Stress-induced seizure not slowing down Lakota rapper Frank Waln

Being an independent musician is hard, stressful work — and in late February, that stress got to Frank Waln.

The 30-year-old Sicangu and Lakota rapper had a stress-induced seizure and was rushed to the hospital in Chicago. He'd never had one before.

It was a traumatic experience for Waln, made worse by the treatment he received at the hospital. Staff assumed drugs caused his seizure, Waln said, and that when they saw scars on his body that he received as part of Lakota ceremony, they thought it was self-mutilation.

He awoke early with a tube down his throat, and he thought he was suffocating. They gave him a lot of sedatives, he said, and it took a toll on his body.

"It was a really violent experience for me," Waln said. "I felt like, and I looked like I got run over by a truck."

Once Waln was out of the hospital, he looked for ways to express that traumatic experience the only way he knew how — through music. 

Since his hospital stint, Waln hasn't slowed down. He's working on two albums, one dedicated to his mom, and another album composed entirely of songs he plays on the Native flute. 

The Native flute record is one that was particularly inspired by his traumatic experience at the hospital, he said. One of the songs, Calling Your Spirit Back Song, was derived from a Lakota teaching. 

The teaching is an often-daily practice where the Lakota call their spirits back that left their body. It's particularly important, Waln said, when one goes through a traumatic experience as he did.

"When I left the hospital, it really felt like my spirit had left me," he said. 

He's also recorded a Native flute rendition of Fleetwood Mac's Dreams, a song that reminds him of his mother.

'Just the beginning' 

Between recording for two albums, Waln has also been busy supporting his family and other Native families in the U.S. 

• U.S. to start disbursing nearly $5B to Indigenous governments to fight coronavirus

The Navajo Nation has among the highest levels of infection rate in the country — and Waln wanted to do something to help. 

Waln is part of an Indigenous artist collective called the Dream Warriors. He and a few other Native artists created the collective to support each other and other aspiring Native musicians, but also to support communities who need help.

With all his gigs and events cancelled, Waln turned to online performances and speaking opportunities to keep himself busy and to pay his bills, but also support others when he can. Through webinars, Waln said Dream Warriors has raised thousands of dollars for families in need across the U.S.