Spiritual involvement, cultural identification, and participation in AI/AN activities have been found to be linked to greater resilience among reservation youth (LaFromboise, Hoyt, Oliver, & Whitbeck, 2006). We conducted two elder focus groups in a talking circle format in December of 2006 in order to get input on study content, process, and design for the subsequent six talking circles conducted in April of 2007. The results of these two elder talking circles were included in the analyses sobriety stories of all the circles as we piloted the questions with them and were able to collect data on topics covered in subsequent talking circles. Then we elicited input for study design, which did not include changes to the piloted questions but did change facets of the design. For example, our initial study design included adults only, but the elders were adamant that substance use issues were of great concern to youth. One elder remarked, “I think that you have to run a group of the young kids.
Once the individual’s sense of self is strengthened through a sense of cultural competency in the traditional culture, tribal identity begins to emerge, or for some, begins to be redefined within the community. By taking on roles and responsibilities that serve the continuation or survival of the culture, tribal identity is strengthened. Accompanied and motivated by pain or loss, it is marked as a “turning point” in awareness where the individual cannot continue to exist or live with contradictions (believing or saying something and living something else) or continued self-destructive behaviors. Abusing alcohol was way of coping with the contradictions between stereotypes and reality, between knowledge of culturally appropriate behaviors and the ability to live up to these expectations and pressures of acculturation and adaptation. Coyhis believes that many problems in Indian communities stem from the government-sanctioned boarding schools that Indian children were forced to attend beginning in the late 1800s. Children were made to cut their hair, attend church, and shun their native language and traditions.
Alaska Native Elders in Recovery: Linkages between Indigenous Cultural Generativity and Sobriety to Promote Successful Aging
He went back to treatment in Phoenix on January 5 and has been sober since — and now lives closer to his three children in Bismarck. Two years ago, he overdosed on a fake oxycodone pill that contained fentanyl, a deadly opioid, while in a sober living home in Arizona. On the military base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he easily found the recreational drug ecstasy, known as molly, from a civilian worker moonlighting as a dealer. He remembers a drinking binge at age 18 that caused him to black out in a cornfield. After the blinding glare of police officers’ flashlights jolted him awake, he spent the rest of the night in a detox cell.
- “Many native families are suffering from generational abuse, eroding traditional values and destabilizing families” across the country, according to the National Congress of American Indians’ website.
- He also shared with the youth what they might not be getting from their own parents.
- An investigation by the CBC disputed a key part of Sainte-Marie’s story, saying that a birth certificate shows she was born to a white family in Massachusetts.
- Verification strategies in qualitative research ensure rigor through methodological coherence, sampling sufficiency, developing a dynamic relationship between sampling, data collection and analysis, and thinking theoretically and theory development.
This elder is modeling a healthier life by making choices that do not include alcohol, and her sons will hopefully follow in her footsteps. A female elder directed her comments toward the 11 young people (aged 12 to 19 years) in the youth circle in an attempt to offer insights into the observations of her peers and to use these as a source of inspiration to avoid negative experiences and build a good life. Data included verbatim transcripts of the talking circles as well as observer and debriefing notes. Because a non-Native transcriber was hired, the first author, a Native researcher, then reread all of the transcripts for accuracy as she attended all of the taking circles.
Stories on the Value of the Talking Circles
Because the focus was on domestic violence and not alcohol, the men interviewed were in various stages of recovery. Some participants had been sober for several decades and some for just a few months or years. Alcohol, as a major thematic category, was further divided into subcategories that included (1) Alcohol and individual/tribal identity, (2) Retraditionalization, and (3) Recovery. The criterion for data to be included in the subcategory “alcohol and individual identity” were when they described themselves through their present or past relationship with alcohol. The criterion for the “alcohol and tribal identity” were references to the tribe or community and alcohol. The criterion for “retraditionalization” were any references to replacing, reconstructing, or re-acculturating aspects of tribal life or identity that had been lost or harmed during the trauma of colonization.
The prevalence of alcohol and marijuana use among Native youth was significantly higher, especially among eighth grade students, with 56.2% reporting use compared to the reported 16.4% use of the general population. In addition to marijuana use, another emerging problem among junior high and high school students is the abuse of prescription opiates like heroin and oxycodone, also about two-to-three times higher than the national averages. “Recovery”as an important subcategory was present in each of the narratives and analyzed for its dimensions and properties and these were compared both within and across the data. Similar dimensions and properties of the recovery process were grouped together and eventually became “stages.” These were not presented in the data as discrete, linear, or sequential processes but were the result of analysis and were found to varying degrees in all the narratives. Those participants with the longest reported sobriety (the two Elders) had the most descriptive and well-developed sense of recovery as a process of change centered on retraditionalization. Within and across the transcripts, the men’s recovery process centered on reconnecting with traditional elders and forming a more “traditional” self-identity.
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Two of the men were Elders (men with traditional knowledge, status, and respect in the community) and the remaining seven had varying levels of formal education and cultural knowledge. Participants were recruited to the study through flyers posted at the local mental health facility and at public and cultural events both on and off the reservation. To minimize risk to women and families, men who were currently in treatment for domestic violence were ineligible for the study. In the United States today, the 2010 census indicated that 5.2 million people self-identified as American Indian or Alaska Native alone or combined with another race.
- This study suggests that for Native American men, there are culturally specific perspectives on alcohol that have important implications for prevention and treatment of alcohol abuse.
- The center provides anonymity to its clients, but Star allowed The Courier Journal to use his name to encourage others to get treatment.
- Coyhis developed Wellbriety, a substance abuse recovery program that taps the power of Native American culture, tradition, and community to help heal his people.
- Antez struggled with addiction into adulthood, caught in a cycle of incarceration and probation.
One of the most heartbreaking things I dealt with in my career was sharing my story in a 16-bed, all male facility. And after I shared, I asked the men to raise their hands if it happened to them. “I hit the bumpy road. I’m a grandpa now, and I’m seeing what life is all about. Quit drinking and my drug addiction, putting that to the side. It’s a pretty good feeling. Indigenous Wellbriety, it’s keeping me from not relapsing,” he said. Within a few years, Antez was frequently in trouble with the law and often used alcohol and drugs. Doctors hope that changes as the deadliest addiction crisis in U.S. history converges with an increased awareness of racial disparities in health care. Addiction specialists and other health officials have recommended addressing patients’ cultural histories and experiences in treatment for decades.