The Road to Recovery: Drug and Alcohol Addiction
Josephine Alana Bird
Sóekhuwa Tún
Ohkay Owingeh & Cochiti
Sóekhuwa Tún
Ohkay Owingeh & Cochiti
Bird, Josephine, Senior Portrait, 01-25
Research Log 1
Armstrong, Jeanette. “Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community,” in Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith (eds), The Case Against the Global Economy. San Francisco, CA, Sierra Club Books, 1996. Pp 460-470.
Everyone has a family, we all connect through our different pueblos which are our families as described in the article “Sharing One Skin” which summarizes that their most serious teaching is “community comes first in our choices, then family, and then ourselves.”. We have 4 selves as all individuals which are ; the physical self, the emotional self, the thinking-intellectual self, and lastly, the spiritual self. They believe we bond because we are part of the land. The Okanagan refers to a relationship to others by a word that means “our one skin”. They also believe that their bodies are pieces of the land. They mentioned that “our flesh, blood, and bones are Earth-body: in all cycles in which earth moves, so do our bodies”.
Toastie, B. “How place names impact the way we see landscape.” High Country News: Know the West, 1 May 2022, https://www.hcn.org/issues/54.5/people-places-how-place-names-impact- the-way-we-see-landscape.
Places can mean a lot to someone if they gave the place a name or even if they had shared many of memories there which the article “How place names impact the way we see landscape” sums up how landscapes in the west and their names are bonded with peoples stories and memories to the land. They also bond with teachings from the ancestors and events that had occurred at the place.
Suina, Joseph “And Then I went to school: Memories of a pueblo childhood,”. New Mexico Journal of Reading, Winter 1985, Vol. V, No.2.
Life as a native was very hard back then. This author wrote an article on his experience when he went to a white school called: “And then I went to school” that gave us information on how schools were before and how Indians were treated at these white schools back then. He wrote this to tell us how his life changed after going to a white school. He says how he truly didn’t want to give up his culture to join a new one.
Research Log 2: History
At first all I knew what drugs and alcohol did was make people very sick and unhealthy, but I didn’t now know how they affected certain parts of their body, like their decisions or how the parts that are infected by them played a role in how you acted on the outside. But after watching an educational video “How drug and alcohol abuse affect the brain.” by this youtube channel called Ventura Recovery Center I understand what causes the behavior of all addicts, and how it affects their health. Additionally in the video, the creator had said “If someone can stop taking drugs, the brain begins to heal.” (2:45). This is a big message that ties to my topic, it gives motivation to the people who have a family member that they want to see the good in again. It could also educate the addict that they can get better without doing either of those things. And that what they are doing can lead them into a more horrible state.
Not only adults have struggled with addiction, so have college women. Before reading the article ‘Family history of Alcohol Abuse Moderates Effectiveness of a Group of Motivational Intervention in College Women.” I have never known why women get more intoxicated from men. But they do because they metabolize alcohol at slower rates, and they have fewer alcohol metabolizing enzymes so they will quickly become intoxicated and stay that way for a long period of time. Women who have a history of drug use in the family know more about alcohol effects as said in the story that "these women may be better equipped to weigh the pros and cons of drinking, and may be more accepting of the occurrence of alcohol related problems among their peers.” (page 3). This ties to my topic because this shows how some AA meetings can help women to help educate their peers about the pros and cons.
Throughout history there was an outgrowth of alcohol usage from soldiers. But not for getting drunk, the alcohol was used to actually help them during the war. They found out that if alcohol was taken at reasonable quantities, it helped them manage their stress and for a short while, boost their confidence and lessen their inhibitions, which was very helpful for them during combat. But they also got carried away with it at times as said in the article “too much alcohol leads to carelessness and indiscipline” among the soldiers (page 1).The Romans only got drunk was when they were about to get slaughtered so they wouldn’t fully know what was going on so they won’t freak out too much.
