Aboriginal
People Staying Sober ~
One Day at a
Time
 |
By Marilyn Pittman, B.A.,
R.N.,
Grad. Cert. Alcohol and Other Drug Nursing.
YUIN Aboriginal Nation Australia
From a talk by Marilyn
(Puckowe ~ Grandmother Spirit)
given at the
NATIONAL ABORIGINAL DRUG AND ALCOHOL
NETWORK CONFERENCE
Darwin, Australia, 15th-17th June, 1999. |
Editor’s
Introduction
The sobriety, recovery, healing, and wellness
issues for Aboriginal Australians are very
similarto those of the indigenous peoples
of Turtle Island (North America). Marilyn
Pittman, whose indigenous name is Puckowe,
is an Aboriginal woman whose people are from
the Yuin country located on the south coast
of the Australian state of New South Wales
(NSW). This talk was given at a conference
in the city of Darwin, Australia, which is
in the extreme north of the country in the
Australian Northern Territory. Part of the
talk has to do with advocating for the support
of indigenous Australians in their struggle
for sobriety in the creation of the National
Indigenous Australian Council on Substance
Misuse. Another part of the talk deals with
competing approaches to healing the drug
and alcohol problems among the indigenous
peoples of Australia. These different approaches
are defined by the terms abstinence,
sobriety, harm minimization and harm reduction. Just
as in North America, some argue for complete
avoidance of intoxicating substances (abstinence,
sobriety). Some say use of chemical intoxicants
is possible for Native people under certain
circumstances (harm reduction, harm minimization).
Puckowe and many others come out strongly
for complete abstinence from chemical intoxicants
for people whose life is at risk if they
drink, drug, or use. She talks about the
details of this in her presentation and asks
the question: “How can we look after
our land if we are drunk?”
Introduction
This paper will look at some of the stories of
Aboriginal people in NSW who have managed to
stay sober over a number of years. These are
success stories of Aboriginal people who have
been able to give up the grog – and other
drugs – and live a spiritual way of life.
The presenter – herself a sober Aboriginal
person – has worked in the alcohol and
other drug field for a number of years and has
grown up with the often devastating consequences
of the use of alcohol and other drugs in our
community. She has also lived through the sickness
and death of her mother, from alcohol related
brain damage (Korsakoff’s). This paper
will explore the effects of alcohol and other
drug abuse, in our communities and the ways in
which people can make changes in their life.
The Talk
Well, hello and Good Morning! My name is Marilyn
Pittman and before I begin, I would like to acknowledge
the land and the people of Larrikia country in
the region around the city of Darwin. I thank
you for your welcome. It is with gratitude and
respect that I have listened to the stories of
the traditional owners of this country.
Who I am:
As I said, my name is Marilyn Pittman. I am an
a Aboriginal woman from the Yuin Nation, South
Coast NSW. I am a Registered Nurse and have been
a Registered Nurse for near on twenty years.
I have worked in the alcohol and other drug field
for quite a few years now, I have post-graduate
qualifications in the alcohol and other drug
field, and I have worked in both community-controlled
and mainstream health services. I am also a member
of the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Nurses - currently employed as a Lecturer
with the Indigenous Studies Unit, of the Koori
Centre––Sydney University. I would
like to talk here about the story we find in
relation to drug and alcohol use in our own Aboriginal
communities.
Patterns of drinking and drug use in Aboriginal
communities and our responses.
Most of us at this conference are aware of the
patterns of alcohol and drug use in our communities:
we see it every day as we go about our business
of trying to help our own people. Probably most
of you have seen the statistics that were released
in 1996 by the Commonwealth Department of Human
Services. It might be useful for us to review these
statistics at this time. One of the first points
made in this national survey was that:
“A smaller proportion
of urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
peoples drink alcohol (62%) compared to the general
population living in urban areas (72%).
It is worth noting that this
survey found the same patterns of alcohol and
other drug use in both urban and remote communities.
What is important about this is: that nearly
a third of our people don’t drink alcohol at all. This is very
encouraging and belies the belief that all of our
people are “drunks.” In fact, we drink
less than the broader community.
What is disturbing though, is that when we do
drink, it is not only hazardous but harmful levels
of drinking. These are the levels of drinking which
bring alcohol related brain damage, liver disease,
disability, forms of insanity, family violence
and suicide to our people. What is also interesting
about these statistics is that the surveyors actually asked Indigenous people what we think about these
levels of drinking in our communities. The finding
is very significant:
“Alcohol repeatedly
emerged as the overriding issue of concern for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples.
Ninety-five percent of the urban population regards
it as a serious problem and 63% regard alcohol
or alcohol related violence as the most serious
social issue facing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander community today. Two thirds (66%) believe
it is the cause of the most drug-related deaths
in Indigenous communities, and 55% believe it to
be the single drug of most concern. Alcohol related
crime is nearly twice as prevalent in the Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander community than in the
general community.
