Page 13 - ION Indie Magazine MayJune 2018 Issue

GA: It was the best and the worst
experience of my life. I was up there. Photo credit: Marty Haviik

So, they were already a good four
months in. And when I got there, it
was escalating but not as bad. But
upon arrival, after driving twenty-
seven hours, just to get there, I was
faced with military presence, held at
gun point with an assault rifle,
detained for over 30 minutes. They
were taking photos of the interior of
my truck. I had tons of clothes and
jackets and blankets for children,
boots for little kids, shoes for
children. Somehow, that was a
threat to them. Their tactics were of
intimidation, visually and mentally.
Mental psychological warfare is what it was. They would not take their fingers off the triggers. I'm thinking, “At
any moment, if this guy sneezes, I'm shot. Please don't sneeze man!” (laughing). That that was my first
experience, and over the months of time that I was there going back and forth, it way escalated -- from being
maced to being chased by helicopters. Of course, I was chasing them first -- I had my camera with me and these
guys were spraying us with something. Again, it was the worst and best experience of my life. One of the pivotal
moments in the encampment was unity and love. It was a beautiful thing. It was like a giant ceremony. There
were people from all over the world.

MH: Gabriel, what are your dreams, goals, and your vision?

GA: World peace and world domination at the same time, for

Photo credit: Marty Haviik different reasons though. Not for selfish reasons of being

powerful. It's more to have a voice. I use music more as a

platform than anything else, to talk about issues that are kind

of pushed to the side. And not just Native issues. It's also stop

domestic violence. Stop women getting beat up. Stop children

from doing meth. Stop kids from not having positive

addictions. Positive addictions can be anything from drawing,

visual art, musical performance, writing…instead of cutting

themselves, you know? And on reservations and in your city

youth, these kids are having these problems. So again, world

domination. Trying to be more of a positive influence, not a

role model. I hate the word "role model". That’s such an ugly

word to say. It's like, "Look at me!" I'd rather be a positive

influence on somebody. Those are more like the personal goals

of what I want to leave. I always say, “You know, in the time of

my passing, whenever that is (hopefully it isn't soon), I hope

that people say, “Man, that guy who played guitar…he was

pretty good, but what was an even more amazing thing was

what he did for people.” That's what I want to keep in mind.

It's a bigger legacy trying to teach myself how to use my voice.