Transcript: Martin Waukazoo

Decline of alcoholism through better access to commmunity support programs

[Waukazoo:]: I believe in the urban areas what happened—we came out as a very young population. Most of us were 19, 20, early 20s, we congregated in the local taverns just to be around other Indian people, and the alcohol hit us in the ‘70s, and then it got worse, and worse, and got out of control. As we grew older—you have a child, your priorities change considerably. Your priorities are no longer about you. They’re more about the family and about the—so I think it’s just the maturity of the community, and then there was improved access for a residential treatment program. I went to an Indian treatment program, the Friendship House Association of American Indians in San Francisco. I went through their ninety-day program, came out, and fortunately twenty-five years later, I’ve been alcohol-free.