.
[Hawk] Pretty much the main source
of income for the tribe
including the ski resort
and also the game and fish department.
-Does it filter down at all to the people
or not really?
-It actually goes back into
the enterprise itself.
Various tribes, some of them
get stipends from the casino.
-Right.
-We don’t actually.
So this actually goes back into
the enterprise.
It helps employees.
-So this is very important
to keep the tribe running?
Yes, it is.
-Different vibe up here.
Do you like it up here?
-Yeah, it’s nice.
-Really?
[Randy mumbles]
All right, beer’s over there.
Do you want two or one?
Just give me two, man.
Okay, go two. Go two.
Yeah.
How many does he drink a day?
I don’t know, man.
I’m actually helping
’cause he’s drinking vodka.
-Okay.
-Yeah, so…
So these are what
McNary used to be right here.
-This is what it was up here?
-Yeah, if you look back up.
[Hawk] That’s the lake
where we used to put the logs.
-The sawmill.
-Okay.
-Log rolling?
-Yep, sawing contest.
Log sawing.
[Hawk] We used to have a train
that would go all around the reservation.
[Peter] Randy’s making friends.
[Randy] That’s my girlfriend.
Randy, you said that 15 times today,
“That’s my girlfriend.”
-Got a lot of girlfriends.
-All right.
-[Randy mumbles]
[Peter] Yeah, I don’t know.
-How you do it…
-Yeah? That’s how you do it?
Randy’s giving me lady advice.
He’s going in the rain. He’s…
He’s got the warrior spirit.
-All right.
[Randy cackles]
[Peter] This is interesting.
What is this town called?
-Pinedale.
-It’s a lot nicer up here, huh?
-Yep, it sure is.
[Peter] What’s up you guys?
How’s it going?
Do you mind if I ask you
why is it so much nicer up here?
[man laughs]
I’m serious. It’s beautiful.
-[man] Pray.
-[woman] Pray.
[Peter] You pray and it’s nicer?
Do you mind
if I ask you a question on camera?
[man] I’m good.
Cut me off whenever you want,
I’m just like we’re still on the same res
but totally different living up here,
right?
Is everyone working at the casino?
Is that what’s going on?
-No everybody works all over
the reservation and off reservation too.
-Do you go down to White River much
when you live up here or no?
-You do?
-We work down in White River.
He works at the Canyon Day Farm.
-Okay, cool.
-I work for water and resources here,
he works at the casino.
-I work at the casino.
-Some work at the hospital, some work
at ADHS, some work for the tribe,
school district.
-This is an Arizona I would never imagine.
So cool in the summer, so green.
[man] We have, what they call it?
Like a four season.
[Peter] Yep.
All the way from the high peaks
to the low desert.
-All right.
-Lotta water.
-Lotta water? You have no water issues?
-Lotta water.
We have a lot of water here that supplies
I don’t know how much
the State of Arizona.
-Your water going to Phoenix?
-Yeah.
You guys feel great about that?
-[woman] No.
-[man] Hmm.
[man] It’s like, I don’t know,
I could say more but…
-[Peter] I drank water at that spring.
-[Hawk] Contero Spring.
Compared to tap water,
and water bottles, and all that,
spring water will get you full faster.
-Yeah.
Way better for you.
[Randy mumbling]
[laughing]
-[Peter] What’d Randy say?
-[man] He’s drinking the wrong water.
Randy’s water is not good.
-Bye-bye, thank you.
-Bye.
[Peter] God, I mean on the same res,
totally different feel.
-Yes it is.
-So how does somebody get a home
up here versus a home in White River?
I think they have to apply.
I’m not too sure,
through housing authority I think.
-Through the tribe, yeah.
-Okay.
So you can literally live in a different
season in the same season on the res?
-Mm-hm
Like this is like
fall-feeling weather almost.
Yeah.
And all day’s been full on summer.
Exactly, there
where my mom lives pretty much.
Yeah.
-What’s going on over here?
-Basketball tournament.
So this community’s
a little bit more run down.
So all these houses were pretty much…
I don’t know, I think like ’70s or ’80s
all the non-tribal members were removed.
That’s why the trading post…
That used to be a store right there.
Non-tribal members were told
to leave the reservation.
-So whities were living up here?
-Whities, African-Americans.
A lot of different nationalities
lived up here once.
-And they were kicked out?
-Pretty much kicked out.
That included the trading post,
and once they, the owners left,
-…it pretty much just… you know?
-Okay.
[Hawk] When I was growing up
in the ’80s they had a program
called Boys and Girls Camp
during the summer
They would send the boys
into Paradise Creek.
In the meantime,
the females go down to William’s Creek
and spend two weeks down there.
So the first thing they’d do
is wake you up at, I don’t know, 6:00,
you meet up at the basketball court,
everybody’d be doing jumping jacks.
