The 500-member community of Alkali Lake is located in a remote area of British Columbia, about 35 miles from Williams Lake in the Cariboo Region of the Province. It is significant in the world of addictions recovery because of a sobriety movement that began there in the early 1970s, when Phyllis Chelsea made the decision to stop drinking after her daughter refused to come home with her. Phyllis sought help from an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) counselor in Williams Lake, and she was soon joined by her husband, Andy. The two of them had been sober nearly two years when they welcomed the next member. From those humble beginnings, Alkali Lake transformed itself from a community devastated by alcoholism to a true recovery community that would ultimately affect aboriginal communities around the world.

A 1985 film, The Honour of All, covers the sobriety movement in the Alkali Lake community from 1971 to 1985, ending with an international conference on recovery hosted at Alkali Lake. Alkali Lake’s struggle, to free itself from alcoholism and to heal its traumatic history of genocide and oppression, continues to this day, and because of this, the ­community’s sober leadership maintains a long term commitment to encouraging traditional ceremonies, 12 Step recovery groups and providing professional therapy and workshops for community members. This article recounts the 10-year involvement of a non-Native addiction professional in Alkali Lake and offers some lessons learned that might be of benefit to counselors working with Native communities.

Early involvement in Alkali Lake
The many recovery support activities within Alkali Lake, developed over the course of the past 37 years, created an environment in which a non-Native therapist could become part of this community.

I went to Alkali Lake with some history of multicultural experience that prepared me for the work there. I was born and reared on a ranch near Silver City, New Mexico.  I grew up speaking Spanish and also knew Apache and Pima families. Both my parents had bilingual/bicultural experience. From 1986 through 1988 I was enrolled at the University of Iowa in a Master’s level program for addiction counselors that included a bilingual/bicultural certificate in Spanish, as well as a focus on Native American culture. I also had been playing the flute music of the Andes Mountains Indians and Native Americans since 1980.

I first visited Alkali Lake in 1999 as a guest speaker at its annual recovery celebration event. Meeting some of the people from The Honour of All was thrilling, since I had been showing the film to my patients for years. I continued to attend Alkali Lake’s yearly recovery celebration. Each time I spent the week leading up to the event helping the community members with preparations, I learned more about the community and its ongoing struggle to keep the sobriety movement going.  We also had visits from Alkali Lake Band members to the Betty Ford Center (BFC) Professional-in-Residence (PIR) Program in 2000 and 2001. Those visits helped many of my colleagues and my supervisor, David Burgdorf, all of whom had seen the film, become enthusiastic with regard to developing a serious relationship about sobriety with this First Nations community. There was hope that these encounters could help increase the BFC staff cross-cultural competency and help us be of better service to local tribal members.

I returned to Alkali Lake in 2004 for their annual recovery celebration. The week-long preparation leading to the Round-up was an opportunity for me to revisit a challenge I had faced before. There is considerable difference between “Native time” and Seme7 (pronounced: seh’ meh huh) time.” There also is a difference between Native values and non-Native values around organizing and accomplishing. I could see on Monday all the things that needed to happen by Friday and had what I thought were some excellent ideas for making the celebration event better and more efficient. Ken Johnson and other event organizers were to meet me at the powwow arbor at 2:00 pm to get started. At 4:00 pm, nobody had yet arrived and my frustration level had reached an “8” on a scale of “1-10.”  I couldn’t really carry out the things I believed needed to be done because I lacked tools and support.  About 7:30 pm, four or five cars pulled in and community helpers piled out and started doing a multitude of things that weren’t even on my list. This pattern continued throughout the week and when Friday came around, everything seemed to turn out beautifully except that very little on my list had been accomplished. Those who attended, including me, had transformational experiences, celebrated sobriety and made a commitment to return again next year. How could this be?

I felt embarrassed that I had been so arrogant and that the event was quite phenomenal, despite my concerns and plans. This seems to be a common issue for non-Natives serving in First Nations and American Indian Communities. We try to impose our values and expectations in a variety of ways. Many get frustrated, give up and move on.