Most of us don’t particularly like to look
at these statistics, but in reality they just reflect
what we already know – that alcohol and drug
abuse (I believe the picture is similar in regard
to the use of other drugs) – is decimating
our communities. It is a bit like an alcoholic
or addict who does not want to, or can’t
face the realities of their drug use. This is a
painful process, it is not easy, but it is one
which must be faced if our communities are going
to survive well into the 21st century. These statistics
tell us that it is alcohol and other drug use that
is of most concern to our people. And alcohol and
other drug abuse is not just about sitting down
and drinking – it is about all the madness,
the violence, the despair, the suicides and the
family breakdown that goes with it.
Aboriginal people have attempted
to respond to this situation with community controls
on drinking levels, night patrols, training of
Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Workers, detox and
rehabilitation units, and most importantly, attempts
to support Aboriginal people to get sober and help
for the families of people who misuse alcohol and
other drugs. Most of these attempts have been seriously
under funded and lacking in ongoing training for
Aboriginal workers, who are seriously overworked.
This brings us to the issues of funding and what
forms of treatment options are offered to members
of the Aboriginal community.
Differences of opinion
about the use of words in the alcohol and other
drug field and the implications for treatments
offered.
There has been some mention at this conference
about the use of words in the alcohol and other
drug field and it has been suggested that perhaps
this is just a minor issue, which we will somehow
outgrow. I hope this is the case, and having
worked in the alcohol and other drug field for
a number of years, I can assure I have no wish
to add to any controversy in this area. What
I do need to say though, is that having listened
to the many voices of sober Aboriginal people
at this conference, and the many sober Aboriginal
people I have met in my travels over the years – that the case
for sobriety needs to be supported in the Aboriginal
community. By sobriety I mean complete abstinence
from the use of intoxicating chemical substances.
From my own experience of having grown up in the
Aboriginal community and the difficulties of an
alcoholic family, of having survived active alcoholism
myself and having listened to many Aboriginal people
in my time, I believe that sobriety is the major
source of strength and survival for Aboriginal
peoples. It is the way we break the cycle of addiction
and despair and suicide in our communities. It
is the way we bring back culture and hope to our
communities, and are able to pass on the ways of
our old people to the next generation.
This is no mere battle about
words. It has implications for funding of services
and resources to Aboriginal communities. It is
being well fought out at a national level, although
I believe the case for sobriety has been largely
silenced in this debate. Those who support sobriety
are accused of being prohibitionists, when in
reality, the option of not
drinking and drugging,
is only sought as a strategy for people for whom
alcohol and other drug use is actually a problem.
There needs to be no prohibition in the broader
Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal community for whom
drug use is not a life or death issue – unlike
for those of us, for whom it is.
I believe we have a responsibility, as health
and welfare workers, whether we work in the Aboriginal
or non-Aboriginal community, to inform people with
severe alcohol and drug related problems, that
they have an illness that could kill them, send
them crazy or make them suicidal. And we need to
inform them, that there is a way out, and refer
them to the organisations and Elders of their community
who can help them. Not to do so, I believe is to
condemn them to a life of insanity, incarceration
or death. This is just the same responsibility
we have to a person who is a diabetic or has a
heart condition or suffers from cancer, and I believe
it is no mere debate about words.
Already in the alcohol and
other drug literature in relation to Aboriginal
communities, there have been statements denying
that alcoholism and addictions are actual illnesses
that affect people in this way. From the works
of many fine people who have done a great deal
to assist Aboriginal communities – something
I have no wish to deny – come these statements.
For example in Gray and Sagger’s most recent
book “Dealing with Alcohol,” they state
that they “strongly contest the view that
excessive alcohol use is a disease.” Likewise,
Maggie Brady’s most recent book, “The
Grog Book” (delivered free to Aboriginal
communities) states openly, on a number of occasions,
that alcoholism or addiction is definitely not
a disease or an illness. Whilst all of these people
have done a lot of good work with Aboriginal communities
- I have no doubt about that - I believe they do
a disservice, to Aboriginal communities who are
trying to help our people achieve sobriety. Perhaps
they needed to be at this conference and listen
to some of the stories of the people here.
These are the debates that are happening
on a national level in Australia and could have
an impact on your community organisation when it
comes to funding and resources for workers. Even
in Sydney, where we are supposed to be close to
these resources, there is no government funded
organisation, specifically for Aboriginal people,
which will teach people that they have an illness
and that there is a way out. And I believe this
to be a sorry state of affairs for our people.
Stories
of hope and change in Aboriginal communities,
particularly in NSW.
