Fire Water

On Tuesday, August 13, 2013, votes were cast by tribal members to determine the legalization of alcohol sales on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The election results were very close - 1,843 in favor of legalization and 1,683 in opposition.

www.old-picture.com/indians/Indian-Invocation

Historically, liquor was never part of the Plains Indian culture. Some of the southwestern tribes – Aztec, Mayan, Pima, Papago, Apache, and Zuni – fermented corn and cactus and drank the fermented liquid in ceremonies and rituals. The consumption was strictly regulated by the spiritual leaders, and social rules were established governing the intake of alcohol. There is no record in Lakota history of any fermentation of vegetation, grains, or fruit to produce alcoholic beverages. The Lakota believed tobacco to be a sacred connection to the spirit world, and smoked it during ceremonies, offering it to the four corners of the earth, or four winds. A Pipe Carrier was an honorable position within the tribe, one that was passed down through generations.



In the early-to-mid-1800s, British fur traders introduced whiskey, rum, and brandy (known as "fire water" because the high alcohol content could be lit on fire) to the Sioux, making them the last of the American Indian tribes to come into contact with alcohol. This late introduction was partially due to the fact that the Lakota and Dakota Sioux did not like to associate with white people, and also because the American expansion into the western plains happened late in history. However, as the Sioux became increasingly dependent upon the trading business, alcohol consumption became more prevalent in their culture and began to inflict cultural, spiritual, and social damage.

The Lakota who survived the wars, massacres, Small Pox epidemics, and bitter cold winters on the Northern Plains were herded onto reservations throughout South Dakota. After years of fighting, they now watched as their nomadic lifestyle, religion, language, and culture disappeared. Thrown into the confusing world of European colonialism, the warrior spirit was broken, forced into submission, and Lakota men, who had never before touched liquor, discovered a way to numb their pain. And new sicknesses appeared: despair, depression, and alcoholism.

With approximately one hundred fifty years of involvement with alcohol, I believe the Lakota are more susceptible to its intoxicating effects. Scientific studies have been conducted to substantiate this claim – livers have been dissected and compared –  and the results have shown that there is no conclusive evidence to prove that an Indian metabolizes alcohol any differently than a non-Indian. If this is so, why do 63% of most American Indian tribes believe that Indians have a physiological or biological weakness to alcohol that non-Indians do not have? (American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research). Could it be because they have witnessed it or experienced it first-hand? Sometimes familiarity is a better measurement for fact than a scientific study.

In 1645, the Connecticut Colony prohibited the sale of liquor to Indians because of the violent behavior that ensued after alcohol was consumed by the Indians. In 1832, the United States Congress passed a Federal law prohibiting the sale of liquor to “any and all American Indians.” This law was actually requested, and supported, by Indian leaders. In 1953, each tribe within the United States was given the right to regulate alcohol on their reservation. By 1974, only 31.4% of all US reservations had passed a law making the sale of alcohol legal within their borders. Tribes were never coerced into prohibition - they made the choice to keep poison away from their people.

Passed out in border town of White Clay, NE

When the sale of alcohol becomes a reality on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, new issues will emerge. Obviously, new laws and regulations governing sales and consumption will need to be introduced and implemented. Taxes will be enacted and regulated. Profit from sales will need to be accounted for and disbursed to designated tribal committees, charities, and organizations.  But what about the obscure subject of defining and promoting safe drinking practices? Drinking and driving? There are no taxicabs on the Reservation. People will drink, and they will drive, and some will die. One argument given in favor of legalization was “they are driving to buy alcohol in other counties anyway and now they won’t have to drive as far.” Unsound rationale.

The inevitable increase in abuse, neglect, and suicide is a complex issue that deserves its own forum and I won’t expound upon that in this post, however, I would like to say that reports about the success of legalization of alcohol on the Rosebud Reservation are misleading. Ask the tribes First Responders, and those who work in the judicial system and at the hospital in Rosebud and they will tell you about the heartbreaking alcohol-related violence that occurs regularly.

