July 2, 2025 • 19 mins
The Journey of Recovery interview series highlights the stories of Montanans with lived experiences of trauma, substance use and mental health struggles and who are on the path of recovery. These interviews share how people can move forward and empower others to do the same.
In this interview with Chaniel Grant, a coordinator with Healing to Wellness Court Projects, Mountain Pacific’s Sarah Byrnes learns how Chaniel’s connection to community has helped her on her journey of recovery.
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Episode Transcript
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Sarah Byrnes (00:02):
Announcer, one chapter does not define a
person's whole story. Welcome toour journey of recovery series
where we talk with Montanans whohave lived experience of trauma,
substance use and struggles withmental health, about where they
are now the Substance Abuse andMental Health Services
Administration, or SAMHSAdefines recovery as a process of
(00:23):
change through which individualsimprove their health and
wellness, live a self directedlife and strive to reach their
full potential. Join us to learnabout community members in
recovery as they share theirstory and the steps they are
taking to help others on theirjourney. Can we start with just
your introduction of yourself?
Chaniel Grant (00:44):
My everybody calls me Shanti. I'm from the
Blackfeet Indian Reservation inBrowning, Montana. I work at the
tribal court for a healing towellness Court program. I'm a
coordinator. It's like a tribalmodel of a treatment court. I I
(01:09):
have two kids, two sons. I'mmarried. Hobbies. I really like
to bead. You know, I love to gooutdoors. I love the outdoors. I
love to swim and be aroundwater. So I'm, I'm very big on
(01:29):
outdoor stuff in the summertime.
Sarah Byrnes (01:31):
Hey, that's great.
Live in a great place for that,right? And so what would you say
your daily and or long termgoals normally are?
Chaniel Grant (01:46):
Daily goals are just to do the best I can every
day. You know, take it day byeven minute by minute. Sometimes
my long term goals are I do wantto go further my education. I,
(02:06):
you know, I want to, I want todo my masters in social work,
and one day, hopefully do a JDprogram. Because ultimately, I'd
like to come back to the courtsystem, but in a different role
as a judge, or possibly, youknow, take my background
somewhere where I can helpprograms like this be
(02:30):
implemented across the nation.
Sarah Byrnes (02:32):
And did you mention what the program that
you work for does?
Chaniel Grant (02:39):
It's healing to wellness court, and it's a
tribal specific model of atreatment court, which is a, you
know, it's court involvedindividuals, they're, they're
negatively involved with thecourt system and largely the the
(03:00):
root causes, drugs or alcohol.
So helping people who arestruggling with substance use
disorder find, you know, findways to treat the cause of the
problem, rather than justpunitive sentencing like the
traditional court models do. Sowe we we offer a lot of
wraparound services and a lot ofdifferent cultural really tying
(03:24):
our culture into it, communitybased support. So that's kind of
what I do. I coordinate all ofthat.
Sarah Byrnes (03:38):
What got you into that position? Did you have any
personal experience or somethingelse that touched you in your
life that made you want to dosomething to help people
involved in the court system?
Chaniel Grant (03:51):
I've always wanted to work with kids, so the
you know, I worked a lot withwhile I was going to school. I'm
a social worker. So going tocollege, I interned with a kind
of like a Big Brothers, BigSisters program there called
(04:11):
Friends Forever, mentoring andjust working with kids who are
at risk. And you know, myselfbeing a kid who kind of comes
from that type of background, II wanted to be, you know,
helpful to them and help them,you know, see a different road.
Sarah Byrnes (04:33):
Yeah, was there anyone in your lived experience
that you lived up to, like apeer, someone who came and
talked about their life thatkind of inspired you.
Chaniel Grant (04:44):
I, I grew up a lot around my culture and, you
know, just being around ourelders and stuff, I've always
wanted to be like them. They're,you know, all of them are
walking the sober road or thered. Road, as you say, well,
just always seeing how you knowjust, they're just whole people,
(05:07):
like whole like, healed people,and I've always wanted to be
like them.
Sarah Byrnes (05:15):
Do you have any recent accomplishments or just
main, major accomplishments inyour life that you'd like to
share that are either personalor work related.
