NO MORE FIREWATER
Getting Sober for the Next Generation
I was addicted to alcohol. I’ve been to five treatments. I did meth too. That doesn’t get you anywhere. It takes everything away from you. Your kids, your house… your entire life. It’s a bad drug. It’s taking over Native communities lately. It started with the adults and now it’s getting down to the kids. Meth is running the whole reservation.
It’s been a struggle for me to get sober because I grew up without a mother. I have a stepmother though. My parents are on the Crow reservation. Their names are Alex and Mary Helen Medicine Horse. I never worked with my inner child though. I was adopted and I have some issues with the past because of that. So I run to alcohol instead. Alcohol is my problem.
I started drinking when I was 16 years old and it was non-stop after that. I drank beer. There were times when it would be hard liquor. We would sneak it or have somebody get it for us. Alcoholism happens on reservations so much because back when the reservations were made they used to trade us alcohol for fur and buckskin. The Indians liked the alcohol. Our ancestors had alcohol problems and then it ran down generation to generation. It goes right down the line. People’s dads die of cirrhosis and so do their aunties and uncles.
I caught a ride all the way down here to Browning from where I’m from. It took about four days. I got stranded in Great Falls for two days and then I showed up in Browning and hung around in the streets with some street people. At that time, I was drinking. The street people in Browning just walk around bumming money for their next drink. They aren’t really homeless. Some of them have homes, and then there’s a shelter here in town. It’s called Medicine Bear Shelter. They feed you and you can watch television there.
Then I just got tired of my life and how I was living. I was putting my kids through a lot. I love my daughter Devetta, but I have seven children. Seven children, and I am 40 years old. So I should put an end to this if I’m going to have any grandchildren. My oldest kid is 21 and my youngest is 17 months old.
So I checked myself into a treatment center here. I had to do a physical and a whole intake assessment. I’m at the Crystal Creek Lodge in Browning. It’s run by Native Americans. We have talking circles and we smudge in the mornings and we have meditation. Sometimes we have sweetgrass going. It’s real spiritual. I’ve never been to a treatment like this before.
MARY BIG DAY
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