Decolonativization

The NARDS Youth Summit

**Episode Name** is the sixth episode of the second season and fourteenth episode overall of *Reservation Dogs*.

## Synopsis

Two influencers attempt to bring the younger generation together at the NARDS Youth Summit.

## Plot

Bear helps Rita hang a banner for the NARDS Youth Summit. They back up and Bear says it looks straight. He asks if he can leave. Rita reminds him he threw a party at their home and expected no one to find out, so he's staying. Plus she invited all his friends. He groans when she says Elora and she asks if they're okay. He says there's some stuff she hasn't apologized for yet. Rita's sure they'll be fine, but he says if she doesn't it again, they're done. Rita says that's not how family works.

Bear is bored waiting for people to arrive. Willie Jack and Cheese finally get there. They tell him they're handing out Sonic gift cards, which he didn't know about. It's the only reason Willie Jack and Cheese came. Elora walks in and they gesture to her before seeing that Jackie is with her. They sit down next to the others, so Willie Jack moves down one seat. Rita stands on the stage and thanks everyone for coming. Dr. Kang brings her a microphone. She thanks them all for coming. She has Old Man Fixico come up to start them off with an opening ceremony. Fixico has everyone stand and join hands. They were the first people to walk on this land. Then the greedy whites took it. Rita clears her throat to get him back on track. He has them all face east to greet the son, then south to honor their southern relatives, then north. Everyone's confused about which way they should be facing.

Clinton welcomes two role models to the stage: MissM8tri@rch and Augusto Firekeeper. MissM8tri@rch introduces herself as a PhD student at Dartmouth, an auntie, a beader, a sister, and a friend. She goes above and beyond acknowledging all the creatures who lived on the land before them, back to the star people and lizards. Augusto introduces himself next. He's an actor, model, poet, and hatmaker. Others have said it, so he'll say it: He's a young elder. He carries knowledge beyond his years and experience. Clinton tells the aunties in the back to keep it together because he's not single. Bev grimaces in response to that. Rita tells the teens they have to stay until the end to get their gift cards.

MissM8tri@rch passes out journals. She tells the teens to give them a Native name. They all immediately give them joke names. She asks them to write about a happy memory in your life. Bone Thug Dog asks what if you've never been happy. She tells him to write about that. Bone Thug Dog tells Steve he'll have to write his for him. She gives them ten minutes to write.

*Jackie, Weeze, and Bone Thug Dog beat up White Steve. Then they tell him he's one of them.*

Steve says that was the happiest day of his life. Bone Thug Dog stands to go next.

*Bone Thug Dog paints and drinks an energy drink.*

He says painting relaxes him. MissM8tri@rch asks who hasn't gone. She suggests Jackie. Jackie didn't know they had to read them out loud. MissM8tri@rch says they're all friends. Willie Jack disagrees and Jackie says they're enemies. MissM8tri@rch says that's a colonizer way of thinking. They never had enemies before. Jackie stands and reads about her brother teaching her to ride a bike. He let go of the bike, which upset her until she realized she was riding on her own. It was scary in a good way because she knew he'd catch her if she fell. MissM8tri@rch says that was beautiful.

Augusto says they're going to do the potato dance. MissM8tri@rch passes out potatoes and pairs them off, putting Bear with Jackie. The partners have to hold the potatoes between their foreheads to keep it from falling while dancing. Bear and Jackie do so reluctantly. Cheese and Elora are also paired up and she tells him to stop moving, but he says he's dancing. Dr. Kang is with Rita. When he says she smells good, she backs up and their potato drops. Willie Jack and White Steve are together and smiling. Bear and Jackie bicker as they dance. Elora and Cheese drop their potato. Augusto tells everyone to get lower. Willie Jack and White Steve drop their potato. Jackie and Bear finally drop theirs. They're the winners, which gets them the rest of the sack of potatoes. Willie Jack tells Cheese they would have won. Cheese tells her everyone's having a good time but her.

Everyone gets food. Elora takes her plate to where Bear is sitting and offers him her extra frybread.

Augusto sits with and talks to White Steve, Bone Thug Dog, and Weeze. He says it makes his spirit happy to inspire young Natives to grow their hair. Bone Thug Dog says he just met Augusto today. He asks Steve when he'll grow his out and Steve asks if he can.

