Workshop focuses on gang prevention tactics

Sarah Cummins

8/29/2001 12:00:00 AM

Local professionals and concerned citizens recently received training on how to identify and prevent gang involvement on the Isabella Reservation.

Luis Ruan, of the Falmouth Institute, presented "Gangs in Indian Country" at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort on Aug. 15 and 16. The event, hosted by the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Education Department, provided counselors, social workers, law enforcement officers, educators and community members with solutions for community mobilizations and gang prevention.

"A gang is a group of people who form an allegiance for a common purpose and engage in violent, unlawful or criminal activity," according to information from the Sacramento Police Guide on Gangs. "A gang may or may not claim control over a certain territory in the community."

The workshop utilized testimony from ex-gang members through video or letters.

Author Luis Rodriguez, an ex-gang member, described his motivation for joining a gang via video. Due to his family's poverty and his parents' struggle to provide for their children, he received little guidance.

"It was like being in a fatherless home," Rodriguez said. "There was nowhere to go, so we started a little gang and said we were going to be there for each other."

Eventually, Rodriguez became involved in dangerous and destructive activities and he said an adult asked him, "What good is it going to do to die for this?" At 18, Rodriguez had already buried 25 of his friends.

Although the former gang member broke out of the cycle and found writing to be a good outlet-a way to heal and complete himself, his son was not as fortunate, according to Ruan. He is now serving 18 years in prison for attempted murder.

Rodriguez wrote "Always Running: A Memoir of La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A." for his son to encourage him to leave gang activity behind. Although the autobiographical account of gang life in California won several awards and became a best-seller, controversy has followed its publication. Several schools in California, Illinois, Texas and Michigan have banned the book-containing graphic violence, drug use and sexual activity-from school classrooms and libraries.

Other critics of "Always Running" argue that if Rodriguez couldn't stop his son's gang involvement than he can't help anyone else. However, the author responded to this criticism in an article by Patrick Sullivan of the Sonoma County Independent.

"They said, �if he couldn't help his own son, how can he help others?' But that's just not the way it works in the real world. I've mentored a lot of kids out of the violence, kept them in school. The fact that my son is in prison doesn't make him the worst person in the world either. He's still a poet, he's still a leader. He did leave the gang, by the way. He made a terrible mistake, and he will pay the consequences. But I don't think he should be written off."

There are more than 375 gangs with about 4,700 members on or near Indian reservations, according to information from the Falmouth Institute. However, Ruan said he believes a connection to their roots may help troubled youth avoid gangs.

"Culture is very important for the youth," Ruan said.

He also said he tells the teens he works with," Don't be ashamed of being dark. You're beautiful who you are."

Ruan said that many of the children with Mexican heritage who live in California grow up with low self-esteem because of their appearance.

"A lot of them grow up with so much self-hate," he explained. "This is internal racism."

One suggestion Ruan gave to reduce gang activity was to plan cultural activities. Teaching teens about nature while backpacking or helping them learn a Native American instrument can provide a positive focus for the youth, according to Ruan.

"On some of the reservations I've been to, the kids who are more cultural tend to be less involved with gangs," explained Ruan.

He also said that activities like backpacking require participants to work together and trust each other.

"You have to deal with problems and talk about them," he said. "You must work together as a team. Study nature; nature has a lot of teachings."

Ruan also had personal advice for professionals who often deal with the dangerous or negative aspects of gang-related youth activities.

"You've got to take care of yourself, because you are dealing with a dangerous situation," he stated.