Tuesday September 27, 2016
Indigenous people need to tell their stories of sobriety, says lawyer
Indigenous people need a new story around alcohol, says
Firewater author Harold R. Johnson. (Courtesy of Harold R. Johnson)
Read story transcript
There's a difficult conversation Harold R. Johnson wants to start — a new narrative about alcohol and Indigenous people, and the hardships drinking causes for many in Johnson's Cree community.
Johnson is setting out to combat the centuries-old stereotype of the "drunken Indian." He says it's an image with colonialist roots — but one which many Indigenous people have internalized.
"I had a kid on one of the reserves tell me...that to be a real Indian you have to drink," Johnson tells The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti.
Johnson approaches this subject with experience — as a crown prosecutor in northern Saskatchewan's
Treaty 6 territory — and he says the first step forward is to acknowledge hard truths.
"If we don't talk about it, it's just going to continue," says Johnson. He has written his book, Firewater: How Alcohol Is Killing My People (And Yours), hoping to start a conversation that he considers long overdue.
"In my community, we don't want to talk about it publicly because we're afraid people are going to point their fingers at us and call us 'lazy, dirty, drunken Indians'."
But he says he can no longer stay silent. Two of Johnson's own brothers have been killed by drunk drivers.
"I've buried two brothers. I've buried many relatives. I'm not speaking figuratively — I've dug graves."
Johnson estimates that one out of every two deaths in the Treaty 6 Territory is alcohol-related — and from talking to leaders in the communities, he's afraid that estimate is low.
He tells Tremonti that the people who need to be part of this discussion publicly are the 35 per cent of Indigenous people in Canada who don't drink at all — who are silently sober.
"I am trying to encourage those silently sober to speak up."
Johnson says he isn't bringing all the solutions to the table — he thinks Indigenous communities have the answers, if only the conversation gets rolling.
"I firmly believe the solution is talking about it."
Listen to the full conversation at the top of this web post.
This segment was produced by The Current's Karin Marley.
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/cree-author-takes-on-filthy-stinking-subject-of-aboriginals-and-alcohol
Cree author takes on ‘filthy, stinking subject’ of aboriginals and alcohol
Bill HamiltonLawyer and author Harold Johnson
But he cannot stay silent any longer.
“I’m about to drag this filthy, stinking subject out into the light,” he writes. “It is my hope that the light kills it.”
After almost 20 years as a lawyer, including eight as a Crown prosecutor, Johnson, a Cree from northern Saskatchewan, estimates a staggering 95 per cent of his criminal cases involve people who were intoxicated.
From his base in La Ronge, Johnson says he’s amazed how many people he’s met who have suffered a brain injury as a result of getting hit with a bat, board or rock during a drunken brawl. He’s grown tired of hearing domestic violence victims utter the phrase: “When he’s sober, he’s a good guy.”
And he’s become fed up standing next to graves of people who died from alcohol; he lost two brothers to drunk drivers.
It’s time, he says, for people to stop being afraid to talk about the issue.
“If a white person uses ‘Indian’ and ‘alcohol’ in the same sentence, they’re afraid of being called racist. If an Indian says ‘Indian’ and ‘alcohol’ in the same sentence, they’re afraid people are going to point at them and say, ‘Look it’s true, they are lazy, drunken Indians,’” he told the National Post.
“I’m taking a subject and opening it up and saying we have to talk about this.”
In Firewater: How Alcohol is Killing My People (and Yours), set for release this week by University of Regina Press, Johnson writes that while colonization and trauma from residential schools may help to explain the reasons for alcohol abuse, they don’t offer any solutions.
“If we allow ourselves to believe the victim story and we live by it, we become victims, and victims can never fix their own situations,” writes Johnson, who once worked as a logger and miner.
If we allow ourselves to believe the victim story and we live by it, we become victims, and victims can never fix their own situationsThe criminal justice system is similarly ill-suited to deal with the problem, he writes, as it tends to look at a case “through pinholes … that tiny portion of the problem that the lawyers want looked at and that the law allows.”
Society also can’t depend solely on treatment centres, which often employ outdated 12-step models, he argues.
Instead, Johnson is calling on aboriginals who don’t drink — about 35 per cent of the population, according to one study — to stop being “silently sober.”
