Stella Standingbear Opens Up About the Struggles of Reservation Life

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]Yeah. So, for people who don't know cuz like I lived right near a res growing up and it was like it is a very at least in Mesa, I think it's Navajo, which is right by my high school cuz I went to school a lot of Navajos.

[00:00:14]But it is like a if you drive through the res, it's like it look it looks [ __ ] up. You know what I mean? Like it's definitely like an impoverished place. What do you think like the big disconnect is and why cuz I feel like um there hasn't been like it's not talked about enough. You know what I'm saying?

[00:00:32]Like um I feel like we overlooked the reservation and and and some of the issues that a lot of the people who live on the res deal with. What what do you think is that kind of the key to try to kind of shine a light on on what's going on on a lot of cuz that that happens on a lot of res is everywhere in the in the states. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, a lot. Um you know, I think just generational trauma and being pushed out is is is one thing, but I think lack of resources is another.

[00:01:06]Um and I I was your question like is your question like how can people help basically?

[00:01:11]>> Yeah, yeah, I think so. I think that and I just think spreading awareness I think is important, too.

[00:01:15]>> Yeah, you know, like you'll you'll see like blankets as doors or plastic on windows or like you know, houses basically falling apart and stuff. Um everyone has dirt roads. There's not actual road to get to your house. It's just dirt roads and um I feel like different organizations or if people want to help out, you know, reaching out to the tribe is the respectful thing to do. Reach out to the actual tribe and and be invited. Um coming into to somebody's home in their backyards, but I would I would just say like lack of resources and um yeah.

[00:01:56]Like would say like clothing donations, food donations, stuff like that.

[00:02:01]Different ways to help. I've seen like some people say like a lot of the res that will have like a casino sometimes like it can get like corrupt if you will in terms of like how finances are distributed to the people and it's like well there's this giant beautiful casino on this land but then the people who live on the land are living crazy like Yeah, that's that's one thing too.

[00:02:24]Um Not every reservation has like a casino that attracts people like for one our casino it's it's outdated. It's outdated. We hear certain stories I won't repeat about what's going on in the casino whatever. But I think some tribes kind of have it together.

[00:02:44]Right.

[00:02:44]>> There there's one I believe in Minneapolis where they're using their funds cuz also with the reservations some are checkerboard.

[00:02:53]Meaning this is supposed to be our res, right?

[00:02:58]That is already cut down but this is supposed to be our res but this side of the street is ours. That side is not.

[00:03:05]This right here is ours but that right there is not. But that's supposed to be our whole res. But there's some reservations who are doing good with their casinos where they're actually buying back the land On the other side of the street.

[00:03:16]>> casino money. If they have a a great way. But yeah, no with my res I will say there is corruption. Um there is nepotism of like when there is resources that come in >> goes to. Oh, this is my family. This is yep, exactly. That's a huge problem on our reservation is nepotism. Have you noticed like since you've like gotten like a lot of success going like you're favored more?

[00:03:40]Because it's important that like you you're kind of like >> say like crazy but I've been pulled over a few times for speeding and all that stuff.

[00:03:48]>> it's you. You [laughter] can go.

[00:03:50]That's fire.

[00:03:51]>> Yeah, but nothing like crazy like, oh, there's home improvement funds.

[00:03:55]>> Right. Um oh, we just ran out even though there was like 10,000 for each home to be home improved, new windows, etc. But, there was money for each home.

[00:04:04]Oh, we ran out. You know what I'm saying? There's things like that where we have like a a tarot office where that's responsible for getting our people jobs. Um there's a case a federal case where the people who are running it stole millions of dollars from that funding. So, yeah, there is a lot of corruption and nepotism, and I think that also is a a problem in some of these resses, mine specifically. This skoden record we I like Oh, can you break down what skoden means? Cuz there's a lot of whites out there that have heard this cuz we I think we only think of like the Vikings cuz I think the Vikings, they say skoden. For real?

[00:04:37]>> The NFL team. I never knew that. I'm pretty sure they say skoden. Or they say No, they say skål. I'm tripping. It's s k o l. I'm tripping. But, it's close enough. Skål. Um what does skoden mean?

[00:04:49]Okay, so it depends on who you ask.

[00:04:51]>> Yeah. Um up in Canada they say some of them will say it means to fight. Okay.

[00:04:58]>> Like skoden.

[00:04:59]Oh, like let's go then. Yeah, like like skoden. Okay.

[00:05:03]>> And then in the states it's like, yeah, let's go then. Okay.

[00:05:07]Instead of like, let's go then.

[00:05:10]Skoden.

[00:05:10]>> I get it now. Skoden.

[00:05:11]>> It all makes sense.

[00:05:12]>> I was just like, you know, um how I I kind of put my own twist on it, you know? There's a lot of words that mean different things. Right. We were in uh Blue Mou- Blue Mountain Blue River Mountain, one of the um communities up in Colorado, and that's when Ski Yee had just came out by Sexyy Red.