Chaniel Grant (05:24):
Um, I, you know, I've, I've gone periods of time
of in sobriety, but this is thelongest I've ever had sobriety.
I'm, I'm coming up on two yearsin September, in September,
yeah, you know, I, I, I feelreally strong in my recovery
(05:46):
now, and really confident. ButI'm, you know, I've really
moved. I've had a lot of growthin my cultural journey. So this
past year, I've, I'm a, became aleader of the brave dog society
with my brother, and that's,it's really important work here
(06:06):
in our community, because we're,you know, we're helping our
culture move forward, and youknow, we're revitalizing
traditions. And you know, justreally tying myself into that
healing process was significantfor me, and it just kind of
helped me find a deeper sense ofself, I guess. And yeah, that's
(06:31):
kind of my big accomplishmentthat you know, I've taken a lot
of responsibility, but I've beenlearning so much along the way,
so the rewards are really greatin this in this role I have now
my new role,
Sarah Byrnes (06:47):
I was gonna say that's great. I mean, that's a
huge accomplishment, right? Imean, every time you hit us,
even a small milestone, that'ssomething to celebrate, so that
you can keep telling yourselflike you're doing the right
thing, you're doing what you setout to do and, and that's great.
Yeah, absolutely. So I, I thinkthat's wonderful. So you said
(07:09):
that you're going on yourlongest time being sober. What
were there any recovery servicesthat you really benefited from,
or that you feel really impactedyour life.
Chaniel Grant (07:23):
I I haven't really accessed
traditional like recoveryservices in that sense, but I
guess just connecting with myculture and my traditions and my
community that's really been asignificant part of my healing
process. And, you know, findingthat deeper sense of self, like
(07:46):
I said, that's really beenimportant for me, and just being
a part of the this community,like working in it. And, you
know, I started out in a role,like, I'm not like a counselor
or anything, but just workingwith people in that field and
being around it has been reallypowerful. And, you know, just
sharing experiences with otherpeople, and I took it upon
(08:12):
myself to kind of go throughwhat my, my, you know, my the
people I work with, justpersonally taking the time to
kind of go to differentactivities with them, kind of
going alongside them, throughtheir services. And, you know,
that's kind of that's beenhelpful too. So kind of not, not
(08:36):
personally accessing it, butalso really taking walking with
them along the journey. So,
Sarah Byrnes (08:46):
but it sounds like, yeah, your community was a
great recovery resource for youto give you some more purpose
too. So that sounds amazing,yeah, yeah. And that doesn't
necessarily have to bestructured, right? I mean
community being a good recoveryresource, and that it, it really
doesn't have to be directed asor labeled as a recovery
(09:07):
resource to be a resource inrecovery. Yeah, that's, yeah.
Chaniel Grant (09:12):
I think that's important to me. Is just
learning working in this field.
I You, you see that it's, youknow, recovery is not like one
size fits all, yeah, and youknow, you're, you know, our
journeys all look different thanwhat's matters is like what
worked for me or what worked forthem. You know, that's for me.
It's just really rooted in myculture and my community.
Sarah Byrnes (09:39):
That's great when people learn about your lived
experience and that you're inrecovery, what kind of reactions
do you see? Any positive ornegative?
Chaniel Grant (09:50):
I feel like I see a lot of positive reactions. You
know, of course, there's, youknow, a lot of his. Historical
trauma goes with the culture.
So, you know, when I tell peoplemy culture saved me, you know,
there's a lot of negativefeedback sometimes about our
(10:11):
culture, just because you knowhistorical trauma, you know that
has all taught us the fear ourcultural ways. So there's a lot
of people who are reallyhesitant to try it. And so it's,
you know, those are the onlynegative things I hear. Like
people are like, Oh, youshouldn't mess with that. You
know, that's, those are the onlyreally negative things i But
(10:34):
most, for the most part, peopleare really, really, you know,
positive and encouraging. Andpeople always come up to me and
tell me they're, they look up tome, you know, and that I'm, I'm
in, I'm an inspiration to them.
So those are all the kinds ofthings i i get.
Sarah Byrnes (10:55):
Does that help you on your journey? Then to when
people are telling you, youknow, you You've inspired me to
to keep going or to get help.