“How about we spread the story that we are proud of our traditional culture and that it is a culture of sobriety?” he writes. “I would love to see a Facebook posting that said, ‘I am proud to be Cree, proud to be sober.’”
Rather than sending people away for treatment, Johnson suggests turning communities into treatment centres. Taking a page from neighbourhood “Block Watch” programs, Johnson says people on reserves could put signs on their doors indicating they are a “Sober House” — places of refuge for people who are alone or cut off from their families.
Limiting the supply of alcohol and increasing taxes are also options that could be examined, he said.
Thomas Fricke for National Post/FileManitoba
MLA Wab Kinew says any talk of solutions to alcoholism among
aboriginals cannot be divorced from the historical context of the
fur-trade era and residential schools.
The same study found 41 per cent of First Nations deaths from motor vehicle accidents were alcohol-related compared with 19 per cent for other residents.
“It’s hard to bring it up in a safe way without sounding as if you are (buying in) to stereotypes,” Dr. Evan Adams, then an aboriginal health adviser for the province, said in an interview at the time. “It has to be initiated by us — as First Nations — and it needs to happen at every level.”
Adams, who is now chief medical health officer for the First Nations Health Authority in B.C., said in a brief statement Wednesday the issues remain “complex and … hindered by stigma” and it’s best to empower individual communities to figure out solutions.
“There is no pan-aboriginal approach,” he said.
Wab Kinew, a Manitoba MLA and author who has written about how he and his father engaged in self-destructive behaviours before quitting alcohol, said Johnson is starting an important conversation.
However, substance abuse and alcoholism are not unique to the indigenous community, nor are they reflective of any inherent flaw, he cautioned. These are learned behaviours that can be traced back to the fur-trade era and to residential schools, he said. Any talk of solutions cannot be divorced from that historical context.
While abstinence may work at the individual level, communities are likely better off focusing on harm reduction, he said. Expanding on Johnson’s idea of establishing sober houses, Kinew said there needs to be more social and recreational outlets for those wanting to stop drinking.
Johnson, meanwhile, says he is working with the province of Saskatchewan to hold more community meetings to find ways to end the “cycle of alcohol and despair.”
“The story about Indians and alcohol has been around for a long time,” he writes.
“This does not have to be our story. It never was ours. … And we have the power to end it.”
La Ronge lawyer hopes to combat alcoholism in northern Sask.
May 18, 2016 - 5:00pm
Harold Johnson, a lawyer in La Ronge, hopes to help his community battle alcoholism. Spencer Sterritt/paNOW Staff
Harold Johnson, a Harvard University educated lawyer currently practicing law in La Ronge, explained to listeners at the 12th annual Northern Justice Symposium they imagine the role alcohol plays in their lives, and they have the power to change the narrative.
“If I tell myself alcoholism is a disease, then I got it by chance, it was God’s will (and) there’s nothing I can do about it. If, on the other hand, I say this is an injury I gave to myself… I can also say it’s my responsibility and I will do something about it,” he said.
Johnson said he considers alcoholism more along the lines of carpal tunnel or a repetitive strain injury.
“I won’t change my behaviour on the limited chance I might get (the disease) but if I call it an injury, I might change my behaviour,” he said.
Turning the story of alcoholism from one of disease to one of injury isn’t the only story Johnson hopes to change.
“We tell ourself alcohol helps us speak, alcohol helps me dance. Change that story and tell the truth: ‘After I have a few drinks I slur my words so bad that no one can understand what I’m saying,’” he said. “Alcohol doesn’t make you more sociable, it usually turns you into an asshole… It doesn’t make you dance better, it makes you stumble and fall.”
To combat alcoholism among northern First Nations communities, Johnson is looking towards a successful program out of South Dakota.
“The trick is how do you keep them sober?” he asked the audience.
Called the 24-7 sobriety program, the plan aims to limit public drunkenness by imposing a breathalyzer test twice a day on those who have issues with alcohol. If they don’t pass the breathalyzer, they’re placed in jail for two days.
“I’m hoping it will have the same success as in South Dakota and reduce the death rate in northern Saskatchewan significantly,” he said.
