Native Child and the Full Moon Ep 4: Jordan

Jordan Lonechild-Lavalley was laying down tracks in the mobile music studio at the Native Youth drop-in centre when Sook-Yin Lee asked him to join the sleepover at Native Child.

Jordan (Plains Cree and Ojibwe) is a musican and rapper. He's also disarmingly upfront. 

As a child, Jordan was bullied on his reserve in Saskatchewan and in turn he became a bully. But eventually he grew tired of having to maintain his tough, macho-guy image. 

With that life behind him now, Jordan recognizes that the struggles he faced as a kid made him stronger. These days he's living in Toronto with hopes of becoming a social worker with a focus on Indigenous youth going through the justice system.

Jordan's challenge

After recently securing a student placement at the drop-in centre, he wants to figure out how to excel professionally. Specifically, he wants to learn how to temper his attitude. 

"[I'm] trying to be a healer of some sort. I don't think I can do that and be this asshole of a character because they both kind of conflict with each other," he explained laughingly. 

"I try to remind myself be a positive person."

Listen to the episode to hear Tegan, Caterina, and Jordan talk about the many sides of anger, where it comes from and what makes it both a liability and a strength.