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Actor Adam Beach shows off his reznet T-shirt, presented to him by reznet photographer Tetona Dunlap, right, at the Indian Gaming '08 trade show in San Diego last week. Reznet Photo by Jordan Dresser

Adam Beach: ‘Our Worst Enemy Is Us’

By Sunnie Redhouse

SAN DIEGO—Surrounded by a throng of women and other ecstatic fans, Adam Beach managed to outshine the casino lights enveloping him.

Beach, who recently said he would be leaving the cast of NBC's "Law and Order: SVU" after one season, made a one-day appearance at the National Indian Gaming Association's annual convention and trade show here last week.

A member of the Saulteaux Tribe of Manitoba, Canada, Beach indicated his support for gaming in Native America and encouraged future generations to show interest.

"Everything's a cycle," he said. "It takes three generations to make a change, and if we as the younger generation don't participate and look at the future of gaming within ourselves, we're going to lose the strength to push forward.

"It's important just to participate, to learn where our new direction is going."

Beach joined other celebrities and tribal leaders in a ribbon-cutting ceremony opening the trade show, which showcased hundreds of vendors.

The 35-year-old actor, accompanied by his girlfriend, Summer Tiger, who is three months pregnant, signed autographs and served as master of ceremonies at a convention dinner.

During the autograph session, Beach met with fans from all walks of life, telling them about his expected third child. He has sons ages 9 and 12 by his first wife, from whom he was divorced in 2002.

"There's a lot learned with my two children, that my third is going to be really spoiled," Beach said, "because now I've done all the hard work in profiling myself that I don't really have to work and leave the family a lot more."

Beach said he is "putting together an Internet TV show, basically using the Internet to profile who we [Native Americans] are and what we're doing, just change that perspective more than what Hollywood can do."

Beach said he hopes that the show, which he expects to start shooting as early as July, would depict lives of people he has known.

"I have friends who are in gangs, I've been talking to a lot of people who are in prostitution and talking to a lot of people who are senators, wealthy businessmen, actors, writers, lawyers," he said. "I'm trying to address every issue that needs to be told and talked about, from success to struggles."

Beach said he is now "in the process of just finding the people I want to talk to and what kind of message I want to bring."

One of Beach's array of summer projects includes another movie role. "I'm shooting a movie this summer where I play a hit man, and they call me up to take care of a drug deal gone bad," he said.

Beach, who planned to return to New Jersey after the convention to film his last episode of "Law and Order: SVU," said he would move to Los Angeles, which might allow him to spend more time at home.

"It's just closer to the business," he said. "I want to be in the weather. It's beautiful there, and a lot of my best friends are there. So I'm going to do a lot of stuff at home. ... I want to do the Internet stuff at home so I don't have to fly everywhere for work."

Beach advocates social change, especially involving young Native Americans.

"I'm trying to focus on changing how the justice system deals with our young offenders," he said. "Where I'm from, there's a lot of issues of gang-related incidences, and I'm trying to start a culture camp institution where young offenders can ... learn about who they are as a people with their tribe, language, heritage and use that as an approach to rehabilitate themselves to better understand that struggle of identity."

In a crucial presidential election year, Beach said young Natives must vote because "we have to let people know we still exist because a lot of people still don't know our issues, our battles, struggles, and part of that is because we don't take the process of voting for the president to help with our causes.

"For some reason, we isolate ourselves within our communities, and I think it's important to just reach out there and say our communities are America."

Beach said his stepfather, who is also his uncle, is writing a book "on how we lived as a family and my personal journey and struggle, from the death of my parents to living with the gangs and turning my life around to be an actor." Beach's parents died in separate accidents months apart when he was 8 years old.

"I don't have enough time to reach out to people and talk about everything in my life, can't do it in an hour," he said. "A lot of television shows don't really talk about what I want to talk about, so the book will just primarily lay it all down.

"I just want people to understand that everybody is important in helping out an individual find their success, hopes and dreams. Our worst enemy is us. Nobody can tell us what we can't do but us."

Sunnie Redhouse, Navajo, is a senior majoring in journalism at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. A graduate of the Freedom Forum's American Indian Journalism Institute and a Chips Quinn Scholar, Redhouse interned at Sports Illustrated last summer. This summer she'll intern as a reporter at the Salt Lake Tribune under the Sports Journalism Institute internship program.

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