Recovery the Native Way - Workbook

By:
Dr. Alf H. Walle, Erskine College

Published 2008

This workbook is designed to be used with Recovery the Native Way, a short book in this series that deals with the impact that your Native heritage might have on your substance abuse as well as how your traditions might contribute to a fruitful and positive recovery. A person’s culture and its importance to emotional health are emphasized. When their way of life is weakened or when people lose touch with it, pain can result. This suffering may lead to substance abuse.

If, on the other hand, people have a good relationship with their culture, it can be a source of comfort and strength that can help them to cope and recover. The goal of Recovery the Native Way and this workbook is to deal with how cultural issues can lead both to substance abuse and recovery. The ideas presented largely reflect the experiences of Handsome Lake, the nineteenth century leader who overcame alcoholism and helped his tribe to do the same. Because this book is inspired by the experiences of actual Native people who have successful overcame addiction, I hope it will ring true and help you. By using this workbook when reading Recovery the Native Way, you can better understand yourself and your behavior. This is a key to recovery.

Specific exercises in this workbook correspond to chapters in Recovery the Native Way. You will read a chapter from the book and then use the workbook to clarify your personal feelings. There are no right or wrong answers as long as you are honest and true to yourself. If you respond truthfully and carefully, the effort can be a very useful tool of your recovery. Most basically, the workbook will help you better understand your Native heritage, the mainstream culture, and the relationship between the two. Work hard and good luck.

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION. PROLOGUE TO PART 1: A PUZZLING AFFLICTION. EXERCISE 1: THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY. EXERCISE 2: A PROUD TRADITION. EXERCISE 3: WHY ME? PROLOGUE TO PART 2: CULTURAL DISTRESS AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE. EXERCISE 4: DIFFERENT CURES FOR DIFFERENT PEOPLE. EXERCISE 5: STRESS AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE. PROLOGUE TO PART 3: THE LEGACY OF HANDSOME LAKE. EXERCISE 6: HARD TIMES FOR THE IROQUOIS. EXERCISE 7: THE POWER OF HANDSOME LAKE. EXERCISE 8: A PATH TO RECOVERY. EXERCISE 9: LANDMARKS. PROLOGUE TO PART 4: DIFFERENT STRATEGIES OF RECOVERY. EXERCISE 10: HANDSOME LAKE AND SELF-HELP. EXERCISE 11: HANDSOME LAKE AND THERAPY. EXERCISE 12 HANDSOME LAKE AND YOU. APPENDIX: POSTERS OF THE PATH AND LANDMARKS.