Chaniel Grant (11:04):
Yeah, and, you know, I've always felt like
it's, it's not just about me. Ilike me recovering, as you know,
helping my tribe and my people.
So it's bigger than me. And youknow, I'm, I'm doing it for them
too.
Sarah Byrnes (11:19):
What would you say to someone who is considering
recovery, or maybe somebody,maybe that you feel just from
your experience might benefitfrom following a path of their
own? What would you say to them?
Any advice?
Chaniel Grant (11:41):
I will just say that, you know, it's, you know,
I want to,once you start, you know, it's,
it's hard, but you just gottaget past those first few hard.
You know, the the beginning isthe hardest. I think. So really
connecting yourself, connectingto people, is going to be your
(12:04):
biggest you know it, it's goingto help you through those hard
moments. So not isolatingyourself, but I'm really just
try to remember it's yourjourney, and not to like, you
know, if you slip up, don't beatyourself up about it. You know,
(12:26):
it's a journey. So it's going totake a while. It didn't happen
overnight, so it's not going tobe changed overnight. So you
gotta do the work. But it's, youknow, if you have people around
you who are surrounding you thatyou can connect with that's
going to be the best thing foryou?
Sarah Byrnes (12:45):
Absolutely. Yeah, I was, I was going to say, we've
had a few of these interviews,and a biggest part was having
making your own community,having your own community, and
then also knowing that it's notperfect, that it's a journey,
like you said, and it's not, Imade it a point to say it's not
the journey to recovery, becauserecovery doesn't end, and it's
(13:09):
not the end, it's a journey ofrecovery, so that even just that
small word, that small change,could really reframe it in
someone's brain. That means, youknow, it you're not perfect. No
one's perfect, right? Like, Imean, that's, that's my
viewpoint, personally, is thatnobody's perfect. So just making
sure that you celebrate yoursmall wins and and, like you
(13:32):
said, if you slip up, keepgoing,
Chaniel Grant (13:34):
it's really important too, sorry. Oh no.
Like, for sure, celebrate,celebrate the small things.
Like, you know, every everylittle step of the way, make
sure you're celebrating thoselittle victories that you have
along the way, because thatreally makes a big deal to at
the end, you know, it's even,even if it's just getting
(13:56):
through one tough day, likefinding the strength in that and
really tight, you know, really,really encouraging you to carry
yourself in that way. Becauseit's, we all have to ground
ourselves every single day. Soit's, you know, it's, it's about
remembering how what yourstrengths are and finding it.
Sarah Byrnes (14:18):
I know you were saying that you look up to your
elders and that they're they'rewalking the red road, like you
said. And so is there any likespecific story that you've heard
that really resonated with you?
Chaniel Grant (14:32):
Yeah, I just all of them have so many amazing
stories. All of them havestarted out in life, you know,
impacted by trauma, and so theyalcohol was, like a lot of
their, you know, they startedout as with alcoholism. And, you
know, there was a couple of myelders were explained to us that
(14:55):
they were, you know, they. Were,they were out on the streets.
They were, you know, drinkingheavily every day. And you know,
they were, they were bad people.
They call themselves that theyweren't being very good people.
But, you know, they, they tookthe time to learn the culture,
and once they connected, they,you know, they just embraced it.
(15:18):
And and the, the main thing thatthey loved about learning our
culture is that, you know,everybody has the opportunity to
be, we call it being nitzapi.
It's a real person. That's whatyou're striving to become when
you're person in my tribe, andit's, it means, like a whole
person. So that's really whattheir journey is all about. And
(15:43):
now, you know, they they wentfrom being learners, and now
they're elders in our ways, andthey're carrying our culture
forward, and, you know, ourlanguage. So it's yeah, you
know, without them, our ways aregoing to we won't have them
anymore. We don't have ourculture anymore, our language
and our, our, um, our, our, ourworldview is in danger. So it's
(16:08):
their stories like that. It'sjust empowering, because, you
know, anybody can be be sittingin their spot. They we all have
the opportunity if we want it.
