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Kevin Abourezk: Comedy team gets Native youth to open up





Kevin Abourezk reports on a visit by the 1491s to Nebraska:
It’s 10 in the morning, and eight high school students won't speak.

Dallas Goldtooth threatens them: “Someone start talking or I'm going to start calling on you.”

A boy fidgets. Two girls giggle and whisper.

Goldtooth asks again: What do you want to say in your video about alcoholism?

A boy in a black Nike sweatshirt clears his throat.

“It tears families apart,” he says. “Some people forget their heritage when they drink.”

And so begins another video from the 1491s.

The guerrilla Native filmmakers and comedy troupe came to Lincoln on Tuesday to help participants of the Sovereign Native Youth Leadership program shoot a video. The Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs hosted the 1491s' visit and sponsors the youth program -- high school students from Nebraska's four tribes learning to be leaders.

Get the Story:
Kevin Abourezk: Native filmmakers get students to open up (The Lincoln Journal Star 4/3)

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