Chance Rush with Tribal Unite speaks to Independence High School students
Chance Rush speaks to students at Independence High School.
By BREE BAKER
Sho-Ban News
BLACKFOOT — On January 16, Chance Rush and Rudy Indigenous of Tribal Unite were invited to speak to the students and staff at Mountain View Middle School at 9 a.m., Blackfoot High School at 10:30 a.m. and the last stop was Independence High School at 1:30 p.m.
Rush shared his story and inspiring words to students and staff in attendance. They were invited by Blackfoot School District Superintendent Brian Kress, who had the opportunity to hear Rush speak at the National Johnson O’Malley Conference.
Rush (Hidatsa and Dakota) and Indigenous (Choctaw and Kickapoo) are a part of Tribal Unite, who travel around the country doing music and motivation to spread good medicine throughout Indian Country. Tribal Unite is “dedicated to preserving and promoting the wellness of Indigenous communities everywhere.” The pair have been working together for five years now, “We travel across the United States, we story tell and we encourage. He plays his music, I do the motivation, he’s the beat and I’m the comedian,” said Rush.
During the assembly at Independence High School, Rush shared messages of taking care of yourself, staying motivated and focusing on your goals, and changing your environment if your surroundings aren’t benefiting you or setting you up on the path of success.
An important message Chance shared was believing in yourself and having spirituality, “Be one of a kind, no one is going to make you successful but you.” He wanted everyone in the room from that moment on to be spiritual in everything you do, “Be spiritual in teaching and learning, learn something every day and teach something every day. Be spiritual in your growth and be spiritual in your relationships.”
Chance Rush speaks.
Rush promotes living a drug and alcohol-free life, he says “Take care of yourselves and your wellness. Living an alcohol and drug free life has kept me focused.”
He talked about his experience speaking in the White House, on his experience attending Emmerson Alternative High School and spoke about making the decision to teach himself how to read in the eighth grade, despite what his peers had to say. He talked about being surrounded and hanging around people who don’t have your best interest or don’t want you to be successful. He said to change your environment, sharing “you can get up and leave, you have that right. There is more out there than what you can see.”
One of the final messages Rush wanted those in attendance to take away was, “When you hear something negative, replace it with something positive.” To add on to that statement, Rudy said “Greatness is a choice, success is a choice. See God in good and see the good in the bad.”
After the assembly, the students and staff at Independence High School stayed after to meet Chance and Rudy, where they took the time to talk and take photos with everyone.
Rush said, “It felt good to come to Independence High School because I’ve been there, in that setting.” He also added how it meant a lot to him to bring Rudy, to encourage and show him the good job he’s doing and how some of the great things he’s going to do with the Native youth. When it comes to the shows Rudy said, “Our approach is to just meet people where they are, you know? We don’t meet them where we expect them to be. We come into every community taking it how you are, meeting you where you are and take it from there.”
Rush explained, “This stop here was very special to me, a lot of people don’t realize it but my very first speaking engagement was in Fort Hall, Idaho on the Sho-Ban Indian Reservation over 25 years ago. Big shout out to Laverne Sheppard, Mike Sakelaris from Fort Hall Rec, and the person who invited and encouraged it Randy’L Teton. It was my first speaking engagement, and it was in Fort Hall and ever since I did that talk on that day I never turned back and did anything else but become a motivational speaker.”