Sarah Byrnes (16:24):
Yeah, that sounds, that sounds like a powerful
motivator. I mean, just topreserve your culture and to
know that if you're learningfrom them and and, like you
said, Anyone could be sitting intheir spot later, later on,
once, to carry on thetraditions. So, yeah, that's so
important, so important. That'sa great purpose. Looking back,
(16:46):
can you describe anycircumstances or events that led
you to know that you reallywanted to be on that recovery
path of recovery?
Chaniel Grant (16:55):
We all have those stories where, you know,
especially in the res, the reslife could be tough. And, you
know, you just see the cyclesrunning through your family, and
you see it running through theyour people, and that cycle is
just so hard to break out of.
And for me, it just took, youknow, reflecting on all of that
(17:20):
and seeing how it's impacting myfamily, where I I, you know, I
wanted to get out of that cycleand be one of the people where
we break it. So that was, and Iseen it in myself, you know, I
seen it in my own self. I wasgoing to start carrying that
forward, and I wanted better formy kids. So, you know, just
alcohol is a big piece of mywhole you know, from when I was
(17:45):
just a teenager and I struggledwith it for a long, long time,
so and so do people in myfamily. I've lost a lot of
family members to alcohol andjust just recognizing the cycle
is starting again, and throughme and I wanted to break it.
Sarah Byrnes (18:06):
So I'm truly amazed every time I hear someone
say that they just wanted tobreak the cycle, how much mental
strength and fortitude thattakes to just decide every hour,
every day, that this is the paththat you want to be on, and
you're gonna go, you're gonna gothrough it to get to a better
(18:26):
result. Or, and I sounds likeyou, for you, it's a lot about
you know, a better future andpreserving your culture, like
better future for your kids,preserving the culture for your
kids to make sure that they knowthis, that same purpose, that
same culture that you do? Yeah,so, I mean, that sounds amazing.
I just want you to know that Ilike, I really appreciate your
(18:48):
story and sharing with us. Isthere anything else that you
wanted to share with us aboutyour story or your journey?
Chaniel Grant (19:00):
Nope, I think that's covers most of it.
Sarah Byrnes (19:06):
Well, that's amazing. I mean, I'm I'm a
stranger, but I'm proud of you,and I think you're doing an
amazing job. So I reallyappreciate your time and talking
to me and and doing thisinterview series
Chaniel Grant (19:19):
of course, thank you there for asking me to be a
part of it. Absolutely amazing.
Yeah,
Announcer, one chapter does not define a
person's whole story. Welcome toour journey of recovery series
where we talk with Montanans whohave lived experience of trauma,
substance use and struggles withmental health, about where they
are now the Substance Abuse andMental Health Services
Administration, or SAMHSAdefines recovery as a process of
(00:23):
change through which individualsimprove their health and
wellness, live a self directedlife and strive to reach their
full potential. Join us to learnabout community members in
recovery as they share theirstory and the steps they are
taking to help others on theirjourney. Can we start with just
your introduction of yourself?
Chaniel Grant (00:44):
My everybody calls me Shanti. I'm from the
Blackfeet Indian Reservation inBrowning, Montana. I work at the
tribal court for a healing towellness Court program. I'm a
coordinator. It's like a tribalmodel of a treatment court. I I
(01:09):
have two kids, two sons. I'mmarried. Hobbies. I really like
to bead. You know, I love to gooutdoors. I love the outdoors. I
love to swim and be aroundwater. So I'm, I'm very big on
(01:29):
outdoor stuff in the summertime.
Sarah Byrnes (01:31):
Hey, that's great.
Live in a great place for that,right? And so what would you say
your daily and or long termgoals normally are?
Chaniel Grant (01:46):
Daily goals are just to do the best I can every
day. You know, take it day byeven minute by minute. Sometimes
my long term goals are I do wantto go further my education. I,
(02:06):
you know, I want to, I want todo my masters in social work,
and one day, hopefully do a JDprogram. Because ultimately, I'd
like to come back to the courtsystem, but in a different role
as a judge, or possibly, youknow, take my background
somewhere where I can helpprograms like this be
(02:30):
implemented across the nation.
Sarah Byrnes (02:32):
And did you mention what the program that
you work for does?
