♪ (Music) - I wouldn't been doing, what I'm doing.

If I didn't know who I am.

- Not matter what happens in life that the sun will always, you know, rise and set the same way.

-As you can tell, I love using my language.

I love seeing how language can really change the world.

- Build our community, because that's what makes us strong.

- Hello, I'm Kate Perdoni.

Welcome to the home of Rocky Mountain Public Media.

Where we actually don't spend most of our time.

We spend it traveling this great state to share your voices.

Our hope is a Colorado where everyone is seen and heard.

As 2021 comes to a close, we want to thank those who trusted us to share their stories.

Tonight, we'd like you to meet some of these powerful and memorable people.

One of my highlights this year is a story of Roque Madrid of the San Luis Valley.

He is an inspiration, a medic, veteran and lifelong human rights advocate.

He flew planes of food and medicine during the 1973 Wounded knee uprising at the Pine Ridge Native American Reservation in South Dakota.

In the declaration of Sovereignty, Native American Peoples and allies spent 71 days at arms against federal forces to bring attention to issues faced by indigenous communities.

Roque told me the story of being shot by federal forces while providing humanitarian aid.

His spirit is evident, his bravery unparalleled.

♪ (Music) - The people of Wounded knee, shot a cow to kill it for me.

When they did that the feds use that as a pretext that they had been fired on to open up on us.

So that fire exchange was going on one of the guys from security came up, and he says: "I need to run one of the medics to see if any of our people have been hit" So, I was the one to go for that.

I got up and we were running, and I was beating him, and I was in front of that guy.

I am a good runner, man.

I was running in front of him.

And I saw a foxhole from here to the wall, and I was just ready-- 3 or 4 more steps and I was gonna dive into it, 'cause I could hear [Bullet sounds] of the bullets hitting all around me on the ground.

So, I knew that they were-- that I was in the hail of fire.

But I didn't think I was going to get shot.

And so, I'm running the foxhole, next thing I know I'm doing that.

The bullet didn't hurt, it didn't hurt at all.

It felt like somebody just got like that with their finger on you, just like that.

But what hurt was a road rash.

I went tumbling on a dirt road.

When I got shot, I was laying on the ground and I thought...

I didn't call my grandma and tell her where I was going, which I always tell her what was going on.

Grandma, blah, blah, blah.

I'll call you later or talk to you later or write you a letter.

But I didn't.

You know, because I didn't want to worry her and then I thought, "Well, she's gonna hear about it from the obituary column or somethingBut no man.

But no, man.

Low and behold good medicine, good medicine, powerful medicine, powerful medicine.

Neither Daniel nor I, know who that third guy was.

There was another guy that helped Daniel carrying me back to the clinic.

So, I'm laying on a mattress on the floor and the real calm with everything you know, I can careless what they were doing, you know, just watching everything happen.

So, here's the guy with a little bucket of sage burning sage with the eagle feather, singing and praying, and in his songs around the whole room, and over me, and over at the over Leonard Crow Dog, the MD, and everybody that was in there.

So, when they were checking me out that they wanted to call a cease fire, my blood pressure was dropping pretty fast.

So that's why they wanted a cease fire to send me out.

But Leonard Crow Dog said: "No, I'm gonna take that bullet outand operate."

And the medicine cabinet, which is about the size of the little table half of the size of the little table by the wall, but that deep with about 3 or 4 shelves on it and he goes through and get something from a canning jar that was dry, and he chewed it.

Then he stuck it in the bullet hole.

Sterile technique did not even cross my mind, you know about gloves and face masks, that didn't even cross my mind.

This guy is chewing something and sticking it in my bullet hole.

And I was watching sharpening his pocketknife on a honing stone, and he will check around his finger and fingernails.

to see how sharp it was.

There was no pain.

Only a little I felt from the knife hit the bullet and made contact with the bullet, that hurt just like if I just been... kicked that hurt, but as soon as he withdrew the knife the pain-- it came like this, and it went like that, just didn't last at all.

No bleeding and no infection.

We escaped from Wounded Knee.

We had to crawl on our bellies because there were sentries posted all over the place.

56 hours after getting shot with a machine gun and I'm escaping from Wounded Knee and the only thing that happened is that I ruptured the stitches that the doctor put on.

But I put a compress on it and there was no bleeding.

It was just fine, but I did rupture.

There's marks where I tore them.

- Do you have a scar from the bullet?

- Yeah, right there.

Yeah.

You know, I thought it was kind of illegal to shoot an unarm medic, that was against the Geneva Convention and the other laws besides that.

So, you don't shoot people providing humanitarian aid, you just don't.

But what it was good is that they could break our bodies, but they couldn't break our spirit.

We were just like...

Right on man!

you know I'll go full duty with you brother.

So, it was a great experience, man.