[00:05:31]>> Sexyy Red. Oh, yeah.

[00:05:32]>> And my team was like some of my team was like, Ski Yee.

[00:05:37]On the res, and I was like, bro, we're not going to be on somebody's res right now saying, Ski Yee. Like, can we change it up a little bit? Can we be like, skoden? And then that kind of sucked. My producer had showed me a sound on TikTok where they took the ski song and they put it over the teach me how to dougie beat. And I was like, "Yo, that's fire. That's a cool mashup."

[00:05:59]We're sitting in the studio, kind of thinking about what should we work on. I was like, "Let's try that fun idea we had."

[00:06:06]And yeah, boom. It was fun. It was just for fun. It wasn't anything crazy. It was a 30-second song.

[00:06:13]I went to the Navajo Western Navajo Pow Wow. Always get a fry bread. Always get a fry bread and a strawberry lemonade.

[00:06:22]And they make fry breads differently.

[00:06:24]Like you can eat it as a taco. You can put honey on it. You can put powdered sugar on it. You can put fruit on it.

[00:06:30]>> bread. Every time I eat it, I feel like the fattest [ __ ] alive, but I love fry bread.

[00:06:34]I was [laughter] at that new woo thing and they had a fry bread tent and I was so frustrated cuz I'm trying to lose weight and I was like, [ __ ] I saw people walking. It looked like it looked like 13,000 calories on a god damn plate.

[00:06:44]Honestly, so I I I I got my fry bread and I was halfway done through my fry bread and I looked at Steph. I was like, "Oh my god, I just did that song where I'm like, catch me at the Pow Wow getting fry bread. Let's just do a quick little video to it."

[00:07:00]And then I did the video. I posted it.

[00:07:02]Did a little dance to it. Boom, viral.

[00:07:05]Million. Went crazy. Whole bunch of natives using the song in their in their tribal office. Just using it. Like just felt empowered. Like it was like an anthem, you know? For the aunties, for the uncles, for the fry bread. Yeah.

[00:07:17]What do you think is like you've been on tour for a minute? Where's been the craziest city you've touched down and you can be like, "Damn, we got to live out here like this? This kind of wild."

[00:07:25]>> Flagstaff. Shout out to Flagstaff, yeah.

[00:07:28]>> And Farmington. Farmington, that's in New Mexico, right? Yeah, Farmington, New Mexico and Flagstaff, Arizona like right in that four corner.

[00:07:36]>> out Flagstaff pretty quick. I think I was chopping it up with you and I was like, "Oh, that Flagstaff." Cuz no one goes to Flagstaff.

[00:07:42]Like on tours, Flagstaff isn't I'm from Phoenix, so it's like no one's like, "Yeah, let's go up to Flagstaff and watch anything."

[00:07:49]>> [laughter] >> It's impressive. It was a nice set up.

[00:07:52]>> Yeah. It was my biggest show yet.

[00:07:54]>> cold?

[00:07:55]Hot. Hot?

[00:07:56]>> Or warm, I would say. Yeah.

[00:07:58]>> The warmest.

[00:07:58]>> That's where the only place we get snow.

[00:07:59]It's like we If we go to Flagstaff, it's to go get to the They got Snowbowl up there. Okay.

[00:08:05]>> though, up northern Arizona. It's like we got the Grand Canyon and [ __ ] and So, Flagstaff, that's cool. Um all right, so you got to EP out, Rapstar.

[00:08:13]Are you working on an album? Are you I mean, I'm sure it's hard to work too much on the road. Yeah, it's hard to work on the road, but I'm EP'd up, like Rapstar was actually supposed to be a mixtape. I like 18, 20, maybe even 25 songs.

[00:08:27]>> to break that up into more EPs.

[00:08:29]>> Yeah. I'm just going to start doing like parts or levels. Is there anybody you want to work with that has tapped in that you're like, "Yo, it's kind of crazy they reached out and it'd be nice if you did a record with them?"

[00:08:41]Trippie Redd. Trippie. You opened for him on tour or you did it You did a show with him, right?

[00:08:45]>> Yeah, I opened up for him at the obs- No, not the observatory.

[00:08:49]>> tell him like, "You remember me, Phobia.

[00:08:50]It's me, Phobia."

[00:08:51]>> Toyota Arena. Yeah, he remembered me.

[00:08:53]>> Phobia the greatest.

[00:08:54]>> think he was going to remember me from cuz like as Phobia the greatest, I had like curly, short, colorful hair.

[00:09:01]It's like blue and purple and pink. It's high vibes. It feels like a >> I just look different um than I I do now, but I he he remembered me. He's like, "Duh." Yeah.

[00:09:12]>> "Of course I remember you. Why would you even ask that?" Like Did you guys you you you you knew him before the Stella era?

[00:09:19]>> Yeah, I met him as Phobia, for sure.

[00:09:22]Word. Yeah, I got to go to the studio with him. Met him at No Jumper.

[00:09:44]>> Mhm.