Willie Jack asks MissM8tri@rch where she's from. MissM8tri@rch says she's from the Lakota Oyate in Pine Ridge. Willie Jack says her uncle's that. She asks what it's like. MissM8tri@rch admits she's from the Bay Area. Her body grew up in the Bay Area, but her spirit lives with her ancestors. She's going home soon to make a documentary about the youth who don't have a fighting chance. Willie Jack says Bear makes documentaries all the time. MissM8tri@rch would love to put that in her documentary.

Rita is surprised that Bev's not eating. Bev says she can't, because that bitch knows she works there. She looks over at a woman who is staring at her. Bev says she probably put medicine on the beans because Bev snagged her man and her son. Rita spits out the food in her mouth.

MissM8tri@rch says they don't have to go through hard things alone. They can rely on their people to keep them on the right road. The teens are paired up. One is blindfolded and the other has to guide them through a maze. Elora guides Bear. Willie Jack guides Cheese to a vending machine and has him buy something. Elora tells Bear to move forward. When he goes sideways, she tells him she said forward. This leads to an argument between them. Elora says she's trying. Bear says he is, too. Elora asks if they're good and Bear says he doesn't know. Willie Jack has Cheese bring her the drink. MissM8tri@rch announces that Bear and Elora have crossed the finish line. She pulls Jackie and Willie Jack forward. They are both reluctant. MissM8tri@rch tries to get them to do a trust fall. Willie Jack promises she'll catch Jackie, but then lets her fall, saying it's for jumping Bear. Jackie asks what her problem is and Willie Jack tells her to have her brother put the training wheels back on. Jackie walks away. Elora says that was messed up. Bone Thug Dog says her brother died. Like Daniel. Willie Jack didn't know. She goes after Jackie.

MissM8tri@rch says she's proud of the teens. Just being there is an act of decolonization. Cheese asks what she means by that. She explains that it's the undoing of colonialism. He knows the definition, but doesn't understand how what they did accomplishes that. MissM8tri@rch tries to answer, but Augusto steps in to say that Native people are braiding together the hairs of their ancestral ways. Bear says that doesn't make sense. MissM8tri@rch tells them to keep thinking for themselves and asking questions. She says they're welcome for giving them that gift. Augusto wraps things up. Dr. Kang and Clinton are impressed, but the teens are not.

Willie Jack finds Jackie crying at the desk. She apologizes for what she did. She didn't know Jackie lost a brother. She understands why Jackie acts solid all the time. It's cool that he taught her to ride a bike. Jackie tells her to watch her back and walks away.

Elora finds Cheese and Bear outside and asks if they've seen Jackie. She's Elora's ride. Elora thinks she must have left. She doesn't blame Jackie. What Willie Jack did was messed up. Bear says Willie Jack didn't know and Elora's taking Jackie's side. Elora says she isn't. Bear says Willie Jack was just being loyal. Bear's not even sure why Elora came. All she's done is act like everyone's supposed to get along. She still hasn't apologized to Bear. She'll end up like Mabel: alone until it's too late. Elora tells Bear he's living in kid drama. He can't see how sorry she is because he can't see outside himself. She's sorry she hurt him, but she's not sorry she left him. She walks away and tells him not to talk to her for a while. Cheese says that was really awkward for him to watch.

Elora gets a text from Jackie apologizing for bailing and asking what she's up to. Elora doesn't answer and continues watching her show. After a moment, she turns it off and goes back to Mabel's room, where the bed is neatly made. As she goes back to the living room, she hears thunder.

## Cast

### Starring

* Devery Jacobs as Elora Danan Postoak
* D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as Bear Smallhill
* Lane Factor as Cheese Williams
* Paulina Alexis as Willie Jack Sampson

### Guest Starring

* Bobby Lee as Dr. Kang
* Sarah Podemski as Rita Smallhill
* Jana Schmieding as Bev
* Elva Guerra as Jackie
* Amber Midthunder as MissM8tri@rch

### Co-Starring

* Warren Queton as Clinton
* Jude Barnett as Bone Thug Dog
* Richard Ray Whitman as Old Man Fixico
* Xavier Bigpond as Weeze
* Jack Maricle as White Steve
* Elisha Pratt as Augusto