November 1962

cvents to follow, it should not seem They would reach for the nearest How “the message” penetrated to a desperate situation strange or unusual that the Indian and easiest temporary or permanent even the Mounties couldn’t handle would turn as a companion to the escape. use of alcohol. Is not liquor a com- Tall Man (for anonymity), a fullpanion for those filled with bitter- blooded member of the Malaseet ness after being robbed, conquered, Tribe, 68 years of age, married with suppressed and confined, while at a grown family, heard about Alcothe same time being Christianized holics Anonymous through one of and civilized by those who have hurt his sons who was working in Conthem? necticut. Tall Man for many years Down through thc years poverty had caused much trouble for his famand sickness have weakened the spirit ily, his tribe, and the law enforceand thinned out the ranks of the vari- ment officers in the area because of ous Tarratine Tribes in Maine and his “excessive drinking.” Here is a Ncw Brunswick. The shame of a brief outline of Tall Man’s story and once proud race being forced to ac- how AA came to the Reserve. cept meager charity has been hard “I first heard of AA six years ago to accept. They ask themselves “Is through my son who became a memthis what Christianity and civiliza- ber in Connecticut. Before my first tion has to offer a peaceful tribe who meeting I thought drinking was a An Indian Named “Tall Man” has lived comfortably off the land?” It takes several generations to daily necessity. Though I had often heard of AA, I felt it was not for me ,

by Richard H. Whittenore chiingc the customs, traditions and although I could see others needed culture of an ethnic group. In 1755 it. At my first meeting I knew there S~crleof Muitte Divisiott of Alcolrolic Relrrrbilirtrtiotr the Indian Brave was a protector, was something for me. I couldn’t put hunter, and warrior. The squaw car- my finger on it at the time but I ried the water, tanned hides, and knew I had a chance. Listening to HRBE years ago a govcrnment The Malaseet (or Malecite) In- T law enforcement official in Ottawa, Canada wrote a letter to the dians scttlcd at Tobiquc Point on the St. John River as late as 1755. They made baskets. Thc brave had no conception of what it meant to work for wages. A brave who worked was a the speakers, and along with the fellowship of AA, I had no feeling of inferiority. I was accepted from the Canadian Mounted Police, Provi- were a part of the Abinaki (or start as a sick man, and all the memsional Headquarters in ~ e w Bruns- Abenaque) Nation closely related to “squaw.” The white man came, conquered and confined the Indian. bers of the group were there to help wick, requesting an explanation con- the Tarratines in Maine who in 1669 With rum, gold and deccit, he tried me stay sober if I accepted the fact cerning the sudden decrease in began to break up into smaller tribcs to gct the brave to work. Here we of being an alcoholic. Indian arrests for intoxication within and movcd eastward after a series of “My first contact with AA was at the Malaseet Reserve in that imme- wars with the Mohawks. have conflict, shame, poverty and hntrcd. What a brccding ground for the Fort Fairfield Group in Maine, diate area. The Provincial Officer in Since the white cxplorcrs and just a few milcs from the New Brunscharge reported that many of his trappers brought rum to the Indians alcoholism! And this has bccn thc situation for four gencrations. Under wick border. After being sober for worst offenders had joined an Al- in the early to Mid-Seventeenth Censimilar pressures and forced changes, six months in AA, I began to undercoholics Anonymous group on the tury, the use of alcohol has presented groups in any race no doubt would stand that this program could benefit Reserve. This was the truth and the new and ever increasing problems to many on my Rcscrvc. So with the only explanation he could offer. this society. When considering the look for rclief from their misery.

help of the AA groups in Maine and After listening to Bill W., the co- New Brunswick (along-the-border founder of AA, and what he went groups), an open meeting was held through to get started, his struggles, on the Reserve on May 3,1958. The failures and heartaches, and how this first reaction to AA coming to the program has worked for so many Reserve was one of confusion, but since the founding, I know that if many became members from the first I work hard and if other members meeting. It was no problem to get feel as I do, this disease (which I am a group started on the Reserve, but sure it is) can be arrested for many- I had to have help from the other not cured, but arrested.” groups to get AA across to many. AA has and will bring the Indian Our meetings are run exactly the and white man closer together in the same as they are on the outside. We understanding of one another’s probfound we did not need any special lems, raise the standard of living, be presentation. I am happy to state that an incentive for the Indian family, in 1958 we started with eighteen and improve the general appearance members and we now have sixty. of the Reservation. This will give the “Every year I make trips to the Indians a common meeting ground different Reserves in Canada. A outside of the church and tribal meetgroup has been started in Eskasoni, ing hall. The sober Indian will once Nova Scotia, and a trip to Eskasoni again walk with dignity and pursue was also made by another member his real purpose in life. of our group in October, 1960. I plan As Tall Man once said to the AA to keep on spreading the AA mes- group at Malaseet, “The white man sage which I must do in order to does not look down on you because keep sober myself. I will go any- you are Indian. He looks down on where, when I can. you as he would anyone who is “The general standard of living drunk, dirty and lazy.” on the Malaseet Reserve has defi- Perhaps the use of alcohol, in nitely been raised-improvements in the last analysis, help preserve a race homes, encouragement in education through its reconversion period, from for our children, and an increase in so-called “heathens and savages” to church attcndancc, not to mention “civilized Christians.” Regarding this many other personal standards which point, I think we can all do a lot of go with a clear and sober mind. soul searching.