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Tribes seek input on substance abuse

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ARLEE – Meeting coordinator Gary Neumann explained to a crowd of people in the Arlee Community Center that the tribes want community input into the substance abuse problem on the reservation. They plan to use the information to help create an action plan to curb the problem. 

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes declared their position on substance abuse in resolution 14-036: “… all Tribal departments, programs, and entities need to collaborate and work together with the community to find solutions to eliminate substance abuse on this reservation…”

Health care workers, teachers, law enforcement personnel, parents, students and people with substance abuse experience across the reservation have answered the call for input. 

“We want input from the different communities because each community is so unique,” said Shelly Fyant, CSKT tribal council representative for Arlee. “What works for one community might not work for another.”

The tribe’s request for information to create an action plan was sparked by the birth of several babies born addicted to substances over a one week time period last year.

“We felt we needed to do something,” Fyant said.

Neumann is tasked with the job of compiling community input and presenting it to tribal council by the end of December 2014. He put together a slide show presentation with talking points and is asking people to attend informative meetings titled Community Strong. 

“We wanted to get everyone together to brainstorm solutions,” Fyant said.

At the Arlee meeting, everyone including children stood up when asked if they’d been affected by substance abuse, so no one needed proof of the problem, but they were interested in its origins. They discussed the cause of the problem. Historical trauma was explained as one possible reason.

“Our pain is intergenerational,” Neumann said. 

He talked about the loss of identity, land and language. His grandmother and mother were both forced to attend boarding schools intent on assimilation. He asked why his family didn’t teach him the Salish language.

“If you don’t know it, they can’t beat it out of you,” he said of his family’s response.

Neumann said trauma changes the way people react to the world and those lessons are passed down to the next generation. 

“We still relive those traumas sometimes without knowing it,” he said. “We have a lot of people in our communities that are hurting and sometimes we turn to substance abuse.”

Drugs, Fyant said, are becoming more dangerous. 

 “Today, we’ve got new drugs. People are thinking of new ways to mask the pain and kids are being affected earlier and earlier. If we don’t do something, what will the next generation look like?”

Others in the group said poverty was one of the causes of substance abuse. Pearl Yellowman-Caye explained that if culture was the color red and all the red was taken out of the communities on the reservation, pockets of extreme poverty would be left. 

“Many of the things we deal with come from a poor quality of life,” she said with suggestions for financial literacy, health care and a value for education. “What long term life skills do we want kids to have? We need to look deep. What do our kids need to be successful in their lives? These are such sensitive topics.”

Future meetings are in the planning stages with focused topics on intervention, aftercare, education, prevention and treatment. For more information, Fyant recommends contacting tribal representatives directly. Contact Gary Neumann at (406) 696-7075. Jami Hamel can be reached at (406) 250-2935 or Patty Stevens at (406) 249-1381 and Fyant at (406) 546-5633.

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