Man who knows too well, teaches life is a precious gift
By Michele Linck, Journal staff writer | Posted: Friday, November 18, 2005
Arnold Thomas tried to kill himself shortly after he turned 18. The shotgun blast under his chin blinded him, disfigured his face and forced him to work several years to regain his voice. It didn't take his life. It sent it in a new direction.
Thomas, a member of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe in Idaho, spoke Thursday to the largely Omaha Indian student body of Macy Public High School. He will speak to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders there today.
He was invited as part of the Omaha Tribe's effort to combat a growing number of suicide attempts on the reservation -- 18 since this summer, none fatal. In an interview Thursday afternoon, Thomas said he doesn't dwell on his suicide attempt in his many presentations to different audiences such as prisoners, veterans, teachers, corporate leaders, health professionals or people from other walks of life.
"What I try to share, number one and foremost, is life is a gift and it's precious," he said. Other truths he teaches are that people have an innate ability to bounce back, to use negative experience for good later and that people should encourage, love and mentor one another.
But Thomas doesn't preach.
"I use humor, compose my own songs and integrate Native songs into my presentations," he said. "I have individuals stand up and do activities related to self-esteem and well-being."
Thomas, 35, of Salt Lake City, was a Nevada high school elite football and basketball player with the promise of college, or even pro sports, ahead of him when he tried to commit suicide. He was using drugs and was trying to cope with his father's suicide.
With a renewed will to live, he went on to graduate from the University of Utah with a masters degree in social work and training as a mental health therapist. In 1999 he formed his own firm, White Buffalo Knife Consulting. He travels extensively in the U.S. and Canada on his own, a practice he characterizes as exercises in trust.
In Macy, he said he talked about finding ways to connect to the community, to share emotions and to find good ways to relieve stress, not drugs and alcohol. "We're trying to find other strategies so our young people can feel proud, feel positive and have some good self-esteem," he said.
"My message is cross-cultural," Thomas said, noting there were 30,000 suicides in the United States last year. He said he works to build self esteem and good mental, physical and spiritual health as well as to maintain physical balance.
Thomas said he uses ancient traditions such as that of giving thanks, but make them appear contemporary. With youth, he may start talking about being thankful for external body parts, from eyes to feet, then for internal organs, then for our physical presence on the earth, then for the elements of the earth.
"I believe our youth forget that connection to their grandmas and grandpas," he said.
However, he said he thinks Indian youth remember, at a genetic level, the historical trauma and grief of their people and that they don't know how to deal with the dreams of what happened. He said it is much like some people today who are still troubled by the horror of 9/11.
Rosalie Two Bulls, mental health director for the Carl T. Curtis Health Center in Macy, invited Thomas to speak in the Macy schools. She is also hoping to build a coalition with the Winnebago and Santee tribes in Nebraska to create suicide prevention strategies for their reservations where, she said, suicide appears to be a growing problem.
Thomas, a member of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe in Idaho, spoke Thursday to the largely Omaha Indian student body of Macy Public High School. He will speak to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders there today.
He was invited as part of the Omaha Tribe's effort to combat a growing number of suicide attempts on the reservation -- 18 since this summer, none fatal. In an interview Thursday afternoon, Thomas said he doesn't dwell on his suicide attempt in his many presentations to different audiences such as prisoners, veterans, teachers, corporate leaders, health professionals or people from other walks of life.
"What I try to share, number one and foremost, is life is a gift and it's precious," he said. Other truths he teaches are that people have an innate ability to bounce back, to use negative experience for good later and that people should encourage, love and mentor one another.
But Thomas doesn't preach.
"I use humor, compose my own songs and integrate Native songs into my presentations," he said. "I have individuals stand up and do activities related to self-esteem and well-being."
Thomas, 35, of Salt Lake City, was a Nevada high school elite football and basketball player with the promise of college, or even pro sports, ahead of him when he tried to commit suicide. He was using drugs and was trying to cope with his father's suicide.
With a renewed will to live, he went on to graduate from the University of Utah with a masters degree in social work and training as a mental health therapist. In 1999 he formed his own firm, White Buffalo Knife Consulting. He travels extensively in the U.S. and Canada on his own, a practice he characterizes as exercises in trust.
In Macy, he said he talked about finding ways to connect to the community, to share emotions and to find good ways to relieve stress, not drugs and alcohol. "We're trying to find other strategies so our young people can feel proud, feel positive and have some good self-esteem," he said.
"My message is cross-cultural," Thomas said, noting there were 30,000 suicides in the United States last year. He said he works to build self esteem and good mental, physical and spiritual health as well as to maintain physical balance.
Thomas said he uses ancient traditions such as that of giving thanks, but make them appear contemporary. With youth, he may start talking about being thankful for external body parts, from eyes to feet, then for internal organs, then for our physical presence on the earth, then for the elements of the earth.
"I believe our youth forget that connection to their grandmas and grandpas," he said.
However, he said he thinks Indian youth remember, at a genetic level, the historical trauma and grief of their people and that they don't know how to deal with the dreams of what happened. He said it is much like some people today who are still troubled by the horror of 9/11.
Rosalie Two Bulls, mental health director for the Carl T. Curtis Health Center in Macy, invited Thomas to speak in the Macy schools. She is also hoping to build a coalition with the Winnebago and Santee tribes in Nebraska to create suicide prevention strategies for their reservations where, she said, suicide appears to be a growing problem.
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