Bumper stickers part of tribal campaign to prevent drug use
By BECKY SHAY Of The Gazette Staff
LAME DEER -- "Banish meth." That and two other catchphrases are in black and white on the bumpers of vehicles driving around the Northern Cheyenne Reservation thanks to a new initiative to address the reservation -- and national -- drug problem.
Three bumper stickers have been circulated on the reservations in recent weeks. The about 3-inch-by-6-inch placards are available at offices throughout Lame Deer. They feature black writing on a white background.
A pile of "Dancing with meth is dancing with death" bumper stickers disappeared within an hour at the front office of Chief Dull Knife Community College on Wednesday. A skeleton with raised knee, as if it is dancing, hovers next to the phrase.
"It gives a strong statement that drugs are not accepted as a way of life for the Cheyenne people," said Holda Roundstone, who has a "Don't meth with me" bumper sticker on the rear of her maroon Buick.
The bumper stickers are one of the first community initiatives by the War on Meth community coalition established by Northern Cheyenne Tribal President Eugene Little Coyote.
The committee includes interdisciplinary representatives -- including Head Start, Tribal Health and law enforcement -- and has about 10 subcommittees. Little Coyote was not available for comment this week.
Retired police officer Homer Limpy fingered a batch of "Banish Meth" bumper stickers sitting in the tribal offices.
"This is definitely going to catch somebody's eye," Limpy said.
Methamphetamine is a community problem, not just a law enforcement or criminal justice issue, said Glenn Littlebird Sr., chief prosecutor for the tribe. Littlebird is a retired Bureau of Indian Affairs criminal investigator with 28 years in law enforcement.
"People in our community have to do their part," Littlebird said. "They have to report these activities."
Several groups have cooperated with funding for programs such as the bumper stickers, including $150,000 from the Tribal Health Board which will pay for activities the rest of this year, said Terry Beartusk, director of the Northern Cheyenne Recovery Center.
"This has really taken on a life of its own," Beartusk said.
The bumper stickers are the first step to get the community involved, Beartusk said. Eventually, the committee would like to offer an activity every week, mostly prevention work with youth.
The group also hopes to offer seminars and work with the legal staff to change language in tribal laws to "help enforce other kinds of consequences for meth use or abuse," Beartusk said.
Getting residents involved is the first step, he said.
"We don't want this to turn into another one of those initiatives that is given some cursory attention with a lot of good intent and then have nothing come of it," Beartusk said.
The committee is hosting a march and rally on May 12.
The march will start at 10 a.m. at the Indian Health Service clinic and continue to the tribal offices, Beartusk said. The rally at the offices will include information, testimonials and entertainment.
Published on Friday, April 28, 2006. Last modified on 4/27/2006 at 8:39 pm
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meanie
wrote on
April 28, 2006 7:29 AM right on! NC people fight that war and win. Do Not allow it into your homes along with alcohol. Let our children know that when they finally find out how destructive that drugs is... it will be "home" where they can go to get away from it. Please do not allow these demons into your house.
Good Job NC
wrote on
April 28, 2006 7:30 AM Amen - finally a war on meth!
Meanie
wrote on
April 28, 2006 7:33 AM Right On ! Northern Cheyenne People. Fight this modern day war people and win. Do not allow meth or alcohol into your home. Keep these demons out of your home. So when your kids need a place to get away from it they will have a place to go..."home"
rzr
wrote on
April 28, 2006 7:59 AM Good to see the leadership taking positive steps!
Lame Deer
wrote on
April 28, 2006 8:18 AM These bumper stickers have caught on like wild fire. The Gazette is wrong on where they come from though. A community member living out of state has sent them back here. They have been funding them. Hopefully the War on Meth Coalition and Board of Tribal health will adapt these for their own. This has just been awesome to see in this community. Looking forward to the May 12 rally.
montana
wrote on
April 28, 2006 8:36 AM i am also native from ft. peck ... the meth around here is really bad too.. its good to see someone actually trying to do something within the community..
ncgirl
wrote on
April 28, 2006 8:45 AM Although bumper stickers and education are a positive step in the right direction, people in the rez communities need to be bold and brave and take a much harder step. Law enforcement needs their help in identifying and convicting the drug dealers and manufacturers. The Tribe has a zero-tolerance ordinance in place that allows temporary exclusion of members who are convicted of drug-related crimes. The Tribe was awarded a half million dollars in funding several years ago to implement a juvenile drug court, as well. Where's the program and where's the money? I would suspect that not one tribal member is unaffected by meth. Every family has a story of a relative who is bound by this addiction, as do I. Good job, NCT.