Chaniel Grant (02:39):
It's healing to wellness court, and it's a
tribal specific model of atreatment court, which is a, you
know, it's court involvedindividuals, they're, they're
negatively involved with thecourt system and largely the the
(03:00):
root causes, drugs or alcohol.
So helping people who arestruggling with substance use
disorder find, you know, findways to treat the cause of the
problem, rather than justpunitive sentencing like the
traditional court models do. Sowe we we offer a lot of
wraparound services and a lot ofdifferent cultural really tying
(03:24):
our culture into it, communitybased support. So that's kind of
what I do. I coordinate all ofthat.
Sarah Byrnes (03:38):
What got you into that position? Did you have any
personal experience or somethingelse that touched you in your
life that made you want to dosomething to help people
involved in the court system?
Chaniel Grant (03:51):
I've always wanted to work with kids, so the
you know, I worked a lot withwhile I was going to school. I'm
a social worker. So going tocollege, I interned with a kind
of like a Big Brothers, BigSisters program there called
(04:11):
Friends Forever, mentoring andjust working with kids who are
at risk. And you know, myselfbeing a kid who kind of comes
from that type of background, II wanted to be, you know,
helpful to them and help them,you know, see a different road.
Sarah Byrnes (04:33):
Yeah, was there anyone in your lived experience
that you lived up to, like apeer, someone who came and
talked about their life thatkind of inspired you.
Chaniel Grant (04:44):
I, I grew up a lot around my culture and, you
know, just being around ourelders and stuff, I've always
wanted to be like them. They're,you know, all of them are
walking the sober road or thered. Road, as you say, well,
just always seeing how you knowjust, they're just whole people,
(05:07):
like whole like, healed people,and I've always wanted to be
like them.
Sarah Byrnes (05:15):
Do you have any recent accomplishments or just
main, major accomplishments inyour life that you'd like to
share that are either personalor work related.
Chaniel Grant (05:24):
Um, I, you know, I've, I've gone periods of time
of in sobriety, but this is thelongest I've ever had sobriety.
I'm, I'm coming up on two yearsin September, in September,
yeah, you know, I, I, I feelreally strong in my recovery
(05:46):
now, and really confident. ButI'm, you know, I've really
moved. I've had a lot of growthin my cultural journey. So this
past year, I've, I'm a, became aleader of the brave dog society
with my brother, and that's,it's really important work here
(06:06):
in our community, because we're,you know, we're helping our
culture move forward, and youknow, we're revitalizing
traditions. And you know, justreally tying myself into that
healing process was significantfor me, and it just kind of
helped me find a deeper sense ofself, I guess. And yeah, that's
(06:31):
kind of my big accomplishmentthat you know, I've taken a lot
of responsibility, but I've beenlearning so much along the way,
so the rewards are really greatin this in this role I have now
my new role,
Sarah Byrnes (06:47):
I was gonna say that's great. I mean, that's a
huge accomplishment, right? Imean, every time you hit us,
even a small milestone, that'ssomething to celebrate, so that
you can keep telling yourselflike you're doing the right
thing, you're doing what you setout to do and, and that's great.
Yeah, absolutely. So I, I thinkthat's wonderful. So you said
(07:09):
that you're going on yourlongest time being sober. What
were there any recovery servicesthat you really benefited from,
or that you feel really impactedyour life.
Chaniel Grant (07:23):
I I haven't really accessed
traditional like recoveryservices in that sense, but I
guess just connecting with myculture and my traditions and my
community that's really been asignificant part of my healing
process. And, you know, findingthat deeper sense of self, like
(07:46):
I said, that's really beenimportant for me, and just being
a part of the this community,like working in it. And, you
know, I started out in a role,like, I'm not like a counselor
or anything, but just workingwith people in that field and
being around it has been reallypowerful. And, you know, just
sharing experiences with otherpeople, and I took it upon
(08:12):
myself to kind of go throughwhat my, my, you know, my the
people I work with, justpersonally taking the time to
kind of go to differentactivities with them, kind of
going alongside them, throughtheir services. And, you know,
that's kind of that's beenhelpful too. So kind of not, not
(08:36):
personally accessing it, butalso really taking walking with
them along the journey. So,
Sarah Byrnes (08:46):
but it sounds like, yeah, your community was a
great recovery resource for youto give you some more purpose
too. So that sounds amazing,yeah, yeah. And that doesn't
necessarily have to bestructured, right? I mean
community being a good recoveryresource, and that it, it really
doesn't have to be directed asor labeled as a recovery
(09:07):
resource to be a resource inrecovery. Yeah, that's, yeah.
