A Deaf Santee-Sioux

My slideshow is an interactive “scrapbook”.

I have clickable text throughout the piece to
add in or justify or to provide further
information on pieces or ideas I crafted for
my person. I also used this method to cite
my sources. Due to file space, adding
special effects makes the data larger, so I
opted for no special effects.

When you see a , you will know that this

is a note for a barrier, and it’ll be discussed.
 Born on Rosebud Reservation located in
South Dakota.
 Birthday: 6/18/85
 Mother: Single, named
Mary Mae Wanbli
 Siblings: 3, 2 sisters 1
Rosebud Indian Reservation
brother. - WikiImages

 Deaf from meningitis at age 3.

Image taken from California Indian
Education’s parade page.
According to his
audiogram, Rick
is hovering at
moderate to some
severe. Meningitis
is a disease that
commonly results
in deafness.
 At Rosebud, EI services are non-existant,
and sometimes borrow from Pine Ridge’s
EI services.
 Elders at the Rosebud did know Plains
Sign Language, and many Northern
Cheyenne relatives brought them over.
 A cousin of Mary Mae Wanbli’s helped
her with signing, as did Mary Mae’s
elderly mother (whom remembered
some as well).
 Rick attended St. Francis Indian School
that is located at Rosebud. He was put in
a SPED class that had mildly inadequate
service. The two aides he worked with,
one was ASL using and the other Signed
English. He was inapplicable for the
South Dakota School for the Deaf, due to
jurisdiction, and Mary Mae not
wanting Rick to live off-reservation.
 Education – Limited professionals and the poor
condition of reservations leads to poor EI and
education. School systems can remain inadequate
with limited knowledge and enforcement of policies.
 Poverty – Due to the lack of funds, Rick’s mother
could not afford the residential costs of a deaf school.
Also in high-poverty areas, poor or limited access to
quality education exists as well.
 Rick was put into SPED classes; basically with mild-
profound disability students that may or may not be
deaf as well if not a small group of just-deaf children.
Having deafness remain in Special Education can
cause problems in terms of not receiving adequate
services and attention, since attention/care is
given to more severe disabilities.
 Deaf Schools – Even though there is a jurisdiction
issue of tribal children going to state schools,
Mary Mae could have sought legal services and
argue that the Deaf school was the best
education option for Rick. However, that would
mean living at the school, and with the limited
resources of his family, it may not have been a
viable option.
 Amy Marie – Rick’s sister who went on to become
an interpreter also became a resource. Other
family members as well helped and
supplemented with signed languages easily and
afforded Rick communication.
 Rick’sfamily helped provide signed
languages (Plains Indian Sign Language
and ASL), which helped him build
communication at a young age.
 By providing a means of communication,
adjustment to social situations at school
and his family were easier. Support of the
signed languages was also extremely
important to help keep him stimulated
during toddler years.
 Rick continued to sign mixes at home,
one older sister took an interest in ASL
and went to college in North Dakota State
for their Interpreter Training Program.
 His family encouraged signing, and
thought really nothing ill of it.
 At the age of 10, Rick was put in foster
care. His two sisters were not notified,
and his brother (age 16) was also put in
foster care.
 Mary Mae became addicted to alcohol soon after
a miscarriage that happened when Rick was 4.
Rosebud uses state provided social workers,
instead of having their own like Pine Ridge. The
social workers deemed the house not suitable,
and Rick and his brother lived with his
grandparents for a while.
 Soon his grandparents were deemed not okay
due to their advanced age. His biological father,
who is from Pine Ridge, signed away his parental
rights when approached.
 Pine Ridge social workers were unable to
intervene due to the father’s signing off
of parental rights. It then became an
issue of jurisdiction.
 Rick was applicable for adoption, while
his brother simply stayed at various
friends’ and cousins’ houses.
Afamily from Scranton, PA
were interested in adopting Rick. They
were the typical suburban middle class
white family.