LD NATIVE
wrote on
April 28, 2006 8:47 AM THANK GOD!! OUR TRIBAL LEADERS EYES ARE OPEN!!!PRAISE THE LORD!!!
Crowgent
wrote on
April 28, 2006 8:47 AM It's very nice to see good & positive articles in the news about the Crow & Cheyenne,it's great let's keep it going. We all need to pitch in and help, instead of sitting there watching the train going by as almost all have done in the past. Times have changed and we need to keep up, so people lets have more positives and our ways alive, how we do this is through our children & grandchildren teach them.
cheygirl
wrote on
April 28, 2006 8:52 AM good job on the bumper stickers
meth is very prevalent and destructive in our chey. community
i hope that more will continue to be done to address this problem
a concerned Lame deerian !
wrote on
April 28, 2006 9:08 AM people just need to inforce what they preach,many COPS live right by dealers yet are they caught yet ? hmmmmmmmmmmmmmlet's see....there still selling,wish they would help the people with this problem by taking the dealers out first.....sheesh......think people !what are to think when they don't do anything but throw in drunks and harrase people when they should be upholding the law. and as far as the drug thing goes.......yeah we do need to do something about this issue,but we have to start at our homes first....and hopefully we can get past this whole b.i.a/tribal cops issue....hope this artical opens someones eyes....it only has been in the paper a couple thousand of times since it came out.......
LOL
wrote on
April 28, 2006 9:26 AM It's going to take more than bumper stickers, that's probably where it's going to start and end. I've lived here a long time and have seen no changes, maybe only for the worse. Maybe this coalition should stand by the casino doorway and hand out the bumper stickers..................
jkr
wrote on
April 28, 2006 9:46 AM I applaud the Tribal President for his actions to begin an anti-meth campaign. I think his words and message would have more weight if beginning with him, the tribal council, and the tribal program directors/employees would all submit to a mandatory drug test and then be subjected to random drug testing.
rezzer
wrote on
April 28, 2006 9:50 AM Great news, I'm glad that alot of the
people agree on the war on meth I too
was an addict and was set free by my
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. I know
He can set you all free too. Just ask
Him.
"A.C.W "state of Washington
wrote on
April 28, 2006 10:18 AM It is great to see that the Northern Cheyenne Tribe is taking the challenge on the battle of Meth, but as you see the battle on meth in Indian Country has been a very big issue among all Tribal Reservations and communities through out the U.S, the monster has taken contol of its victims and has destroyed families and lives, I agree with some of the comments as to Law Enforcement living near or are aware of who deals, and nothing is being done, but without the support of the community it will coninue to grow and affect the younger generation, Law Enforcement needs the community support to take these individuals down, this is a community effort. Good luck on the battle and may the Lord be with you with you in this battle of a growing problem.
gEEZ
wrote on
April 28, 2006 11:05 AM Why is the Tribal Government getting credit for this? They had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with these bumper stickers. Stickers just showed up and the government is taking credit for them. Typical.
Drugfree native
wrote on
April 28, 2006 11:12 AM On the turtle mountain reservation in ND they are stopping tribal program services to people who are convicted of meth crimes. Sounds drastic but these are drastic times.
cha-
wrote on
April 28, 2006 11:36 AM Shame on you guys
Talk is cheap, easier said than done.
NC people are good @ getting rid of good & bad stuff. even their own kind. take for example the firing of F.R. at Norhern Cheyenne schools and DKC. That guy went through many years college to get his M.A. & PHD and yet they let all his knowledge go.
Do the sme to meth too, you'll only do some good to your tribe this time
To LOL
wrote on
April 28, 2006 11:44 AM It's people like you that are the end to every start of something positive, put your money where YOUR MOUTH is, get out of your RUT, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE LATELY, BESIDES SIT ON YOUR RUMP AND COMPLAIN, PEOPLE ARE OUT THERE MAKING AND DIFFERENCE, NOT JUST COMPLAINING ABOUT EVERY LITTLE THING THEY SEE ON OUR REZ!!! GET A LIFE!!!