The 24-7 sobriety program will be part of the La Ronge community alcohol management plan, which Johnson hopes will be completed by the end of June.
ssterritt@jpbg.ca
Indigenous prosecutor talking to northern Saskatchewan about alcohol
'Are we tired of going to the graveyard?' Harold Johnson asks
Outraged by the toll alcohol is having in northern Saskatchewan, a Crown prosecutor is taking six months off work to talk to First Nations communities and look for solutions.
Indigenous lawyer Harold Johnson, who is based in La Ronge, says alcohol is responsible for much death and destruction in the north, and as a Crown prosecutor he's had a front-row seat to its effects.
"It's everywhere," he told CBC News. "Ninety-five per cent of what we deal with in provincial court, the person who committed the offence was drunk at the time of the offence. It's every day. Constant."
'Are we tired of going to the graveyard? Are we tired of burying our relatives? Have we had enough of this now?'Alcohol misuse permeates all aspects of society, whether it's the justice system, health, poverty or the economy, he says.
- Harold Johnson
According to a 2011 study of northern Saskatchewan health regions, two-thirds of fatal motor vehicle accidents are alcohol-related. The rate of drug and alcohol use during pregnancy in the north is three times the provincial rate.
It even affects the cost of infrastructure in the north, as contractors take into account absenteeism and lowered productivity because of hangovers and include those costs in bid prices, he says.
It's an issue that has also touched Johnson's life in a personal way. Two of his brothers have been killed by drunk drivers, the most recent case happening last year.
The Justice Department has given him six months off, to work with the Lac la Ronge Indian Band and the Montreal Lake Cree Nation in a search for answers.
He says he's not hoping to work miracles — just to get people talking
.
"Are we tired of going to the graveyard? Are we tired of burying our relatives? Have we had enough of this now?"
http://www.paherald.sk.ca/Regional/2007-02-16/article-183381/Suit-filed-over-aboriginals-exposure-to-alcohol/1
Suit filed over aboriginals' exposure to alcohol
- Published on February 16, 2007
A La Ronge lawyer has filed a lawsuit against the provincial
and federal governments, claiming they should be held responsible for
evil influences alcohol has caused in the lives of Treaty 6 members.
Harold Johnson said he filed the lawsuit after too often seeing people suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome, or FAS.
Harold Johnson said he filed the lawsuit after too often seeing people suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome, or FAS.
Harold Johnson said he filed the lawsuit after too often seeing people suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome, or FAS.
"I got tired of it," he said. "I see clients at least once a week that I suspect have FAS."
The Treaty 6 agreement says no intoxicating liquor shall be allowed to be introduced or sold on reserves or within the Treaty 6 boundaries.
It was agreed upon by the federal government that it was responsible for protecting the Indians "from the evil influence of the use of intoxicating liquors."
That hasn't happened, he says.
"The poorest of the poor are completely addicted to a substance that the government is providing," he said by phone Thursday.
The last straw for Johnson before he filed the lawsuit papers in Prince Albert's Court of Queen's Bench was seeing a child suffering from FAS.
The little boy's skull is too small, and as his brain grows, Johnson said the doctors will have to break his skull to make room.
"It's a fight for FAS children," said Johnson.
Johnson expect a decision any day from the court as to whether he is properly suing the Saskatchewan government.
Since the treaty was signed between the federal government and aboriginals, the province says it holds no responsibility, said Johnson.
If the lawsuit against Saskatchewan doesn't go through, Johnson will focus his efforts on the lawsuit against the Canadian government. He is trying to have the suit deemed a class-action lawsuit, meaning on behalf of a large group of people.
The lawsuit seeks financial compensation for damages done to Treaty 6 members as a result of being exposed to alcohol, said Johnson. FAS affects all aspects of society including justice, health care, social services and employment insurance.
"The government will soon realize they can't afford the damages and do something about (the alcohol problem) - that is the hope," said Johnson.
Johnson says if the lawsuit is successful, he hopes that the government will then cross-claim liquor companies and hold them accountable to provide monetary compensation.
"They are benefiting from our suffering," Johnson said of liquor companies.
The suit and issues Johnson raises mirrors many of the arguments made in the tobacco issue.
As far as Johnson is aware he has not heard of any class-action lawsuits involving a treaty nation where they are suing for wrongdoing over alcohol exposure.