With the retirement of Dr. Tony Stickle, who had served as a therapist for members of the Alkali Lake community, I was invited to BFC to serve in this role. Beginning in August 2005, I began making monthly visits to Alkali Lake. The challenges were numerous, including: the long distance travel required to get to the community; absence from my family; and my other work responsibilities at Betty Ford. There was also the challenge of attempting to follow in the footsteps of retired Dr. Stickle, who had become a beloved member of the community during his years of service there.
A number of outreach efforts were made to help the community accept and use me as the new therapist. My visits were announced on the radio, and flyers were posted at the Esketemc Health Centre. I also went out into the community to introduce myself; this process was slow and I sometimes wondered if it was going to work.

In addition to individual sessions, I offered a 12-hour family workshop during some of my visits; art therapy groups for women; a week-long men’s workshop; and within the last year, I have been working with students at the Sxoxomic School teaching them Native American flute as a vehicle of alcohol and drug use prevention. This position has been multifaceted and I have really had to get to know the community and its needs to learn how to be of optimal service.

After my first year, I had a number of experiences which let me know that I was gaining the acceptance of the community. One happened on a visit to a band member’s home when the four year-old granddaughter and four of her friends saw me coming and all began running towards me with hands out-stretched yelling, “Patrick, Patrick, hugs, hugs, hugs.” Another happened as we were preparing for the 30th Annual Alkali Lake recovery celebration event in 2006. I saw my supervisor, Irene Johnson, sitting near a camp fire talking with five or six other community members. I approached the group and noticed the fire was surrounded by two concentric circles of patterned, interlocking bricks to make a fire pit. I commented, “Wow, awesome,” and the group burst into laughter some falling and rolling on the ground. I was amazed. What could be so funny? I asked Irene about it. She laughingly said that she had just finished telling the group that the Seme7 (non-Natives) would see the patterned bricks of the new fire pit and say, “Wow, awesome,” I had made her prediction come true only moments after she foretold it. I laughed at my comment with the rest of them and said, “And I thought I was making such great progress at becoming an Indian.” The group burst into laughter once again.

Since many of the clients had sobriety and trauma recovery experience, they were able to talk about the childhood trauma they experienced of physical, emotional and sexual abuse at home and at the residential schools. I was hearing things that were so unimaginable that I needed to be defused and debriefed upon my return home. The truly amazing thing to me was that these individuals had survived, and now, because of their sobriety, were continuing to recover.

One of the challenges in doing this work at the current level was for the BFC administration to see value in the work. In 2006, I invited Dr. Garrett O’Connor, the Chief Psychiatrist at BFC and Mike Neatherton, Chief Operating Officer, to join me and some Betty Ford alumni for the 30th Annual Alkali Lake celebration event. There were 12 of us from BFC and each had a profound, transformational experience. From that time, support at the BFC grew for continuing to work with and support the recovery movement at Alkali Lake.

I was introduced to the Sweat Lodge Ceremony in 1999 by Freddy Johnson who said: “I’m keeping the heat low for the Californian.”  I remember coming out of the lodge after the first round, as is the practice at Alkali Lake, and feeling quite certain I would soon die from the heat. With the support of others, I was able to stay in the moment, one breath at a time and I survived my first sweat. I have since become a regular participant.
I joined the Esket community in fasting on the mountain in 2005 and 2006, an experience that challenged me to grow spiritually by facing my fears and acquainting myself with the Creator as It manifests in all the forms of Nature. Prior to my first experience on the mountain, I jokingly said to Freddy Johnson, “This can’t be good for you, you know, to expose yourself to the elements for four days and four nights without food or water.” He laughed and said: “Well, I don’t know, we’ve been doing it for over 10,000 years and it hasn’t hurt us so far.”

In June 2007, I was blessed with the opportunity to attend parts of the four-day Unity Ride. This annual four-day horse journey began in 2000 as a way to help heal the wounds of the 1995 Gustafsen Lake Standoff (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustafsen_Lake_Standoff). This siege lasted over 30 days, and involved 14 indigenous ­people and four non-natives in a dispute over sacred Sun Dance lands. According to Alkali Lake Chief, Charlene Belleau, members of the Alkali Lake Band Council were involved in ­negotiations between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the ­protesters.