Photo taken from The

London Sector
 Rickmoved to Scranton at the age of 11,
and attended the Scranton School for the
Deaf. He participated in athletics as a
productive coping mechanism to the
rapid changes. His favorite sport is
Baseball, but he did attend the Basketball
team as well.
 His adopted mother had some sign
knowledge, though his adopted brother
and sister were minimally interested in
signing in public. The father was mostly
working.
 Most of the family relied on Rick’s speech
reading, which he started learning more
at Scranton School for the Deaf.
 Rick, like most kids, had a hard time
adjusting with hormonal changes, family
life, etc. He came in contact with his sister
who is an interpreter (named Amy Marie
Wanbli), which did help some.
 At the age of 14, Rick was caught in the
locker-room with another male student
who was on the basketball team.
 Homophobia and flawed implementations of
“Zero Tolerance”– The school sought
repercussive measures on the boys, which
back lashed onto Rick. The other male
student explained Rick initiated “the
incident”, to which his parents argued for
harsher punishment on Rick. Due to zero-
tolerance, Rick faced a possible expulsion.
His adopted parents opted to move him to a
different school.
 Why is this a barrier?
• Zero Tolerance also extends to sexual harassment.
Even though it is proposed as a “safe net” for
LGBTQI youth to prevent or save them from bullying,
the fact is that sexual misconduct can be grounds for
discipline under the Zero Tolerance policy. Even if
both individuals are consenting (such as Rick and his
classmate), one set of parents can claim bullying or
explicit behavior.
• Homophobia is an underlying theme here. With little
to no sex-education provided on residential schools,
and if there was it was most likely centered on
Heterosexual relationships. The school and parents
reacting so viscerally could make the children
internalize this as “bad behavior” or “wrong”.
 PFLAG – Parents and Friends of Lesbians
and Gays. They host meetings in various
cities and towns, and also provide support
for parents.
 NativeOUT – A gay/lesbian/transgender
resource for Native American populations.
 Book: GLBTQ: The Survival Guide For Queer
and Questioning Teens – a great book that
provides real-world and down to earth
advice for gay teens. They also have an
extensive resource list.
 United Church of Christ – a Christian
faith organization that is accepting and
promotes activism for
LGBTQ/Black/Latino/etc rights.
 For their LGBT page, go here
A possible occurrence that could have
gone down at Rick’s school would be
something similar to Constance
McMillen’s case.
 Rick’s parents opted to transfer him to the
Pennsylvania School for the Deaf for a
fresh start.
 Rick’s sister, the Amy Marie, was very
angry with the decisions and the school’s
reaction. Amy subsequently moved to
Baltimore, Maryland, and frequently
visited with Rick and brought him to
some PFLAG meetings.
 Rick is very proficient in English, and gained
awards and recognition at the Pennsylvania
School for the Deaf where he was transferred to
residentially.
 Amy Marie gave him books by Vine Deloria, Jr.,
who became an idol in a way.
 Rick’s other sister, Laura Deerkiller Wanbli was
concerned about a lack of Native identity. This
caused a lot of arguments between the family
members.
 Rick’s growing affirmation of being gay also
caused tension between his adoptive family and
himself. However, his adopted sister and himself
did grow closer. They frequently met off campus
and hung out.
 Name: Richard “Rick” Wanbli
Age: 18, fresh out of High school
Race: Native American
Marital Status: Single
Sexual Orientation: Gay, semi-closeted.
Hobbies: Reading/writing, and baseball.
Languages: English and ASL
Pref. Comm.: Signing, can lip read.
Pref. Tech: iPhone, VP, and light signalers
(shaking/vibrating ones annoy him).
Hearing Aids: Family could not afford
them, so never opted for them. After
adoption, the issue never arose.
Actor Nathaniel Arcand
 After graduation, Rick attended the
Community College of Philadelphia,
where he majored in Liberal Arts –
Humanities option.
 The college, since it was in the same city
as his deaf school, was familiar and
accommodating to deaf students. Rick
had a 3.5 GPA upon graduation, but he
was not interested in Honors.
 Rick did find a small dating pool, mostly
with curious hearing white males on
campus.
 A few deaf gay individuals who went to the
PAH!ASL Club became good friends of
Rick’s.
 Rick did have a hard time within the Human
Rights Club and opted to not pursue the
student government due to comments about
Native Americans that were made by some
members. He also had a few run ins with the
Evangelical club, too.
 Rick was interested in a career in Law like
Vine Deloria, Jr.
 He was accepted to George Washington.
 Unlike CCofP, GWU’s professors often
seemed intimidated, uninterested, or
clueless when it came to the services. While
the services were great, and even his sister
became an interpreter that served
Gallaudet and other local universities, it was
discouraging for Rick.
 Audism – Audist professors were
discouraging Rick from pursuing an
academic career.
 Audism – Like homophobia or
heterosexism, the effect it has on the
individual is that they are inherently “bad”
or “wrong”.
 It’s persistence is partially credited to the
fact that audism isn’t accepted as a
traditional word or concept by mainstream
America/Western Thought.
 The Disability Services at GWU did not
provide advocacy or educational activism,
just services. This provided limited
academic support personnel to help
make a difference.
 Gallaudet University – Deaf professors
and mentors could provide activist/grass
roots support.
 Section 504 under the Rehabilitation Act
provides coverage for discrimination,
which Rick did experience.
 Family – Rick’s biological sisters are
supportive to both his gay and deaf
identity.
 Rick transferred to Gallaudet University to
study undergrad in Government.
 This time he opted into the Honors program.
 Rick met a deaf mix-blood Black and
Cherokee individual named Leroy at
Gallaudet.
 Rick also finished requirements to become
an ASL teacher on the side. His dream is to
bring ASL back to the reservation as well as
be a legal personnel for it.
Editor’s Note:
Yes, I have a crush on
Lenny Kravitz. Hush, you
guys! ;)
 Before
moving out west to pursue his
dream, both Leroy and Richard got
married.

Taken from
Connecticut
Lesbian and
Gay Law Blog
 Rick and Leroy do marry happily ever after.
Rick attends University of Colorado in
Boulder (where Vine Deloria, Jr. attended)
and obtained a law degree.
 Rick currently teaches ASL at a local
community college near Rosebud
reservation. He also learned Plains Signed
Language from more elders, and from the
local Cheyenne and Kiowa people.
 Rick stays in touch with his adoptive sister,
and much of his Native family.
 BothRick and I thank you for watching
our slide  I hope you enjoyed!

Taken from First

Americans in the Arts
 Book: Step into the Circle: The Heartbeat of American
Indian, Alaska Native, and First Nations Deaf Communities;
anthology
 Website: Intertribal Deaf Council
 Website: Handspeak.com
 PowerPoint: Deaf Native Americans
 Library Database: RIT Deaf Native Resources
 Website: National Multicultural Interpreting Project
 Book: Legal Rights 5th ed, Guide for Deaf and Hard of
Hearing; NAD
 Website: A Guide to Disability Rights by the U.S Justice
Department
 Book: Coming Out of Gay Shame: Transforming Gay and
Lesbian Lives; Gershen Kaufman and Lev Raphael, 1996
 Archived Journal: Spotlight on Special Populations: Native
American; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism, Volume 22, Number 4, 1998
 Book: Addressing Racism: Facilitating Cultural Competence
in Mental Health and Educational Settings; Anthology
 Book: Psychosocial Aspects of Deafness; Nanci A. Scheetz