It's a great experience with some really unbelievable people, unbelievable people.

- Hi, my name is Julio Sandoval and I want to introduce you to Evan Gill.

He's a person and Mountaineer who I admire so much for his philosophy of life, something I will never forget.

"There is always another day no matter your circumstances, there will always be another sunrise."

- The sun, when it rises, that's when I say, you know, I wake up and stuff, but I like to wake up.

It's not a bad spot here.

No matter what happens in life that the sun will always, you know, rise and set the same way, is amazing.

My name is Evan Gill, aka Black Sherpa.

I grew up in Baltimore just moved to Denver here three years ago.

I'd like to call myself an outdoor enthusiast.

I guess.

[Laughs] I've really fell in love with nature when I moved to Denver.

So, when I first came out, you know the mountains were here.

I wanted to explore and get into the mountains and stuff, and.... really... fell in love.

And just trying to gain my knowledge on how to successfully summit fourteeners responsibly.

But my very first hike I mean, I did everything wrong.

I did literally everything wrong.

You know, I had jeans on.

I had a cotton hoodie, a non-waterproof shoes.

We didn't know anything about-- I don't even think we had a first aid kit.

I was getting introduced to all of those issues and problems out here, so I had to learn about them.

The Fourteeners is something not for everybody, but for people that want to push themselves, want to experiment and see what kind of conditioning your body is in.

A lot of this was not just physical, it was a lot of mental games.

You know about 48 of them I did solo.

14,255 feet.

Longs Peak.

Down in the books, down in the books, man.

I didn't have someone waking me up in my tent or....

Number 35, down in the books.

You know, motivating me next and say: "Hey, you got this" or anything like that.

So, all of that had to come within.

Number 41 down man.

Capitol Peak is something that was my last fourteener, and it was my last fourteener for the very specific reason that it is the most dangerous.

I already...

I already understood that I set my mind to doing all 58.

I did not feel the need to rush to go improve, or do something that may, or may not have been out of my comfort zone.

I really do love to hike.

I love to escape and... get away from the moment.

In order to get people outdoors that are of color and everything like that.

One, we need the education.

Two, accessibility to gear.

The cost, yeah, the cost of just gear.

I get it you acquire gear overtime, but to make that initial investment is a big ordeal.

To get it set up like this, I mean it takes...

It takes money.

It is-- just dropping $400 or $500 on a piece of gear.

- Evan Gill, is one of our climbers who we have enjoyed sponsoring being the first African American veteran from Baltimore, Maryland, to actually accomplish Summiting all 58 fourteeners here in Colorado.

We provided him training, outdoor-- back country training, avalanche training.

We provided gear for him.

- Just to feel safe.

Hand sanitizer wipes.

Jessica from Vibe Tribe.

She reached out to me, a satellite phone for me all the time.

I always carry bear spray as well for my hikes.

So, for her to really take-- to really just get me those little things drastically allowed me to accomplish my goal.

- Anyone that wants to a person of color that would like to start out doing extreme sports, but they need safety training.

They need mentorship, and that's where Vibe Tribe came in and we were able to provide those resources for him.

- For my limited knowledge of Colorado and everything like that.

I feel like a lot of black people come out in groups.

Rarely do you see us during a week apparently.

You know, I think we're working, not.

I'm not trying to speak for everyone here.

But you know, I would say the general sense is that we tend to hike in groups or together of other, you know people of color.

You know that's the stereotype and I'm trying to get us away from that stereotype.

And that shouldn't be a stereotype anymore.

It's just a lot fewer of us.

I just want to remind people that... this is here for us to explore and really take advantage of, and we just really don't do it.

- I'm Lindsey Ford, and this year I was able to interview a unique individual named Nizhoni Elizabeth Smocks She's an Afro-indigenous woman who opened up to me and shared the struggles and joys of being both Navajo and Black dissent.

Smocks describes herself as being both tied to the Earth and being part of the Earth.

- One of the Navajo Legends growing up that I remember was that once the children stopped speaking the language, the world will end.

[Foreign language] So, essentially what I just said is: Hello, my name is Nizhoni Smocks, my clans are Coyote Pass and Deer Spring people as well as African American.

My family is from Salina Springs, Arizona and my parents are Marguerite Jones and Arthur Smocks.

Again, my name is Nizhoni, which means beautiful in Navajo.

The adjective not the noun.

I described being Afro-indigenous as being both tied to the Earth and part to the Earth.

It's been a very interesting experience growing up like in Chinle, Arizona on the Navajo Reservation near Canyon de Chelly.

But also, being part of a world that you know, we all know the history of slavery and, you know, some of my family don't know where they came from, or what language they originally spoke.

I think it's a very beautiful, unique position to be in and I didn't appreciate it until later in life.

I've never fit in anywhere, at least I've never been native enough.