Chaniel Grant (09:12):
I think that's important to me. Is just
learning working in this field.
I You, you see that it's, youknow, recovery is not like one
size fits all, yeah, and youknow, you're, you know, our
journeys all look different thanwhat's matters is like what
worked for me or what worked forthem. You know, that's for me.
It's just really rooted in myculture and my community.
Sarah Byrnes (09:39):
That's great when people learn about your lived
experience and that you're inrecovery, what kind of reactions
do you see? Any positive ornegative?
Chaniel Grant (09:50):
I feel like I see a lot of positive reactions. You
know, of course, there's, youknow, a lot of his. Historical
trauma goes with the culture.
So, you know, when I tell peoplemy culture saved me, you know,
there's a lot of negativefeedback sometimes about our
(10:11):
culture, just because you knowhistorical trauma, you know that
has all taught us the fear ourcultural ways. So there's a lot
of people who are reallyhesitant to try it. And so it's,
you know, those are the onlynegative things I hear. Like
people are like, Oh, youshouldn't mess with that. You
know, that's, those are the onlyreally negative things i But
(10:34):
most, for the most part, peopleare really, really, you know,
positive and encouraging. Andpeople always come up to me and
tell me they're, they look up tome, you know, and that I'm, I'm
in, I'm an inspiration to them.
So those are all the kinds ofthings i i get.
Sarah Byrnes (10:55):
Does that help you on your journey? Then to when
people are telling you, youknow, you You've inspired me to
to keep going or to get help.
Chaniel Grant (11:04):
Yeah, and, you know, I've always felt like
it's, it's not just about me. Ilike me recovering, as you know,
helping my tribe and my people.
So it's bigger than me. And youknow, I'm, I'm doing it for them
too.
Sarah Byrnes (11:19):
What would you say to someone who is considering
recovery, or maybe somebody,maybe that you feel just from
your experience might benefitfrom following a path of their
own? What would you say to them?
Any advice?
Chaniel Grant (11:41):
I will just say that, you know, it's, you know,
I want to,once you start, you know, it's,
it's hard, but you just gottaget past those first few hard.
You know, the the beginning isthe hardest. I think. So really
connecting yourself, connectingto people, is going to be your
(12:04):
biggest you know it, it's goingto help you through those hard
moments. So not isolatingyourself, but I'm really just
try to remember it's yourjourney, and not to like, you
know, if you slip up, don't beatyourself up about it. You know,
(12:26):
it's a journey. So it's going totake a while. It didn't happen
overnight, so it's not going tobe changed overnight. So you
gotta do the work. But it's, youknow, if you have people around
you who are surrounding you thatyou can connect with that's
going to be the best thing foryou?
Sarah Byrnes (12:45):
Absolutely. Yeah, I was, I was going to say, we've
had a few of these interviews,and a biggest part was having
making your own community,having your own community, and
then also knowing that it's notperfect, that it's a journey,
like you said, and it's not, Imade it a point to say it's not
the journey to recovery, becauserecovery doesn't end, and it's
(13:09):
not the end, it's a journey ofrecovery, so that even just that
small word, that small change,could really reframe it in
someone's brain. That means, youknow, it you're not perfect. No
one's perfect, right? Like, Imean, that's, that's my
viewpoint, personally, is thatnobody's perfect. So just making
sure that you celebrate yoursmall wins and and, like you
(13:32):
said, if you slip up, keepgoing,
Chaniel Grant (13:34):
it's really important too, sorry. Oh no.
Like, for sure, celebrate,celebrate the small things.
Like, you know, every everylittle step of the way, make
sure you're celebrating thoselittle victories that you have
along the way, because thatreally makes a big deal to at
the end, you know, it's even,even if it's just getting
(13:56):
through one tough day, likefinding the strength in that and
really tight, you know, really,really encouraging you to carry
yourself in that way. Becauseit's, we all have to ground
ourselves every single day. Soit's, you know, it's, it's about
remembering how what yourstrengths are and finding it.