Research Log 3: Current State of Issue
Bird, Josephine, December 2024, Ohkay Owingeh
"Researcher at Harrisburg University discusses research of Drug Abuse." by NewsRX
People of different ages struggle with addiction,
but too many deaths are mostly caused by
overdosing. So researchers had begun
researching and came to the conclusion of
creating programs as mentioned in the article
researcher at harrisburg University of Science
and Technology discusses research in Drug
Abuse¨. The programs that were created were the
Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP)
and the Drug and Alcohol Services Information
Systems (DASIS). These programs were used to
help people track their drug usage and also to
monitor them. Also as mentioned in the article
some (technical) platforms that were used to
check and monitor people about drugs¨, plus the
research they had done resulted in these
programs.
There are many different stories that paramedics
had told about what they had saw and heard
during overdose calls. So the article “How DC’s
first sobering center could ease drug and alcohol
addiction” tells us a few stories that paramedics
have experienced with people who have
overdosed from what they saw and what they
heard. And where they take these people to ease
out is the sobering center. It also gives us
information on what the center provides that will
hopefully save lives. But the paramedics choos
e to mostly take them to this center which is the
safer option.
Research Log 4: Global Connections
Even different countries have it harder than others, speaking of Japan. In the article “Japan, the place with the strangest drug debate in the world” by Johann Har, which explains the laws that they have against drugs. Japan has harsh penalties if you are in possession of drugs that can possibly lead up to 7 years, says Har. And this had become a huge thing since the second world war and also because of Japan’s Cannabis Control Act, which restricted a lot of drug use.
So because Japan was defeated, the U.S thought they could oppose drugs from this country and also other countries. Every person must have a reason why they do drugs, but one person from Japan said that they had a reason in which they said “I hated being alone, i used drugs out of loneliness, it was tough living.”
Bird, Josephine, September 2024, Sunset
“A complex psychological
portrait of substance use disorders among
indigenous people in the U.S. by Amber Edinoff
In the indigenous community it had talked about
the four themes that influenced the development
of SUDs in the article “A complex psychological
portrait of substance use disorders among
indigenous people in the U.S. by Amber Edinoff.
The four themes include: Trauma, Historical Loss,
Mood, and Self Discrimination/ esteem, in which
Edinoff stated “lack of traditional and cultural
practices”. Throughout this article Edinoff talks
about each theme and the data that comes with
each one. And also data for people with SUDs and
no SUDs, and how different they looked
throughout the Indigenous community. They also
had come up with a conclusion, which was to
treat these SUDs with cultural treatments within
different communities. They also believe that
having some kind of traditional ways in this
treatment would make it easier and more
comfortable to get rid of the amount of SUDs
within the indigenous community.
Bird, Josephine, February 2025, Plane
“Recent trends in drug abuse in China”by Yu-xia Fang
Another country that has also suffered from drug abuse is China. As said in the article “Recent trends in drug abuse in China” by Yu-xia Fang she talks about how drug abuse had spread quickly since the late 1980’s. From this, the number of registered drug abusers increased from 70,000 in 1990 to more than one million by the end of 2024 says Fang. Illicit drug trafficking had swept most of Southern China. There was a drug-related problem which was the spread of HIV and economic damage. So based on all this information, Fang said “The Chinese Government has started an anti-drug campaign”, which included legislative measures to control drug abuse.
Action Plans:
¨A walk around Double O¨
For my first action plan me and my friends Shanisa Martinez, April Rosetta, and Shyla Padilla had gone on a walk around Ohkay Owingeh on January 16th 2025. The reason I chose this action plan was to relieve the stress and to clear my friends and I ´ s minds, The outcome of this was that we all felt better than we had did before going on a walk.
Bird, Josephine, Feb 21st 2025, Police Station
¨Interview with Double O policeman¨
On Friday February 21st I had interviewed a Policeman who´s name is Adrian Moya. This took place at the Ohkay Owingeh Police Station. What was talked about was his experiences with drugs and alcohol throughout my community and also himself. The outcome was that we made a little poster to put up at the elementary school for the little ones. He also gave me and my peers a piece of advice which was ¨ Don ´ t be afraid to reach out, or let anyone help you out.¨- Adrian Moya