I've never been black enough, so I've always, you know, found my place with the outcasts.

Still to this day I still feel that way, for example, like if I'm go to reservation now people are like, "Oh, this is a tourist" I'm like no.

I grew up here, you know, unless I show my certificate of Indian blood no one believes me, that I'm Native American.

We are fortunate enough to live in the government housing, so we live in Redwood.

So, at one point we live in a four-bedroom house, and we had ten folks living in it, so it was very crowded.

But we're also, you know, very fortunate because we had running water, we had electricity.

There are still people in my family who don't have running water or speak English in 2021.

So, live on the reservation.

Like I said, I didn't appreciate until I was older, but I'm thankful because like we had situations--like I can sit outside and watch the satellites go by at night and I love the outdoors.

I got to play outside a lot.

You know, go Cliff diving and swimming in the Canyon, horseback riding, herding sheep, sheering sheep.

But there was also a lot of... there was a lot of racism from the folks because, you know my family, you know we look the way we did, because we were black, and also just like the community, even some of my grandmother's family like when they found out she'd married a black man.

They'd say things like she's gonna have polka dot children, which is very hurtful and harmful.

You know it's been a year since she passed away and there's no glue if that... if that's the way to say it.

She did so much for our family and brought us together and you know, we all, you know, return to her, or reached out to her, or she was involved in everything.

So right now, we're trying to find that that space without her, which has been difficult.

And my grandma did a lot of work in HR, and workforce development, so you know, a lot of her contributions such as bringing in, you know, the first grocery store into town and staffing that.

This necklace here I'm wearing was made by her older brother Oscar.

So, this is handmade squash blossom.

I also have some earrings that she's had for years and two of her rings that she wore.

I have a one of her infamous photos of her wearing that.

Not all Native American tribes have reservations, and not all reservations are maintained and not all tribes have casinos.

Another misconception is that... we should be happy with the land that we were given when we didn't have a choice and in most cases it's the most undesirable lands that the white folks did not want.

One thing I do hear, like just meeting folks and like telling them.

If I do open up and tell them I am indigenous, they always assume that I have a problem with alcohol, which is a huge misconception.

Indigenous Peoples' day.

I think it's a start.

I would like to see other things done, such as you know, tribes reclaiming their land, getting the actual support they need for their people, whether that's financial, scholarships for you know, education, things like that.

So, one thing we used to say is [Foreign language] When you are praying in the morning with the cornmeal, and that is essentially saying "Walk in Beauty" Which is to live your life with love, integrity and faith in everything that you do.

It's very important in prayer, especially in the morning.

If you go out face East with the cornmeal and you say that four times each of the four directions.

I would tell my fellow Afro-indigenous folks to be seen, be heard.

You are important, you exist, your ancestors survive so much, so you can say could succeed, and your life will be full of love and light if you choose.

♪ (Music) - Hi, I'm Brian Willie this year.

Heather Dearman trusted us to tell a special story at the 7/20 memorial.

It remembers the lives lost during the Aurora theater shooting in 2012.

She and others gathered items left behind at the memorial and turned them into ashes that were put into the base of a little library at the site.

Here's that story.

- You are like 3 feet off, do it like right here.

This project was a chance for me to kind of contribute to an issue that has been a part of my life since I was a kid.

I went to columbine.

I was a freshman in 1999 when the shooting happened, and I've been sort of dealing with that in my own ways ever since.

It is a little library, we added some...some features to it that would complement the mission of Heather's organization.

The paper grain project.

Not only is it a book drop, but it's a crane drop.

It's got a folding surface on the bottom that has directions on how to fold an origami crane.

So, the idea is that people that come visit, either drop a book, or take a book.

But you can also fold a crane, leave a crane, take a crane.

- To the 13 killed in the 70 wounded during the Aurora Theater massacre on July 20, 2012.

- I designed this little library/crane drop box for the paper crane project the 7/20 Memorial.

- People can com now to visit the garden and find comfort in healing, and also be able to put their heart onto a note, onto paper crane that Summit Day may be sent to another community who's in need of love at that time.

In these boxes is a bag of...a really big heavy bag of ashes.

Back in 2012 when, there was a makeshift memorial that was made right across street from a theater.

We got tons of love and mementos from everyone in our community from around the world.

I mean, it was just piles and piles of stuff, teddy bears and notes and just kind words from everybody over there.

The history museum had called us and said that they needed to clear out the warehouse and they didn't want to do-- to just throw that stuff in the garbage, because it meant so much to people.

And so, we had the idea of cremating them.

We had these ashes sitting around for years and did not know what we were gonna do with them.

We knew we wanted to do something special, and then when we came up with this idea for this paper crane peace box and Brandon said that they had to set it in cement.

I asked him, is there a way you could put them in the cement, so that it could be part of the foundation of this special piece of art?