Chey
wrote on
April 28, 2006 12:09 PM I think it is great that the community is finally coming together to get rid of this wicked stuff. Too many people are getting their lives wasted away and dependent on this drug that knows no limits. Drug users and dealers need to KNOW that the community is finally getting fed up with the blatant use of this stuff everywhere on the reservation. Perhaps these stickers will help to show them that the community neither condones nor will accept the drug meth and users of it.
nativehotsauce
wrote on
April 28, 2006 12:15 PM I think that it is good that the tribe is building the awareness of it's community. That is one step that is helping them improve their reservation and let them know that Meth isn't in their culture.
Hey LOL
wrote on
April 28, 2006 12:49 PM Try looking at somthing in a positive way. i go to the casinos and I don't do meth, nor have I ever seen it in the casinos. Of course you havn't seen any changes cuz you're the type of person who only sits back and complains about everybody else. Get off of chair and do something about it and then you will have reason to complain, until then do society a favor & quit typing.
mophead
wrote on
April 28, 2006 12:55 PM Well, unfortunately nothing will change. This war on Methamphetamine is very expensive on all fronts, from police to courts to IHS to treatment to social workers, I mean the list grows and grows. MONEY, who has it? And all agencies have to fight hard for those limited grants only to pay for operational costs and little of this money ever goes to dealing with the problem. And as for the police living next to dealers... Meth dealers and users and have rights! and court costs really sky rocket! and who wants to pay for that?.. bumper stickers?.. ha! I am sure that even dealers and users will have one stuck on there cars.. just to mock!
urban hetan
wrote on
April 28, 2006 1:25 PM opinionated approach: we all need to start at the family, whether we like it or not we got to start somewhere. Quote "someones gotta take a hit for the team", give them time to think about it, possibly behind bars or some strict recovery program. I'm sure we all have a family member or multiple members that use or have some sort of connection with the stuff. For example, no matter how many years we have with the law enforcement doesn't tell the reader anything, we should know how many users or dealers the retiree has in the family. It's a bold statement but we got to start somewhere. Everybody has their flaws when an issue like this comes up. Another example, The ex-madam chairmans brother on the stand before the man, probably back to his black market business. She decided to cover for family before taking care of the problem that is affecting the people. Over-exercising power is for thirdworld countries, we may be compared to these entities but than yet we are still the richest people on this side of the Mississippi, culturally speaking. We do not have to give up any of our beliefs or values to move ahead economically, "retire, you dangled on the strings long enough". (comments for yesterdays article) Thanks for at least contributing to the coalition Mr. Regional Director.
Rokadad
wrote on
April 28, 2006 1:36 PM Way to go with the bumper stickers! Once again the Cheyenne people are taking a stance. Montana Meth Project is a great thing. Heard the radio ads on the Northern Ag Network...Awesome..
TO MOPHEAD
wrote on
April 28, 2006 2:40 PM Get your head out of your bucket, you sound very negative, scared of a little change??Maybe you and LOL should get together and have a PITY PARTY....It's people like the both of you that keep our society down, get involved instead of standing by the way side and COMPLAINING!!!YOURS TRULY 1 VERY PROUD NORTHERN CHEYENNE.....
rezwhitegirl
wrote on
April 28, 2006 3:42 PM well they ain't just givin them out at the collage. a lot have been givin out at the high school too. al lot of people wear them on they're sweaters. including me, until it fell off, but any1 that reads this that goes to the high school will know who i am. my name gives me away. one problem with the meth bumber stickers is the kids are taking the th out of meth so it says "dancing with me is dancing with death" so yea that is all i have to say
HEY REZWHITEGIRL
wrote on
April 28, 2006 4:20 PM This just goes to show the immature level of kids your age, and I hope they will realize that METH is more cunning than they will ever know, I hope they stay far away from the users and dealers, IT'S NOT A JOKE!!
Answers
wrote on
April 28, 2006 5:38 PM This meth. Problem has been around since
PRE-1996. As I recall the NC Recovery Program Use up all their IHS 638 Monies in three months sending these addicted people to residential treatment centers That didn't work. My experience in treating this disease start in the home and with our relatives busting small time dealers don't work. some one else jjust picks up where the small time dealer stops. Jail isn't the answer. education is the answer. the cause for this problem in our indian communities is generalation. we first have to look at the lateral oppression in our communities. the solution is a long term process of getting our communities holisticlly healthy.
MONTANA CITIZEN
wrote on
April 28, 2006 8:23 PM THE METH PROBLEM IS EVERYWHERE. IT IS IN THE SMALL COMMUNITIES, ON THE RESERVATIONS AND IN THE BIG CITIES... EVERYONE EVERYWHERE, SMALL OR LARGE TOWNS NEED TO BE MORE EDUCATED ON THE METH ADDICTION AND HOW BAD IT IS SPREADING EACH DAY.
