Thunder Jacobs
The goal for me after high school is simply to be done with school! I would like the go to work with my dad. People say that they would never like to work with their dad because he would always yell at you. The thing is, however, that maybe there are times when you need it. Most of the time your father is not yelling because you're his son, he's yelling at you because he wants you to learn to do things in the right way.
I like to work with my dad because I always learn something new and he makes work fun. I work with a lot of people in my day and none of them is as good to work with as my dad. Some of the things that he does for a living are what I would like to do. He is a carpenter and he's in the cigarette business, as well. I am already involved with both but he is the one who gets the better jobs or the bigger customers or is involved with the bigger dealers. Where I am right now in this business is selling to small customers like a case every two weeks or something like that.
The problem with the cigarette market is that there are down falls, because sometimes you run out of stock or you're not able to make the delivery in time to get the order. Most people who are in the trade depend on the cigarette business for their whole salary and one day the cigarette business might not be so good. My dad does the right thing because he has a different job during the day and sells cigarettes at night. When the business does fail he will have another high paying job to rely on.
If my father wanted he could just stop working right now and he would still have more of enough money to live. He tells me, however, that he works to stay active.
I am going to be taking over the business and I want to live like my father because he is always on the move. So now that I am about to graduate my father has given me my own warehouse to run. I plan to work hard because my future depends on it.
My name is Thunder Jacobs and I am in grade 11. I go to Kahnawake Survival School. My plan after leaving this school is to go out into the work force.
The thing that I want people to know about me is that my culture means the world to me. It is really important to me because without the culture we're just brown Canadians. The culture helps to keep us who we are and separates us from the rest. That's one of the reasons why I am always proud to have been born a native person. We always stand up for what we believe in. We are a very proud race and we are willing to do anything in our power to get what belongs to us, even if it means losing our lives. But that's the last thing we would resort to.
The longhouse helped me because it showed me the right way to go. I stay away from drugs and alcohol. It kept me on the right path and I was able to say no to these things because I know that I have to help rebuild our ways, and I don't want to be on drugs or drunk while I am doing that. I want to stay clean and keep my body drug and alcohol free. The longhouse played a big part in that, not only the longhouse and what it stands for, but the people as well helped me on the way.
If I were about to break and take that beer someone from the longhouse would be there to stop me to make sure I do the right thing. I know if I took that beer I would not only be letting myself down and I would be letting down a lot more people such as the younger guys who look up to me and turn to me for help.
Right now they say we're the next generation and they say the future is in our hands. When they say that, they are putting a lot of pressure on us because I hope I can handle it but I worry that a lot of us are not ready for the responsibility. What if in the future something happens and the town is not ready? We're losing our ways and we may lose are identity and end up like the rest living in four storey apartment buildings, trying to get jobs at Burger King. We will no long be Kanien'keha:ka. We will be called Canadians, and I would rather die than be called that.