And he said yes, I'm just so grateful to everyone who shared their love, and their strength because it's definitely been helping and working.

- This was an opportunity to find my way to use my voice and use my skills and... - Bag number two of three.

- Yeah.

- Bringing awareness to, you know--the reality of the pain that gun violence leaves and the scars that it leaves upon a community.

- But now we can tell everybody that... come and visit the garden.

Your stuff is there.

You are helping us.

It's like a life cycle.

It keeps going and going.

And here goes bag number 3 the last bag, and it's like they put that stuff there because they wanted us to feel stronger and they wanted us to feel hope and comfort and love, and it's just so perfectly fitting that--That's why exactly what it's still doing today.

It's keeping this post over here strong.

It's like the foundation that support the love, the energy, I mean, even though people who walk by might not know what's in with cement like the energy is still gonna be there.

- There we go.

- Alright.

- Oh my gosh, I love it.

- It's healing for sure effects of gun violence.

It affects entire communities.

Now, 20 years later there are communities upon communities that have been affected and so there's huge groups of people that have this trauma that they're starting to overlap, and in Colorado we've had countless shootings, and so there's an even larger community of people affected by gun violence, so they're stacking them too deep in there.

Working on this project was an opportunity for me to reflect on years of pain and then...

Sort of reflect and turn it around into love and healing.

- I love it.

- I'm Alexis Kikoen and this year I had the honor of meeting teenage drag Queen Ophelia Peaches.

After years of being misunderstood, she now takes pride in sharing messages of positivity, love and acceptance.

It's hard not to feel inspired in her presence, meet the incredible and passionate Ophelia Peaches.

♪ (Music) - I am matching the colors from my leotard to my... my eyes.

I call this look the Peacock look whenever I do something like this.

I just feel... like I have become a Peacock on my eyeballs.

The feeling when I put on my wig is... there are no words for it.

It's delightful, it's humbling, it's exhilarating.

It's everything because when I put on my wig, I am Ophelia.

I'm stronger and drag.

I'm not worried about people judging me 'cause I have these gorgeous lashes to deflect their blows.

I feel like drag is my superpower, drag is my superhero cape.

I put on my wig, and I am a hero and I don't need to worry about people judging me.

I was six years old and my sister used to have tea parties and fashion shows with me, and I would dress up and I'd have the little Princess crown and I'd have a fashion show, and I'd run down the hallway like "I'm the Queen, I'm the Queen" My mom always wanted us to explore our identities and she was totally okay with me dressing up as a pirate one day, and then... a Princess the other.

It's got the hood and then it's got all these clamps.

We're actually gonna add more.

I want to add Ophelia Peaches on the arms like, Ophelia, and then Peaches on this arm, so I can be really cool.

Our rules have said if you are a boy you have to wear this.

If you are a girl, you have to wear this.

You have to act this way you have to go to this job.

You have to like this person and with drag, or with anything in the LGBTQ community.

We're like, yeah, and no, thank you.

I wanna do this thing.

I think some people don't understand drag because... they just don't know what it is, and it's been stigmatized as something that's kind of dirty, and it happens in a bar and it's not for kids.

If they gave it a chance, I think they would understand that it's just a performance art and it's no different than me going onstage and reciting Shakespeare.

[singing] [Noises with my mouth] I am a sixteen-year-old Drag Queen.

I want to let people know that I'm still a kid.

I'm still learning as they still learning.

I had to mature fast when my family was kind of separating.

I had to realize that there are people that are not going to accept what I do that just happens and... there was a lot of ridicule and judgment, and it's heartbreaking sometimes, but then you get through to that one person.

And everything was worth it.

[Cheering] Harvey Milk, Marsha P. Johnson.

If it wasn't for them, and all of you, I wouldn't have the freedom to stand here today.

[Cheering] I got into the activism side of drag, just kind of accidentally it evolved into it.

I realized that having a platform and performing created this stage for me to advocate for kids, and to say this is my story.

This is what you can be.

These are platforms we got from Dollskill and I have actually gotten pretty good at walking and performing in these, but this is what I'm wearing.

- Pride- H Take one.

- I love performing.

I'm a theater kid though, so having the stage lights, having the outfit being the character, I love.

I love creating stories with my performances.

I feel like if I can create a story that someone can either connect with or just learn from, then I have succeeded in what I wanted to do on that day.

Outside of drag, I am a chuckle head.

I'm just a I'm a 16-year-old boy.

Drag is giving me the power as I said to be more me.

Drag is giving me the confidence.

If I could send one message to the world, I would send, the you are valid.

You are loved message and I feel like I need to stress that point that just because you want to do make up, just 'cause you want to do something doesn't make you wrong.

You are valid in what you want to do.

It's your passion.

♪ (Music)