Alcoholism has been dealt with all throughout time in American Indian communities.
We are blessed by a number of authors who have recorded means by which divine intervention from a loving Creator, have provided help for native people for centuries. In his book, Big Medicine from Six Nations
“We called this medicine Juuh ne(t) raath, which means ‘long root’. If supplication was directed either by pureness of will or by a high level of panic, to a Divine higher Consciousness, the person would be led, staggering and falling and hollering for help, into the woods and directly to this medicine. One bite of the root and the hallucinations would leave. Sometimes the alcoholic would leave the habit from that day on, but at the least he would abstain for a long period of time. It is very interesting that this plant hid from those who didn’t really need it, as though one had to suffer and experience a deep need first.”
It’s difficult to understand how so many members of our Tribal communities seem to insist on suffering until death is nearly upon us before seeking help but many times this is the case. Alcoholism carries inside itself, an extraordinary portion of self-will and denial. These personality traits are shocking to most normal people who are not problem drinkers. On the other hand, people in 12-step recovery can easily understand because so many have experienced this illogical phenomenon themselves. Those who are recovered from the seemingly hopeless state of body, mind and spirit are grateful because there are also those who die of alcoholism. In the face of extraordinary suffering which often includes permanent physical damage, even very difficult recovery is a miracle.
We have come to believe that sobriety is a precious gift from a loving and forgiving Creator. It doesn’t matter if the alcoholic finds the medicine root in the forest or winds up in 12-step recovery. The results are the same. We are transformed and the shift of everything in our consciousness and spirituality will never be the same again. We have cried out like the drunkard in the woods who stumbles upon the long root and the medicine heals him or her. The old ones tell the stories that link our ancestors deeply in a relationship where we interact with the natural world. Then we see the supernatural results of prayer. American Indians have always presented a traditional form of powerful faith in our Creator. Our First Native Nations have become obscured and dominated by a society revolving around scientific study and materialism. Interestingly science and modern medicine reach a certain point and may become useless after many vain attempts to heal the sick. After that the patient who has tried everything may resort to prayer or more natural forms of healing. Even at the prescribed time of death, there have oftentimes been miraculous recoveries which have occurred by the simple act of prayer. In recent years more and more Americans have become interested in the ancient practices of American Indians. As we watch health care provider programs in this country soar to prices unattainable by the working and lower economical classes, many of us are left hanging by nothing more then the thread of a whispered prayer.
God or the Creator is mentioned in six of the twelve steps for recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction. These steps are used and practiced daily by people all over the world who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of body mind and spirit. Miracles happen in meetings every day. In one Red Road meeting we watched a woman with ten days of sobriety receive applause alongside another woman who was celebrating thirty three years clean and sober. No one regardless of the length of time they have been in recovery, is better or more highly honored then another. Each gives equal credit to each other for making the right choice not to drink or use drugs just for today. The equality of everyone, rich or poor, old or young, newcomer or old timer is the process of humility among those who attend the meetings.
Many of us believe that it is the act of crying out in need, that crawling through the forest searching for the long root or picking up the phone that seems to weigh ten thousand pounds in those last drunken moments of despair, that our prayers are the most heard by the divine order of Creation. We are cleansed by our own tears and the soul is most humbled in it’s darkest hour. As fingers torn and bleeding grab the rich earth on the sacred mountain at the Western gate of the Six Nations, our prayers are heard and answered from the furthest reaching corridors of the great sky. We are given the sacred medicine of recovery and we are changed forever.
