Sober Indian Riders speak to students about addiction
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PABLO – Two Eagle River School celebrated Red Ribbon Week by inviting several people with drug and alcohol issues to share their experiences in an effort to help students make positive choices.
“Last week was Red Ribbon Week,” high school senior Payton Sorrell explained, adding that the school planned to do a walk to bring awareness to drugs, with an alcohol tie in, but it was raining last week, so the walk and guest speakers were moved to Wednesday, Nov. 4.
Sorrell sat in the bleachers waiting for the speakers. She said alcohol has affected her family and friends, but she didn’t want to take that path.
“I never wanted to go that way,” she said.
The message about avoiding drugs was something she had heard since she was in elementary school and it stuck with her. She said it was good to hear the message again, and it was good for other students to hear it again.
The Sober Indian Riders took center stage in the gym to share their stories. The group is composed of people using motorcycle riding as an outlet to help keep them sober, and they also support each other. They shared life stories and lessons about drug and alcohol addiction, but the big theme in their message was that if you mess up, you can start over, but it won’t be easy.
“The decisions you make in your life determine your future,” Emery Wilson said wearing a black leather vest with Sober Indian Riders printed on the back. He started drinking in high school. He said he felt lucky to be alive because many of his friends were “six feet under” after making the same choices he made.
It took him years to quit drinking and rebuild his life. Riding his Harley is one of the things that helps keep him sober, and he said for 30 years and six months he has been sober.
Dale Swapinski, a self-proclaimed “old white Polish guy,” took the stage and said you don’t have to be Native American to be affected by alcoholism or to be part of the Sober Indian Riders.
“This affects people from every society,” he said of addiction.
After finding sobriety, he earned a list of educational degrees and he served in elected government positions. He said every day he works to stay sober. And his advice: “If you find yourself in a place where you can’t stop ... talk to somebody.”
Francis Auld said making poor choices had life-altering consequences, but the Sober Indian Riders group helps him stay sober. He also said returning to his culture helped him find purpose and sobriety since 1976. He told the students that he wants them to succeed and graduate from school because school rules are much easier to follow than prison rules.
“I ended up in the Montana State Penitentiary where the rules are strict, more strict than your principal,” he said.
Jazmin Auld, 21, was the last speaker. She isn’t a member of the Sober Indian Riders, but she said she wouldn’t mind getting a motorcycle and joining the group. She is on probation for possession and distribution. She stays clean as part of a probation agreement that is keeping her out of prison. She talked to the students in the hopes that they would make better choices than she did.
“Don’t lose sight of who you are or you will end up with a curfew like a child,” she said to the students of her probation requirements.
She said that a lot of things led to her addiction, but the choices she made weren’t worth trading her freedom — although staying clean isn’t easy. She said she had to learn to live without drugs and alcohol and that meant finding a new outlet when life gets tough.
“You need to create a life where you don’t need drugs and alcohol to escape,” she said.
After clapping for the speakers, the students gathered their coats and walked about a mile down the sidewalk next to the highway, turned at the stoplight and walked back to school. The walk gave them a few moments to reflect.