During the event in 2007, RCMP officers made an official apology for their involvement in the Residential School saga. When the apology was made, tears were flowing throughout the crowd. It was a profound and healing experience. This eventually led to the official 2008 Canadian Government apology.

Another component of my personal/professional transformation has to do with music. In learning some of the sweat lodge songs and working with Freddy Johnson and Arthur Dick, I began to see how music could be used to inspire spiritual awareness. This led me into my first composition, a musical exploration of the 12 Steps, Recovery Spirit, which was released in 2002. The 2002 release was followed by two more 12 Step CDs in 2006 and 2008. This transformation has helped me share the 12 Step experience both with Natives and non-Natives, using music that reaches deep into the soul where I find the 12 Steps and the Red Road (native spirituality) come ­together.

My experience at Alkali Lake has changed me in a professional, as well as personal sense. I am grateful to the people of Alkali Lake who have been very patient with me as I learned to love and respect their culture and their ways.  I’ve learned that through loving and respecting First Nations’ individuals, families and whole communities, I can be helpful, even though I’m Seme7 (non-Native), in ways I wouldn’t have thought important prior to my cultural sensitization. At times, just being present to help out in any way needed was adequate.

I am grateful to BFC and Betty Ford Institute for seeing the potential in this assignment. We are offering support to a recovery movement which has had a positive impact on countless Native communities throughout North America and is also an inspiration in Australia. The entire culture of BFC has been affected in a very positive way through its involvement with the Alkali Lake community. Because of the relationship with Alkali Lake, many new doors are beginning to open for BFC and Betty Ford Institute to be of service in various cultures.

Patrick Haggerson is a Training Specialist/Therapist at the Betty Ford Institute.

References and ­Recommended Reading
Arbogast, D. (1995). Wounded Warriors A Time for Healing. Omaha, NE: Little Turtle Publications.
Abbott, P.J. (1998). Traditional and western healing practices for alcoholism in American Indians and Alaskan Natives.  Substance Use and Misuse 33(13), 2605–2646.
Chelsea, P and Chelsea, A. (1985). Honour of All: The People o f Alkali Lake.  (video documentary by P. Lucas) British Columbia, Canada: The Alkali Lake Tribal Council.  
Cohen, K. (2003). Honoring the Medicine: The Essential Guide to Native American Healing. New York, NY: Random House Ballantine Publishing Group.
Coyhis, D.L.; White, W.L. (2006). Alcohol Problems in Native America: The Untold Story of Resistance and Recovery—“The Truth about the Lie.”Colorado Springs, CO: White Bison, Inc.
Coyhis, D.L. (2009). Understanding Native American Culture, Second Edition. Colorado Springs, CO: Coyhis Publishing and Consulting, Inc.
Guilory, B.M., Willie, E. and Duran, E. (1988). Analysis of a community organizing case study: Alkali Lake. Journal of Rural Community Psychology 9(1), 27–36.  
Haggerson, P. (2002). Recovery Spirit (music CD) La Quinta, CA: CTC Music Productions.
Haggerson, P. (2008). Recovery Spirit 2 (music CD) Indio, CA: RuffJazz Records.
Howorth, C.J., Stiffarm, L.A., Webster, D., Webster, K. (1992). Sharing, Caring and Consequences: A Study on Sobriety and Healing at Alkali Lake Reserve. Ottawa, Canada: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN RIGHT OF CANADA.
Jilek, W. (1994). Traditional healing in the prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug abuse.  Transcultural Psychiatric Research Review 31,219–256.
Sue, D.W. (1981). Counseling the Culturally Different Theory and Practice. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Taylor, V. (1987). The triumph of the Alkali Lake Indian band.  Alcohol Health and Research World Fall, 12(1), 57.
Willie, E. (1989) The Story of Alkali Lake: Anomaly of community recovery or national trend in Indian Country? Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly 6(3–4), 167–174. 

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