Sarah Byrnes (14:18):
I know you were saying that you look up to your
elders and that they're they'rewalking the red road, like you
said. And so is there any likespecific story that you've heard
that really resonated with you?
Chaniel Grant (14:32):
Yeah, I just all of them have so many amazing
stories. All of them havestarted out in life, you know,
impacted by trauma, and so theyalcohol was, like a lot of
their, you know, they startedout as with alcoholism. And, you
know, there was a couple of myelders were explained to us that
(14:55):
they were, you know, they. Were,they were out on the streets.
They were, you know, drinkingheavily every day. And you know,
they were, they were bad people.
They call themselves that theyweren't being very good people.
But, you know, they, they tookthe time to learn the culture,
and once they connected, they,you know, they just embraced it.
(15:18):
And and the, the main thing thatthey loved about learning our
culture is that, you know,everybody has the opportunity to
be, we call it being nitzapi.
It's a real person. That's whatyou're striving to become when
you're person in my tribe, andit's, it means, like a whole
person. So that's really whattheir journey is all about. And
(15:43):
now, you know, they they wentfrom being learners, and now
they're elders in our ways, andthey're carrying our culture
forward, and, you know, ourlanguage. So it's yeah, you
know, without them, our ways aregoing to we won't have them
anymore. We don't have ourculture anymore, our language
and our, our, um, our, our, ourworldview is in danger. So it's
(16:08):
their stories like that. It'sjust empowering, because, you
know, anybody can be be sittingin their spot. They we all have
the opportunity if we want it.
Sarah Byrnes (16:24):
Yeah, that sounds, that sounds like a powerful
motivator. I mean, just topreserve your culture and to
know that if you're learningfrom them and and, like you
said, Anyone could be sitting intheir spot later, later on,
once, to carry on thetraditions. So, yeah, that's so
important, so important. That'sa great purpose. Looking back,
(16:46):
can you describe anycircumstances or events that led
you to know that you reallywanted to be on that recovery
path of recovery?
Chaniel Grant (16:55):
We all have those stories where, you know,
especially in the res, the reslife could be tough. And, you
know, you just see the cyclesrunning through your family, and
you see it running through theyour people, and that cycle is
just so hard to break out of.
And for me, it just took, youknow, reflecting on all of that
(17:20):
and seeing how it's impacting myfamily, where I I, you know, I
wanted to get out of that cycleand be one of the people where
we break it. So that was, and Iseen it in myself, you know, I
seen it in my own self. I wasgoing to start carrying that
forward, and I wanted better formy kids. So, you know, just
alcohol is a big piece of mywhole you know, from when I was
(17:45):
just a teenager and I struggledwith it for a long, long time,
so and so do people in myfamily. I've lost a lot of
family members to alcohol andjust just recognizing the cycle
is starting again, and throughme and I wanted to break it.
Sarah Byrnes (18:06):
So I'm truly amazed every time I hear someone
say that they just wanted tobreak the cycle, how much mental
strength and fortitude thattakes to just decide every hour,
every day, that this is the paththat you want to be on, and
you're gonna go, you're gonna gothrough it to get to a better
(18:26):
result. Or, and I sounds likeyou, for you, it's a lot about
you know, a better future andpreserving your culture, like
better future for your kids,preserving the culture for your
kids to make sure that they knowthis, that same purpose, that
same culture that you do? Yeah,so, I mean, that sounds amazing.
I just want you to know that Ilike, I really appreciate your
(18:48):
story and sharing with us. Isthere anything else that you
wanted to share with us aboutyour story or your journey?
Chaniel Grant (19:00):
Nope, I think that's covers most of it.
Sarah Byrnes (19:06):
Well, that's amazing. I mean, I'm I'm a
stranger, but I'm proud of you,and I think you're doing an
amazing job. So I reallyappreciate your time and talking
to me and and doing thisinterview series
Chaniel Grant (19:19):
of course, thank you there for asking me to be a
part of it. Absolutely amazing.
Yeah,
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