They would make us run
a half mile to the next…
You know, it’d be a mile, then
mile and a half in this high elevation.
We hear the bell ring again
and within five minutes or ten minutes
we’d have to be in line to get ready
for our meal to be served to us already.
You know, go into the cafeteria to eat.
Once we were done with that
we would clean our cabin.
They always had a contest
who had the cleanest cabin.
After that we would have an elder speaker
and he would talk to us about culture
or some special speaker
would come and talk to us.
But it was a really good program
that was established by the tribe.
After the two weeks was done
everybody would get paid $80
and that would pretty much go
towards school supplies, clothes,
whatever was needed pretty much.
-Do you think they still do that?
-No, they don’t do that anymore.
It was a different time, you know?
-Well this is exactly the reason why
there’s so much young crime and…
Yep, mm-hmm.
-Drug use and all that stuff,
you don’t have anything to go for
and everyone’s doing stuff around you.
[Peter] I feel like I’m in
high mountain Colorado or something.
[Hawk chuckles]
-Seriously, the aspen trees.
What are we at, like 8,000?
-Yeah, somewhere around there,
like 8,000, 9,000.
-And it’s cold.
-Yeah, it’s cold.
-[Peter exhales]
-Beautiful out here, huh?
Yeah, you guys really do have
a special chunk of land.
-Yeah.
[Peter] You could raise your family
in a way here
and have so much access
to beauty and nature.
-Yeah.
-And expose them to this stuff.
-You didn’t get anything?
-Nothing, nothing.
-I’m from Cibecue.
-Oh, yeah, yeah.
We were gonna go out there today,
we just didn’t have the time.
So living here, you just love
to get out in the nature?
-Oh, definitely.
-Tell me if I’m wrong on this
’cause I’ve only been here a day.
So I saw in White River
you can see a drug scene obviously
and some people down and out,
and then I see guys like you,
seem super into the outdoors.
So is it just like two different worlds
people are living in?
Yeah, I’d say two different worlds.
I think it has to do with mental health
I think is a big part of it.
People don’t know how
to cope in the right way I guess.
-Okay.
-Or they saw things growing up.
I think I grew up
in a safe environment I guess.
-Okay, okay.
Mostly alcohol.
Nothing really besides alcohol.
-Okay, so that helped?
-Yeah, definitely.
-So I just graduated college a month ago.
-Good for you, man.
-What did you major in?
-Criminal justice and Indigenous studies.
Are you gonna work here
on the res in criminal justice?
-I plan to go back to Flagstaff.
-Okay.
So most guys your age, you go to college,
to get a job you gotta get off the res?
I would say so, yeah.
I was always told that,
to get a job off the res.
-It’s good to come back though?
-Oh, I love coming back.
-Just peaceful, huh?
-Yeah, it’s home, you know?
[wind blowing]
[Peter] Oh, look at this.
This is so beautiful.
-That’s the ski resort over there?
-Yep.
-Sunrise, right?
-Mm-hmm, Sunrise Ski Resort.
-So this is all Native-owned?
-Yep, the tribe owns it.
So right now they’re doing
mountain biking and different activities.
-Yeah, why isn’t everyone
coming up here on the weekend?
Yeah, that’s… I don’t know.
A lot of the news broadcasts
pretty much talk about Snowbowl.
-And Snowbowl is Flagstaff?
-Yes.
A lot of my friends that snowboard,
they’d rather come up here
because they have a lot more runs
and also ski lifts too.
One of the things
I really enjoy about the ski resort
is that they kind of left
it more undeveloped.
So it’s not like corporate.
-Just a few lifts, base lodge type thing?
-Yeah, but also dirt roads
to get to the ski resort.
-Dirt road?
-Dirt road, yeah.
-We use spring water to make snow.
-Oh, cool.
[Peter] And look at this, 60 degrees,
mid-summer Arizona.
Vibrant green, the base of a ski resort.
-Mm-hmm.
-On a reservation.
-On a reservation.
White Mountain Apache Tribe.
-Knows how to set up
a beautiful place here.
Randy, thank you
for dropping the local knowledge today.
-Yeah.
-Some good entertainment.
-Yep, it looks like a space shuttle.
-It does a little bit, yeah.
And Hawk, thank you for bringing me in
and us all into this beautiful landscape.
Appreciate it.
So I hope everybody comes up
to enjoy the outdoors, the ski resort,
the beautiful land that we have out here.
-Yeah.
-Very diverse.
-It’s been a long day going from…
-[laughs] Yeah.
Starting at Bashas’,
then headed over to my mom,
and next we’re at Fort Apache,
and next we’re here.
I will sleep very well tonight.
-[laughs] Good.
-Right on.
-Hawk, you’re the man.
-Appreciate it.
-Thank you.
-Thank you.
Thanks guys, for coming on that journey.
Until the next one.
[twangy guitar plays]

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