Will the Phoenix of healing rise from the ashes?
May 4th, 2008
A contact sent me a rather interesting story which ran originally in the North Shore Outlook, a local north Vancouver newspaper. The headline read: Squamish elders torch drug den. When I was able to get past the fact that the writer hadn’t capitalized Elders, I read the article and was fascinated.
A short version of events is that members of the Squamish nation, with the blessing and participation of the police and Squamish council, torched a mobile crack house (an ancient RV) behind the Chief Joe Mathias Centre (North Vancouver). This was after weeks of police investigation resulting in a “search and seizure.” According to the Seattle Times the guy selling the drugs was not a band member and was told to get off band property and not come back (or something to that effect).
Apparently Squamish community members took their cue from the Lummi Nation in Washington whose members burned an old house being used by a local drug dealer. The dealer in that case went to jail.
As I read through the article I was unexpectedly touched. Imagine the pain and grief of these people that they would feel driven to literally put fire to something in the hopes of helping to address an epidemic of drug use that threatens their future generations. How helpless must they feel as they watch their family and community members fall prey to drug abuse and death.
Addressing addiction is not an easy thing for one simple reason. To truly address addiction you must get to the core of the wounding. How many addicts are honest enough with themselves to want to address their deepest fears? Likewise, how many people are strong enough to take responsibility for the condition of their community and their home? It’s easy to blame drug dealers and mobile crack houses, but what makes taking those drugs so attractive to our young people in the first place? What hurts are they trying to numb? What memories are they trying to kill?
It’s true that some children become drug addicts as a result of peer pressure; they want to fit in, to feel they belong. Some of these kids are from good homes with loving parents, they simply get caught up in the moment and feel that they can ‘experiment’ without any negative effects; they won’t get addicted, it’s only for fun.
Other children are at risk from the moment they are born. Their lives are enmeshed with drug abuse from day one. Perhaps one parent uses or both. Maybe they have family members who sell. How on earth do children like this have a chance?
It probably feels good to do something tangible, something that has an immediate effect. Burning something down and saying you are drawing a line in the sand probably feels pretty empowering, but are these same community members willing to throw their own complacency and apathy in the fire and burn the blame from their souls so their children really can have a cleaner tomorrow?
Until people can look at themselves in the mirror and say they did everything possible to keep their children clean and their communities safe, can they honestly expect to change something so prevalent and ugly with grand gestures? No matter how emotionally wrenching.
I read to the end of the piece and not once did it give a number for children or community members to phone if they were suffering from addictions. There were no numbers to call for children who didn’t feel safe in their homes. There were no plans unveiled for treatment centres, support groups or wellness centres. Perhaps these steps have been taken and the reporter didn’t find it interesting enough to mention, I have no idea.
My life has been touched by addictions from day one and I have come to realize that change takes hard work and effort by everyone. It really isn’t enough to send people away for treatment only to welcome them back to same exact environment they left. Communities have to step up and create alternatives to the negative if people are ever willingly going to turn away from the bad to embrace the good; this includes supportive and empowering social programs (including recreational and cultural opportunities not just short term dependency creating band-aids) and jobs.
I can totally understand the frustration, pain and fear that drove these people to burn their enemy’s base of operation, unfortunately, I can also see past the initial surge of emotion that initially rejoiced in this action to the cold hard fact that battling addiction is never as easy as this. If that were so then the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, wives and husbands who spent years smashing liquor bottles in sinks and governments who outlawed drinking on reserves would have enjoyed years of success instead of years of frustration and pain.
I hope this community and others who may be thinking of doing the same thing use the energy and community response initially created by such an extreme action to keep the momentum going. I hope they dig deep and are willing to do the really tough stuff like spend time with their children and loved ones and act as positive healthy role models so that they can set an example worth striving for. My greatest hope is that this community rediscovers itself and its’ true traditional values. Our communities were strong and supportive of one another perhaps they can be again.
I wish them all the love and support imaginable in their struggle against addictions.
All my relations.
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