Alkali Lake shows a way

Page 8

Unemployed, no money 'til the welfare cheques arrive, hating the world, no food in the house. What goes through one's mind while laying around watching television and its world of wealth and opportunity while living in the reality of poverty?

Epidemics of drop outs, child abuse and neglect, lack of activities and all night parties ...With all the headlines in the papers, it probably sounds like a familiar place to you. But the place being described is Alkali Lake, B.C. thirteen years ago.

Why thirteen years ago, you ask?

Much of the talk about the problems in Native communities ties them to alcohol abuse caused from hopelessness, despair, boredom and the need to escape the reality of poverty.

Death is surely not the answer. No matter how hopeless a situation of alcohol abuse seems to be, there is hope. How can one say there is no hope, because Alkali Lake Reserve is living proof that there is hope.

Thirteen years ago this reserve had the same problems that most Native communities still have. The courage to be different in spite of the criticism from their fellow members and family, proved to be worth it with the 98 per cent alcoholic rate being changed to 95 per cent sobriety on Alkali Lake Reserve today.

This reserve journeyed through the depths of hell, hatred and despair to the heights of love and health of the community, emerging with a new self image, the way it is today. In 1972, the reserve had reached a crisis point. It was at a state of deterioration from which it seemed impossible to return. There was widespread child neglect, high unemployment, wife battering and funerals every week as a result of alcohol abuse.

Phyllis Chelsea was the first to take a stand against alcohol following an incident in which her young seven year old daughter didn't want to come home. Her husband Andy joined her shortly after, but not before he realized what alcohol was doing to the community. He witnessed two young children going to school with bruises and without having eaten because there was no food in the house, just home brew.

At that point Andy was abler to recognize that his own alcohol consumption was a major obstacle.

The heart of the problem lay within the community, and the solution came from within the community. Others assisted, but the Native people became the subjects of the healing process, and they directed that process themselves in their own way.

The real success was achieved when the members most effected by alcohol abuse became directly involved in finding a solution to their own problems.

Upwards of $500 million dollars a year is being spent in Canada in attempting to alleviate the effects of alcohol and drug abuse in Native communities. This money is being spent in the hopes that the problem will go away, while the actual elimination of alcohol and drug abuse among Native people is almost unthinkable. The killer disease has penetrated nearly every Native family in Canada.

In all fairness, we have to admit that what we are doing about the problem is not working. The statistics show that in the Native community, the number of alcohol-related deaths and the number of alcohol-related crimes is increasing. The number of children who appear to have been permanently damaged mentally, physically, and spiritually because their mother drank during pregnancy or because they were being nurtured in an dehumanizing alcoholic environment is on the increase.

The survival of the Native people is at stake, and there are entire generations that have not learned and are not learning what they need to know in order to survive. Alcohol and drug abuse only serve as a specifically useful function of dulling the pain, of clouding our vision so that one would not be confronted with the frightening truth that we have nearly forgotten how to survive in this land.

The starting point for Alkali Lake was:

1. The Chief's (Andy Chelsea) decision to become an abstainer.

2. Next, a volunteer planning group was formed whch initially met around the clock, daily and later weekly, to deal with alcohol-related problems.

3. A major goal in this plan was to cut off the alcohol availability from the city to the reserve.

4. This was achieved by eliminating the heavy tri-weekly delivery of van loads of booze from nearby Williams Lake and by eradicating taxi trafficking.

5. The second step was to achieve program control, so that food vouchers replaced money for members who requested social assistance.

6. The third step was to encourage alcohol abusers to get help. An estimated 75% of the band members needed treatment. This was achieved through co-operation in looking after families and households while band members needed treatment. This was achieved through co-operation in looking after families and households while band members were sent to the Poundmaker's Lodge and to Bonnyville.

7. Another important element was the personal development workshops that many community members participated in, which greatly increased the overall community capacity to manage their own change of processes.

The features of Alkali Lake experiences were the following factors:

- role model leadership

- core group development

- strong administrative leadership

- community banding together for self-help around the alcohol problem

- enveloping (the surrounding of individuals who are trying to stop drinking with others who are supporting them)

- constructive confrontation with members having alcohol abuse problems and the provisions of rehabilitation alternatives;

- emphasis on keeping community and family life intact while members were away being treated;

- reward for sobriety and pressure against drunkenness;

- expectations for achievement and re-establishment of relations for members upon return from treatment.

During the process of finding methods in overcoming the problems of alcohol abuse, the change within the community was very noticeable. It was evident that there was a renewal of family lif by the reduction of violence and a new interest in community planning.

There was restoration of cultural activities that were forgotten during the alcohol crisis, with the revival of the sweat lodges, feasts and powwows.

There were increased activities in job creation and community economic development, with a 75% employment rate.

Alkali Lake Reserve is an example of the importance of self-help strategy in fighting alcohol abuse.

When the community was seen as facing extinction, all resources were brought to bear in the full spectrum of alcohol trafficking and alcohol related problems, with a strong system of planning, co-operation and co-ordination established for effective use of band resources, reducing alcohol availability, and reinforcing counselling and prevention strategies.

The Alkali Lake story is far from over. The community has a goal to transform

the basic conditions of life that could give rise to recurrent alcohol abuse and to develop the training capacity of the community to enable them to share their successes with others.

"The Honour of All; is a video-taped educational docu-drama series that tells the story of Alkali Lake. Part one begins with the first days when Alkali Lake people began receiving liquor for their furs rather than supplies and money. From there the video documents the epidemic of alcoholism spread throughout the community leaving no one untouched. With the deterioration of the community life, the band gained the reputation of "People of Alcohol Lake."

The docu-drama takes you through the heroic-struggle to conquer alcoholism. Part two outlines the community development that occurred as the community moved from alcoholism to sobriety. The docu-drama was put together in the hopes of helping other communities that are struggling with the problems of alcohol abuse.

The series is available on VHS, Beta and 3/4 inch format and may be purchased from the Alkali Lake Indian Band. All videos are in full colour and high fidelity sond at $400 Canadian or $300 U.S. (this includes shipping.) You may call Lena Paul at (604) 440-5611 with your purchase order.