Interview · South Dakota · Pearl Kennedy-Colombe · OSEU 2
Themes: Kinship & family, Values & generosity, Listening & observation, Children & young people
Learn About questions
What does Pearl mean when she says, “Babies don’t come with a guarantee?”
How does thinking about the future help people as they go through life?
How does the question, “Whatcha gonna be when you grow up? help young people?
Why is it important to put the idea of a future into the thoughts of young people?
What does Pearl mean when she says, “There’s no stoplights outside the reservation-you can go anywhere you want?”
Learn From questions
How did you feel about the future when you were young?
Did you have people that helped you to set goals in life? Who were they, and in what ways did they help?
So many people today deal with depression, and hopelessness, and feel defeated. How might thinking about the future in a positive way help to turn those feelings around?
Are there limits you put on yourself because of where you come from, who your family is, what your experience in life has been so far?
How might it change your life to think about not having limits on what you can do?
Transcripts
No Stop Signs - Pearl Kennedy-Colombe - OSEU #2
Watch this interview on YouTubeWhen your baby is born, it doesn’t come with a guarantee. When my brothers were born, they didn’t come with a guarantee that they were going to be…doctors or lawyers, you know. There just born. As they come into your life, you accept them and try to develop them.
I always try to talk to my kids…to make plans ahead…when they’re little like that. “What are you going to be when you graduate? What are you going to be when you grow up?” Look to the future…and don’t look back. Because whatever happened back there…like my son taking his life…there’s nothing I could do to change that.
When I talk to kids…like the Boys and Girls Club…”What are you going to do when you grow up?” Put that idea out there, you know. So then they are thinking about, “Oh I’ll do this. Or I’ll do that.”
And then talk to them about…there’s life…there’s no stop signs out here…outside the reservation. You can go anywhere you want.
Resource text
From the current WoLakota source page:
No “Stop Signs”
Pearl Kennedy-Colombe
Transcript
(deep listening, information)
(deep listening, transformation)
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Source materials
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Additional source transcripts
No “Stop Signs”
No Stop Signs - Pearl Kennedy-Colombe - OSEU #2
When your baby is born, it doesn’t come with a guarantee. When my brothers were
born, they didn’t come with a guarantee that they were going to be…doctors or lawyers,
you know. There just born. As they come into your life, you accept them and try to
develop them.
I always try to talk to my kids…to make plans ahead…when they’re little like that. “What
are you going to be when you graduate? What are you going to be when you grow up?”
Look to the future…and don’t look back. Because whatever happened back there…like
my son taking his life…there’s nothing I could do to change that.
When I talk to kids…like the Boys and Girls Club…”What are you going to do when you
grow up?” Put that idea out there, you know. So then they are thinking about, “Oh I’ll do
this. Or I’ll do that.”
And then talk to them about…there’s life…there’s no stop signs out here…outside the
reservation. You can go anywhere you want.