Profile on Darryl Hall

He moved on to work as a police officer in South Dakota. Following that he worked at a maximum-security penitentiary on the reservation at Peach Springs, Arizona. On that job he worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a law enforcement officer for contract prisoners from five or six different reservations. When he moved back to North Dakota, Darryl supervised the construction project for the community hall at Parshall, the Northeast Community Segment. Darryl has also managed his own construction companies doing fencing, landscaping, dirt work and light construction.

Darryl’s life has been steeped in tribal culture and customs, and learning how to live without offending anyone in the clan or tribe. He must constantly watch what he does and says, and become familiar with the customs of social life in the clan or tribe with which he is currently working. Because Native American Indians are very accepting of other people and other customs in general, awareness of another’s customs is very important. The Three Affiliated Tribes of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara (as well as many other tribes) are all matriarchal in nature; heritage lines are followed down through the female side of the family. Additionally, the children of a sibling are considered as your own children and if a brother or sister should die, any offspring they may have will be provided for by a sibling. If there are a large number of children by the deceased sibling, the children may be divided among families as they are capable of caring for them. This custom, a way of life in the tribes, means there has never been a need for an orphanage among the Native American Indians.

When he started as a Traffic Safety Coordinator, Darryl did not know what the job would entail. His supervisor was Ted Banks, Transportation Planner. Traffic Safety was logically associated with and placed under the supervision of the Transportation Department. Darryl’s initial approach to the workload has since been identified as the Safe Communities coalition concept. Decisions are discussed, goals set, an action plan prepared, and activities completed according to the action plan – unless changes are identified during implementation.

Darryl’s first order of business was to bring the reservation’s motor vehicle code up to par with the State of North Dakota’s. Changes have been slow, and Darryl is still working on updating the reservation motor vehicle code. A large number of traffic fatalities were reviewed and it was identified that the reservation was over-represented on North Dakota’s death toll for motor vehicle crashes. Reservation fatalities were close to 10% of the North Dakota total fatalities; while the reservation population was only 0.005% of the total North Dakota population. Darryl states, “That is a lot of deaths.”

Darryl gathered his first board together, and feels lucky that he was able to pick the board members himself. He, “asked folks to do it, and they all agreed.” Board meetings were started and the board decided on goals and objectives. This took the load off Darryl.

Younger people had no idea of the number of fatalities that had and were occurring in the area, so Darryl reviewed all traumatic deaths dating back to 1955. This list included all traumatic deaths, such as being bucked off a horse and residence fires. The number for motor vehicle fatalities was the highest number on the list, and so became and remains a high priority item for this coalition. The idea to place crosses at the locations of motor vehicle fatalities over the Memorial Day holiday came from this research. (See the Best Practices article on the Three Affiliated Tribes Memorial Day Crosses Project.)

Bike rodeos also started right away. Darryl attended Lifesavers in Albuquerque, New Mexico and followed the pattern he heard there of using loner bikes. He did the bike rodeos alone at first. Over time, adult volunteers started attending and then helping. Now he has good adult support and assistance.

Darryl heard about Safety City at a Traffic Safety meeting, and that sparked interest within his coalition. He started doing Safety City presentations and built permanent constructions out of plywood instead of using the traditional cardboard boxes. They found funding and put the “city” on a trailer to haul it around. This works well for them, as the reservation covers a large territory. They loan their Safety City out as requested and have taken it to the Spirit Lake and Turtle Mountain reservations. Ester Oates, with the Carnage Center in Minot, sponsored them at the North Dakota State Fair. They were set up on a good location at the State Fair--near the children’s rest station.

Activities both on and off the job demonstrate Darryl’s enjoyment of working with horses and children. He is heavily involved with the Unity Riders and has a strong working partnership with them. He also spends a great deal of time with children and youth activities promoting good, clean fun.

Darryl works closely with the Unity Riders, a local horse-riding group that discourages consumption of alcohol. The tribal council, coalition board and Unity Riders have figured out that the root of their problems on the reservation is alcohol. The board believes in working on the root of a problem, and has been addressing problems associated with alcohol. Even though alcohol is not a sole or primary focus of Safe Communities under the North Dakota Department of Transportation, it does address driving after drinking -- which is a part of their primary alcohol issues.

The board members talk to the elders to get permission and advice before activities are undertaken. People are beginning to accept that things do not have to be as they always have been, and are returning to the purity of the culture.

Darryl’s board is not the usual mix of medical personnel and professionals. It is made up of “ordinary folks” from the community and “regular” workers. They did not want to get involved with political factions that might inhibit their progress.

When Darryl took the job, he hoped for the best and let the job evolve as necessary. As things progressed he got into it and has learned a lot.

Every day is an enjoyable challenge for Darryl. He believes that if things are done right, the same thing will not need to be repeated over and over. Darryl sees himself as “kind of business-minded; in business if you are doing the same things now as five years ago, it is wrong.” He notes that some tasks are similar, but not the same. This keeps the job fresh for him. Darryl and his coalition consider it good to change things and do them differently, so as to maintain interest in the activities and program.