As I’ve mentioned before, I have had the
opportunity to travel particularly throughout
New South Wales talking with Aboriginal people
about what is going on in our communities. Often
the story is the same; I have no need to repeat
it here. At the same time, I have been blessed
to meet many sober Aboriginal people: people
with one day, one year, six years, ten years
and even thirty years sober. These are the people
of our community who have lived through the hell
of addiction and survived, who shouldn’t
really be here, who live on to be useful and
creative members in our communities. They have
a message to be passed on. They need to be supported
in that process and not be told that the beliefs
they hold, which saved their lives, are not “scientifically
correct.” As
Aboriginal people, we are great storytellers.
There is deep meaning in these stories, like
the ones we have heard at this conference. I
believe we ignore them to our peril.
Possible
areas of agreement in relation to alcohol and
other drug problems, in Aboriginal communities
and implications for a National Indigenous Organisation.
Finally, despite all that I have said about areas
of disagreement – though I hope you can understand
why – I do believe, as has been stated previously,
that there is developing a national possibility
for agreement in relation to alcohol and other
drugs in Aboriginal communities. Most notably,
is the formation of this Indigenous
Australian Council on Substance Misuse. And I take the point
made by a conference participant about what it
has taken to get us this far, and thank him and
others for the work they have done. This being
the case, there is still some work to be done in
consulting with our communities about this proposal,
and I do hope that the voices for sobriety will
not be silenced, in this debate, for the reasons
I have outlined.
The areas on which we could agree
seem to me to be that
• the misuse of alcohol
and other drugs is the cause of major problems
within our communities
• that addiction itself is a chronic relapsing
condition, through which people need support and
treatment––not judgment. It is
a health issue, not a moral issue.
• that we need to advocate
for better funding and resources of services
for Indigenous services and equity in funding
across the country
• that we need a national
body that is truly representative of the
diversity of views within Indigenous communities
• and certainly I would
add that the practice of abstinence be enabled
in Aboriginal communities, rather than disparaged
amongst Aboriginal people
• also I believe that
the practice of what could more strictly
be called harm minimisation, is already happening
in many Aboriginal communities and also needs
to be encouraged according to community wishes.
Needle exchanges, methadone programs, controlled
drinking programs etc. can also assist people.
But I believe personally, that this should not
be at the expense of passing on the message to
people that they have an illness that can be
treated, if not cured.
Many of these issues, I
believe will continue to be discussed as
this national body is formed. Obviously I don’t
believe we can resolve them here today, but
I thank you for listening to me, as I have attempted
to give you a picture of some of the
issues we face in NSW.
 |
‘Miryyal
Dreaming’; Puckowe’s drawing
of Mother and Child
~ Front Cover of the Catalogue at the Goulburn
Aboriginal Artist’s Exhibition about
the Stolen Generations (1999) |
These stories should not
be forgotten.
So as, we go forward today, in forming this National
Indigenous Organisation on Substance Misuse,
let’s not forget the stories of Aboriginal
people who have made changes to their life in
this way: people who have gone on to make a difference
in their communities, who have brought back the
culture, who have returned to their families,
and are an example to our youth who are struggling
with alcohol and other drug misuse.
And finally let us remember
those of us who didn’t
make it: the youth in your community who last week
committed suicide, or who was locked up with speed
psychosis. Or that old fellow you know, who died
with alcohol related brain damage – someone
who died before the wealth of their experience
could be passed on to the next generation. Let
us remember the young people who are our future
elders – it is to them that we owe the results
of our endeavours. Let us form a national Indigenous
organisation that can in reality, bring back the
old ways when we lived as a largely drug-free and
caring society: we owe this to our children.
Perhaps I could leave you, with some of the words
spoken at the1995 HOPE Gathering in Cairns, Australia:
“Is it our right to
drink or our responsibility to
get sober? Aunty Mary Graham, an Elder from Brisbane
said that in the old way we wouldn’t
have had a Human Rights Commission, we would have
had a Human Responsibilities Commission. We already
knew we each had rights as humans—to
eat, to have love, and to have water—but
what was more important was our responsibility
to help each other to survive, to look after ourselves
with dignity, to look after our Elders, our dreaming
sites and lands. Can
we look after our land if we are drunk?
Puckowe’s
Family
 |
Kioloa
coastline – the
place where Puckowe’s Great Grandmother
was born in 1886. You can see a picture
of her here “Mrs Page” and
a story written about her in the Sydney
Morning Herald in 1956 – which
makes Puckowe a very proud ‘one
of the 97!’ On the left- in
the group photo - you’ll see
Puckowe as a child (in the middle on
the left hand side) with her sister,
her Great Grandmother and a few more
of the 97! To find out more about Puckowe’s
family you can go to:
http://www.shoalhaven.net.au/~cathyd/budawang/welcome.html |
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