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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Kiera Kolson dropped by the Yellowknifer news room this week to speak about her upcoming talk in California and about the messages she shares with youth around the country.

This as an excerpt from the half hour interview.

The latest video to air on Much Music by Alberta hip hop band Team Rezofficial includes a cameo by Kiera Kolson. Kolson is friends with the band members and joined the video shoot while kicking it in Toronto earlier this year. - Photo courtesy of Local Knowledge

Daron Letts: What are you presenting on stage Saturday at the second annual International Indigenous Hip Hop Gathering in Los Angeles, California?

Kiera Kolson: I'm going as a speaker this year but, basically, if I do a good job then I get to come back next year as a performer. But little do they know I have a few minutes to do something that's really going to impress people and make them think and what I like to do is I like to incorporate a lot of my messages in my lyrics. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to talk a little bit about self identity and understanding that as individuals we have the power of choice, the power to be part of the solution or a part of the problem and to utilize the gifts and tools that we were given if we want to. I'll incorporate a song into it, too. Might as well. Carpe diem, right?

DL: So, you're going to take the opportunity to say what you want to say - how you want to say it?

KL: Damn rights I'm going to.

DL: What inspired you to pursue hip hop as a medium to speak to people?

KL: Local Knowledge is an indigenous hip hop group from Sydney Australia and when I was down there in 2004 for Oxfam's International Youth Parliament they gave me an opportunity to perform with them in Redford (Queensland). They are talking about their history and empowering themselves. They aren't talking about downing anybody or prostituting people or hustling drugs. They are talking about real truth.

Because of the history of our people there's a big generation gap and there's a high degree of identity loss. Music is a medium to reach young people. I've grown to understand the effect that one person can have on other people because I've experienced it myself and sometimes that's all young people need. What we can do is we can live our life and try our best to accomplish our dreams and our goals. We fall down but the important thing is to learn from what you've experienced and to grow from it and to get back up and don't allow people to keep you down. If we don't and if we're always worrying about other people and their opinions, then we're never going to live for ourselves.

DL: What do you present when you tour communities with the Native Women's Association Anti-Violence Tool Kit?

KL: We talk about everything from bullying to emotional/psychological abuse to sexual assault/date violence - just a lot of the contributors to our young people's self-esteem erosion. Statistically-speaking, our First Nation youth have the highest suicide rate in Canada, which is really sad. You give kids the tools to continue to believe and, you know, there's no stopping them.

That's where I really see our leadership needs to step in more and I'll continue to say that until I see things because it's difficult when as a young person you have to bury your friend because that person wasn't able to believe in them self anymore. When you believe in something you give it power. So, let's just start believing in our young people and make our future more powerful than ever.

Everybody is talking about our resources in Northern Canada but as far as I'm concerned our most important resource is our young people because without our young people there is no future period.

DL: Well, this isn't a question I would normally ask a person but you're talking a lot about self-identity and empowerment so I'll ask you: who are you?

KL: Who am I? I'm Kiera Kolson. I'm a 22-year-old Dene T'sot'sine Gwich'in young woman from Denedeh not the Northwest Territories. I am a human being. I make mistakes but I have learned to get back up from them. I have learned to grow and to not worry about other people.

Who am I? I am confident in my gifts. I've been fortunate to have the people who surround me support me. I've been fortunate to be able to let go of the things that don't matter and I'm very focused and driven and I'm going to accomplish my dreams because the only person who can stop me is myself and when I'm older, regardless of wherever this comes out to, I can say I honestly tried.

That's who I am. I'm a dreamer. To some people I'm a leader. And I'm just going to continue to be who I am because this is exactly who I'm meant to be.

This is the path that I chose for myself for this life. As long as I can continue to do what I love I'm going to. And as long as I can continue to work with youth and know that I'm doing things that are reaching one person in that group - that's all I need is one person - then I know that at the end of the day I've made a difference in this world.