A passionate call to action, Firewater examines alcohol─its history, the myths surrounding it, and its devasting impact on Indigenous people. Drawing on his years of experience as a Crown Prosecutor in Treaty 6 territory, Harold Johnson challenges readers to change the story we tell ourselves about the drink that goes by many names─booze, hooch, spirits, sauce, and the evocative "firewater." Confronting the harmful stereotype of the "lazy, drunken Indian," and rejecting medical, social and psychological explanations of the roots of alcoholism, Johnson cries out for solutions, not diagnoses, and shows how alcoholism continues to kill so many. Provocative, irreverent, and keenly aware of the power of stories, Firewater calls for people to make decisions about their communities and their lives on their own terms.
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Publisher:
Regina, Saskatchewan :, University of Regina Press,, [2016]
ISBN:
9780889774377
Branch Call Number:
362.292 JOH
Characteristics:
xiv, 180 pages : illustrations ; 19 cm
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Add a CommentVery interesting book! A look at the problem of alcohol in the Indigenous community. The author has been touched by alcohol in his personal and professional life. He looks at the history of his people and what solutions have been tried and how they have failed and tries to take onus away from blaming everything on history or the rest of society. If you are touched in anyway by alcohol or addiction, you should read this book.
I laud the author for his blunt talk and forthrightness, but otherwise the writing is poor.
"Firewater", should be read with an open mind . its unusual literary style speaks to a very important issue, namely the powerful grip that alcohol has on not just the native community but on all of our human societies. Its an obvious cry from the heart and its contents, if taken to heart have the potential to be transformative. "Firewater" deserves to be widely read.