Children's Shelter in Pine Ridge. Most are here because
of alcohol-related abuse and neglect

The upcoming months will be a time of trials and tribulations for the entire Lakota community. It will be a time to set aside political and personal opinions regarding the legalization of alcohol sales and instead, formulate a plan to educate their people on how to drink responsibly; a concept that is foreign to them at this point.

Tribute to Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman

Last weekend, rain streamed down my windows, and deciding to make good use of my time inside, I purged my filing cabinet—a tedious task I undertake several times per decade. Pulling each file, I look at each piece of paper to decide if it is a toss or a keep, and treasured memories are usually rediscovered.

Among the accumulated newspaper and magazine clippings, I found an article written in 2006 by Frank John King III, editor and publisher of Native Voice. His editorial, "Violence Systemic among Native People", was about the shooting of two girls by five Indian teens in the North Rapid area of Rapid City, South Dakota. King had been following the story, hoping for the capture of the perpetrators, and was disheartened to learn the girls were shot by Indian youths. He wrote, "In my opinion, if you commit an extreme act of violence against any tribal member you should be banished from the tribe. The sickness needs to be removed in order to heal the community."

Attached to his article were notes I had jotted down during a conversation with Floyd Red Crow Westerman in January 2007. I had called Floyd to say hi because I always enjoyed talking to him, but also to specifically talk about the concept of reinstating banishment. We talked for more than an hour about the growing problems encountered by the youth in Indian Country; this being a topic he was passionate about.

Floyd made a significant impact on the world. He was best known to the general public for his many movie and television roles: "Renegades," "Dances with Wolves," "The Doors," "Hidalgo," "Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee," "Grey Owl," “Walker, Texas Ranger,” and “X-Files,” to name a few.  Others knew him as an activist who supported the Rainforest Foundation Project and as a spokesperson for the Human Rights for Indigenous People of the World. As a musician, he toured worldwide with Sting to raise awareness of the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. On other occasions, he shared the stage with Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Jackson Browne, and Joni Mitchell.

Floyd and Tracy at the First Americans in the Arts,
Beverly Hills CA 2006

To the Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota he was a distinguished elder who possessed a wealth of knowledge regarding the history of his people. His recognition, and understanding, of treaty rights made him an invaluable leader in the American Indian Movement.

“Banishment,” Floyd said, “was the strongest punishment imposed on a tribal member. It was very effective because the shame of being ostracized from their tribe was intolerable, and in the old days, they had nowhere else to go. They wouldn’t be accepted into any other tribe. I don’t think it would work today because it is the environment that has failed them. The pop culture and loose morality that they are exposed to everyday has become more important to them than their traditional values. It is shameful the way some of our young women dress now, in clothing that exposes their body parts. This is not our way. Our women are a sacred part of all life, and the music that the young people listen to now destroys this belief. Song lyrics and videos portray women as sex objects, and name-calling is prevalent.”

I asked Floyd, “How can the Indian culture be kept alive for the young people who want to blend in with their non-Indian peers?”

He said, “They are typical children. They want to be popular. They want to be cool. The reality is that Native Americans working in motion pictures must create their own opportunities, and think about the impact on future generations. They need to reshape their cinematic image. We shouldn’t bend to mainstream films and how Hollywood wants to present us. We need to look at what our young people are watching and listening to and integrate our cultural beliefs into this. Our traditions must be kept alive, and film gives us this opportunity.”

His words, spoken over six years ago, still ring true today, and I wonder, who will be the next great spokesperson for Indian youth? Who will produce a film that proudly portrays the traditional values of the American Indian?

This post is a tribute to Floyd Red Crow Westerman who passed away in December 2007. It does not commemorate any particular date, milestone, or occasion relating to his noteworthy life, it was triggered only by a day spent cleaning out files and a conversation I felt compelled to share. I had many discussions with Floyd in the brief years that I knew him, and the take away was always a profound awareness of his wisdom and the world that we live in.