6
S moke S ignals
NOVEMBER 1, 2017
Coalition seeks to initiate positive change
By Danielle Frost
Smoke Signals staff writer
What constitutes substance use –
and abuse – can be a touchy subject
and garner as many opinions as
those discussing it.
However, there’s one point most
can agree on: Using alcohol as a
teen, especially when “experimen-
tation” crosses the line into binge
drinking and other harmful behav-
iors, is not good.
A Grand Ronde Coalition recently
held its first public meeting on Thurs-
day, Oct. 12 in the Employee Service
Building and was focused on that
very issue. The Tribe has received a
state grant, Partnership for Success,
aimed at building a safe and healthy
community, and raising awareness
regarding alcohol use.
A coalition is a voluntary, formal
agreement and collaboration between
groups of community members. Meet-
ings began a year ago. The mission is
that through a “consistent and holis-
tic” approach to education, culture,
clear communication and healthy
leadership, it can help the community.
“We wanted to open up these
meetings,” said Cristina Lara, Social
Services Prevention coordinator.
“We want to see how we can help
and hear from our community and
get the word out about negative and
positive peer pressure.”
The group’s vision is for people in
the Grand Ronde community to feel
safe, have a sense of belonging and
make positive contributions to one
another.
“We want to live in a community
bonded through healing,” Lara said.
According to the Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention, exces-
sive alcohol use led to approximately
88,000 deaths and 2.5 million years
of potential life lost each year in the
United States from 2006 to 2010,
and was responsible for one in 10
deaths among working-age adults
aged 20 to 64 years.
With these sobering statistics, one
of the coalition’s first tasks was to
conduct a community health survey
about attitudes toward alcohol use.
Some of the findings include:
• Youth binge drinking is high-
er than the non-Native popula-
tion, and the youth are less likely
than their peers to say that binge
drinking is risky. According to
the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, binge drinking
is defined as five or more drinks
within two hours for men, and four
or more drinks for women. Most
people younger than age 21 who
drink report binge drinking usu-
ally do so on multiple occasions.
• Twenty-four percent of Confed-
erated Tribes of Grand Ronde
eighth-graders and 33 percent of
11th-graders said that their fam-
ily did not have clear rules about
alcohol and drug use. Further, 81
percent of the 11th-graders and
40 percent of eighth-graders said
alcohol was easy or very easy to
obtain.
• 70 percent of online survey respon-
dents and 50 percent of housing
respondents said that underage
drinking is common and not likely
to change.
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Barry Larsen speaks during the Grand Ronde Coalition meeting in the Employee Service Building on Thursday, Oct. 12.
In the background Sydney Clark, left, and Dorene Gillespie listen.
• Regarding adult drinking habits,
87 percent online and 89 percent
in housing said they did not drink
and drive within the last 30 days,
and approximately the same num-
ber abstained from binge drinking.
Carmen Mercier is a Tribal Elder,
Vocational Rehabilitation casework-
er and coalition member.
“Some parents haven’t thought
about their values around alcohol
use,” Mercier said. “It would be good
to give the opportunity [for them] to
explore what those are and share
them with their kids.”
According to its website, the Part-
nership for Success grant programs
aim to reduce substance misuse and
strengthen prevention at the state,
Tribal and jurisdictional levels be-
cause alcohol is the most widely used
addictive substance in Oregon and
the United States.
The prevention piece is accom-
plished by helping grantees access
state funding for prevention strat-
egies, based on the premise that
change begins at the community
level, and that through collaboration
states and communities of high need
can overcome challenges associated
with substance misuse.
“We realize that sometimes when
you live (in a community) you don’t
quite see the effects of alcohol and
addiction,” Lara said. “We (the coa-
lition) want to see how we can help
get the word out about negative and
positive peer pressure, being sober
and how intergenerational trauma
impacts (young people).”
Intergenerational trauma has
been researched at length during the
past decade. Bonnie Duran, director
for Indigenous Health Research at
the Indigenous Wellness Research
Institute, says, “Many present-day
health disparities can be traced back
through epigenetics to a ‘colonial
health deficit,’ the result of coloni-
zation and its aftermath.”
A few of the public meeting attend-
ees were in recovery. One said that
when he was using, it was a huge
challenge to talk to his son about
staying away from drugs and alcohol
because he “felt like a hypocrite.”
“I didn’t know how to address it,”
he said. “I felt like I didn’t have any
ground to stand on as a parent.”
Lara said that helping parents
and young people to better under-
stand each other is important.
“Parents need to understand that
it is OK to still say ‘No’ to their kids,
and to let them know it is OK to say,
‘I want better for you,’ ” she said.
“Part of the vision for this group is to
have a healed community … to put
strategies into place to help young
people. Trauma will take a long time
to heal. The idea is to figure out how
to build a better foundation.”
Other points brought up during
the first public meeting included
the struggle of communicating with
people who are in the midst of ad-
dictions, and how to support without
enabling them.
“As a human being, I can empa-
thize with the experience of addic-
tion … we are all recovering from
something,” Lara said.
The coalition’s next public meeting
will be held at 4:30 p.m. Thursday,
Nov. 16, at the Employee Service
Building. Dinner will be provided.
All ages are welcome. 
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