A lawsuit consists of allegations that have yet to be proven in court.
bjobin@paherald.sk.ca
saskatchewan fas facts
Saskatchewan was the first province to do a FAS study on its population.
In the study, 207 cases of FAS were identified and 86 per cent of them were of aboriginal descent.
fetal alcohol syndrome
Term used to describe lifelong defects caused by consumption of large amounts of alcohol by the mother during pregnancy.
Children with FAS suffer physical, behavioural, social and educational problems.
In the western world, FAS is the leading known cause of mental handicap.
Harold Johnson
 Born
and raised in Northern Saskatchewan, Harold Johnson has a Master of Law
degree from Harvard University. He has served in the Canadian Navy, and
worked in mining and logging. Johnson is the author of two novels, Billy Tinker and Back Track,
both set in northern Saskatchewan against a background of traditional
Cree mythology and both shortlisted for Saskatchewan Book Awards. His
most recent publication Charlie Muskrat was been shortlisted for a Saskatchewan Book Award.Johnson practices law in La Ronge, Saskatchewan, and balances this with operating his family's traditional trap line using a dog team.
Books
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ReplyDeleteWe must stop and stop now to consider the predicament the Anishinaabeg find ourselves and how we got here today.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when the Great Turtle Island was saturated with waterways. Waterways providing a maze of channels and "escape routes" in case of attack! Along came a Superior Force, lets call it "Vatican". In order for the Superior Force to take the land from the Inferior Force, lets call it the "Anishinaabeg", it enters into contract or Treaties. Once the Inferior Force is defeated by the Superior Force the land devolves to the last one standing!
So, there is the nagging question as to how to defeat the Inferior Force in view of the vast waterways. The solution was found in Beaver skins for Trinkets! Indeed, when the grandfathers set about murdering the spirit energy of the Beaver, in exchange for those thing fashioned by the hands of men, it sealed our fate for 10 generations (generation is 40 years=400 years; 1660=>2060?). The Beavers had to be destroyed in order to drain the land! Brilliant!
These are the stepping stones of Genocide from 1866 to current.
In 1866 there were 2 financial funds; Indian Fund/Consolidated revenue Fund. The former; produce of the land due the Anishinaabeg the later the pittance derived from a meager tax base. In 1867 those two funds were merged into the CRF as a money laundering scheme. This necessitated genocide to make this scheme work. Incidentally, it was the Duke of Newcastle who sprung a Bank of England Loan to build Bank of England railways to the tune of 20MLBS sterling money. This "loan" was made in 1862 maturing December 1867 ergo the British North America BILL 1867.
Here are some timelines;
1066 Syrian refugee Crisis similar to the current Norman Conquest.
1068 "England" is incorporated with the invention of the Great Seal
1213 Bastard King John pledges servitude to pope, somehow including his heirs (like all u. s. presidents) and gives "England" and Ireland to pope. King John was known as King John Lackland because he owned no land! Before 1213!
1215 Magma Carta fraud
1302 Unam Sanctam; pope owns everything
1307 Lord Privy Seal; keeper of the rulers signet ring. Currently; Lord Privy Seal alias HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH THE SECOND, aka "Money Penny" c. o. b. as Natalie Evans.
1603 JUDAH James I/VI is placed on the English Throne of Thorns. John was pagan common law "ruler". William and Mary were not of Judah but of Edom. Queen Elizabeth is chief of the Tribe of Judah.
1763 Lord Privy Seal proclaims the Royal Proclamation 1763 and signs on behalf of George Frederick aka George III.
1776 Revolutionary fraud/treadmill of debt
1789 first colonial bankruptcy; office of District Attorney created aka Attorney for the District of Columbia.
1867 BNA"Act" fraud
1868 Dep't Sec'ty of State Act
1869 "Enfranchisement Act"
1870 Siege/Buffalo Bill et el
1870 HBC charter surrendered.
1870 Office of the attornee for the District of Columbia merged into the DoJ.
1871-79 so-called "Morris Treaties".
bla bla bla
As chief of the Tribe of Judah Elizabeth can't make contracts/treaties. She can't sell the land because it belongs to the Most High!
Where does this leave us?
The 7th Fire ... coinciding with the 7th Blood Moon Tetrad.
Anyone want to venture into the 8th Fire?
Mi'gwich