I ATTENDED A WORKSHOP, AND WE HAD LAW OFFICERS TELLING US ABOUT THE 11 YEAR OLD STUDENTS THAT WERE CAUGHT WITH METH IN THEIR BACKPACKS AT SCHOOL... THIS IS SERIOUS......
WE ALSO HAD COLLEGE STUDENTS TELLING ABOUT THEIR DRUG ADDICTIONS AND RECOVERY.
IT IS NOT LEFT TO ANY CERTAIN AGE OR GROUP. IT IS EVERYWHERE!!! YOUNG AND OLD AND ANYONE IN BETWEEN.
START WATCHING WHAT IS HAPPENING IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, IT WILL SCARE YOU.....
TO OUR FUTURE
wrote on
April 29, 2006 12:45 AM not only do we have USERS and DEALERS..WHAT ABOUT THE METH BABIES?? THEIR BORN EVERY DAY !!!! COMEON PEOPLE, YOU HAVE THE POWER TO COURT ORDER/COMMIT THESE METH USING MOTHERS TO SOME KIND OF TREATMENT OR JAIL TILL THESE BABIES ARE BORN. DRUG TESTING NEEDS TO BE DONE AT EVERY PRENATAL VISIT AND IF THE MOM TESTS POSITIVE...GET HER SOME HELP.THE INNOCENT DONT HAVE A CHOICE BUT YOU DO!!!
ljs
wrote on
April 29, 2006 10:16 AM Something tells me this is a success story in the making. This program may actually work. It's good to see individuals take the time to make a difference.
urban hetan
wrote on
April 29, 2006 11:58 AM SOME OF US ARE HIGH ON LIFE WE DON'T NEED THE AWESOME HIGH THAT HAS TRIGGERED A DOWNWARD SPIRAL OF SELF HUMILITY opinionated approach: may sound bold but we nee to start somewhere WHY NOT POST A BILLBOARD WITH A LOCAL CANDIDATE AT THE CROSSROADS a before and after shot
Darrell
wrote on
April 29, 2006 12:00 PM Jn 8:31-32 Then Jesus said to the Jews which believed on Him "IF" you continue in my word ,Then are you my disciples Indeed. "AND" Ye shall know the TRUTH and the Truth "SHALL" Make you "FREE"!
*Jews , Indians , White , Black Ect Ect will never be free of evil ,distructive natures , deeds until they "Know the Truth".
*If they Knew JESUS they would never Seek Silly thrills from METH or any Drug or alcohol.
*How can leaders say Dont use Drugs and they "Use Mind altering Drugs called Peyote????? HOW CAN BLIND LEAD THE BLIND?
Hairlip
wrote on
April 29, 2006 12:59 PM Quit making fun of my speach impediment!
beenthere
wrote on
April 29, 2006 1:57 PM awesome to see how the bumper stickers have got people talking about the problem... education of tribal law enforcement should definitely be a priority... i also will be eternally greatful to the NC tribe for putting me through treatment for meth addiction years ago and helping me get my life back... i got clean and sober in california because there was no long term drug treatment facility in the state of montana.... still isn't anything worth mentioning here...
mophead
wrote on
April 29, 2006 2:52 PM again it is all money. dealers make alot of money and have alot of girlfriends and make their brothers, cousins, parents, and grandparents proud. to fight a dealer is to fight the families of dealers and their girlfriends whom are pregnant and don't want to lose daddy to the federal justice program. anyways. fighting meth is very hard to do. opposition is strong and expensive and near impossible. this bumper sticker thing, after many meetings, coalitions, task forces, talks, grant writings, fund seeking, community support.. in the end- all they came up with is "bumper stickers" and a few volunteers or maybe they are paid employees paid for by one of the funding sources. and I sure ain't gonna volunteer or donate and neither will the majority because we are busy and have no money or time. pay me and I will help.
talkingwolf
wrote on
May 01, 2006 7:28 AM I commend Tribal Pres. Eugene LittleCoyote for being a progressive and good leader. The Cheyenne People can beat this enemy if they unite as a Nation that will not tolerate this drug or any other. They can become the strong people they were. Don't every forget Sweet Medicine and the power of the Bundles. Be Cheyenne...Be Proud.
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