Alcohol Still Hurts-2

Alcohol still hurts me also and I’ve been sober now for over five years. Day in and day out, we see the effects that alcohol and other substances has on our people. This hurts me dearly.

As I read the stories about alcohol-related deaths in the Nation, I couldn’t help but feel for all involved. Be it the victims, or the drivers. I have close relatives and friends that died due to substances. Whether it was from vehicle accidents, suicides, and now man-slaughter, they are gone. I fear for our future generations, and that undeniably includes my children’s children’s children.

The anonymous writer of “Alcohol Still Hurts” asks, “When will this trend ever end?” This is a very good question. Another question that needs to be asked, though, is how did this trend start in the first place and why? The answer is a sociological, and it’s the key to breaking this dreadful trend.

By using what you call the “sociological imagination,” you can figure out why this despair continues to take place. I’ll explain. Let’s say you take 20 families, and out of that 20 there are two families that are dysfunctional. With a figure like this, two families out of 20, you can agree that the problem is an isolated problem.

The problem lies within the family itself. Now, let’s say you take another 20 families, and out of that 20, 16 families are dysfunctional. The situation needs to be viewed by a much larger scale. The problems lay far beyond just the families themselves.

Let me explain further. Let’s say you have been rescuing one person after another who comes floating down the river. You continue to rescue to the point of exhaustion and at the same time almost lose your own life in the process. In fact, you will lose your life if you continue to remain focused on only the individual situation, which is to rescue the individual drowning.

By using the “sociological imagination” you will all of a sudden change your view of the situation. You will decide to walk up stream and find out who or what keeps throwing these people into the river and do something about it. This is the aim that needs to be taken by us as Crees if we are to end this dreadful trend that continues to take the many lives of our people.

While on our “Save the Rupert’s River” walk this past summer, we met up with a retired sociology professor. I was so overwhelmed to meet him because he understood what I was talking about, and I understood him also. In fact, he specializes in the field of what I am trying to explain to our people. He specializes in the sociological effects of development and dependency. Damming rivers goes against our way of life, so it affects us sociologically in a negative way, and the compensation of money that comes with it also has a negative impact. We’ve become so dependent on the money that we’ve lost our independent pride along with our sacred lands and water.

Now that we may understand a bit what the problems are, we may ask what the solutions are. The solutions are not easy because it requires major changes of habit. Not only personal habits, but also bureaucratic habits. Not only do the social services need to do the work, but all of us need to become involved, and this includes our entities. We desperately need to regain a sense of independent pride that stands along side our cultural foundation.

A few of our chiefs are attempting to lead us in this “modern twist” direction. They are turning to alternatives such as developing wind energy and other solutions that can create a sustainable economy with jobs and still maintain our lands and culture. Bertie Wapachee quoted JFK: “Some people see things as they are and say why, I dream of things that never were and say why not.” Yeah! Why not?

There is a lot more to the solutions, but this touches on the core. Use your sociological imagination and see where it takes you. Start by asking “why?”

For my friends who have moved on, I say rest in peace and we will see you again on the other side.

Sincerely,

Roger Orr

What do you think?