HELP IS AVAILABLE AND ACCESSIBLE.

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The societal pressures and temptations facing our people – particularly our youth – have never been greater. The dangers that illicit drug sales and use pose to our safety, our health and our overall way of life continue to be a significant concern. Illegal drugs have robbed us of far too many lives, leaving an emptiness in our community that can never be filled, and scars on the hearts of countless families that will never fully heal.

The individuals who promote and support this activity – both outside our community and within it – are committing some of the most egregious and offensive crimes against our people and our Seneca families. They are devaluing Seneca lives for their own selfish purposes. They are putting Seneca lives in danger with no remorse. We cannot and will not stand for it.

The statistics are devastating. Native people, as you know, are almost twice as likely to die of an opioid overdose than non-Natives. Behind these numbers are names – far too many for me to list here. And each of those names tells a story of pain, of struggle, of hopes and dreams cut short.

Thankfully, we have resources and individuals to help those who need support. If you are having troubles and need a place to turn, please, tell someone. If you know of someone who is hurting and may be in danger of making a bad decision, please say something. If you see, hear or know of illegal activity taking place on our territories, please speak up. Help us root out this problem that threatens to undermine the very foundation of our community and our culture.

To be silent is to be complicit.

Our community can only reach our greatest potential if we are able to help and protect those who are most at risk. We cannot let our friends, family and neighbors fall. We have to hold one another up. The Seneca Nation Drug Taskforce, programs like Seneca Strong, organizations like SMAD and our first responders, along with countless individuals and neighbors, and our Nation’s government will continue doing whatever we can to keep bad actors out of our community. But that is not enough. We must unite as a community, rise up as one, to defend and protect each other.

The responsibility lies with each and every one of us and can start with something as simple as having an open and honest conversation with our youth about the dangers posed by illegal drug use. Our young people are looking to us for guidance, but we also must lead by example. These kinds of small and proactive actions can have a big impact in the long term.

It is also crucial that as we take every action to prevent drug use – including sending a strong message to those intent on harming our communities by selling illegal substances on our Territories – that we do so in the confines of our own regulations and laws. Vigilantism is not a solution; it merely puts more people in unnecessary danger and makes a bad problem worse.

Thank you to everyone who has shared a personal story as part of this newsletter. We appreciate your honesty, knowledge and experience. Hopefully, through communication, dedication and action, we can rid our Seneca community of the people and activities that only serve to drive us apart. I know we can do it if we all work together.

Nya:wëh,
President Matthew B. Pagels

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The drug taskforce consists of Seneca Nation Executives, Executive staff, Seneca Nation Marshals Department, Councillors and some key members from the SMAD group. In September of 2020, I was serving as President of the Seneca Nation, and felt strongly that I should chair the taskforce and assist in any way I could to help. In November of 2020, I became the Treasurer and have continued in my role as Chair of the taskforce.

As I’m sure everyone must be aware by now, we are not alone in this drug epidemic. The same thing is happening all over the U.S., as well as all over the world. Dealing with this issue can be challenging at times and can get very frustrating – knowing that we are limited in our capacity to combat this drug epidemic without assistance from the surrounding outside law enforcement agencies at the city, county, state and federal levels. Recently, the Seneca Nation Council approved a resolution to activate the Seneca Nation Law Enforcement Commission to develop some options for Council to consider, which could provide our Marshals with stronger law enforcement powers. We have made very good strides in fortifying relationships with outside law enforcement and will continue to rely on the resources they provide.

As far as the work of the drug taskforce goes, in order for any initiatives or plans to be effective, they must be carried out as covertly as possible. If they are not, we risk alerting any illegal drug activities prior to any attempt at combatting this problem. For instance, the nation has recently been in discussions with private companies whom provide drug detector dogs on a contract basis. This could prove to be an excellent deterrent to illegal drug activity within our borders. In addition, our Marshals Department has purchased a state of the art drone to assist with surveillance and collect data in known/suspected drug sale locations, which we all know exist on our territories. We need to be able to substantiate all reports of illegal drug activity, as the penal system does not accept hearsay or rumors as evidence. We must be willing to do whatever we can to assist with prosecutorial actions, if we want to make an impact on this. As I mentioned earlier, we have been consistent with repairing relationships with outside law enforcement agencies to enlist their assistance with removing drug selling houses from our territories. This includes providing them with data, tips and other logistical information about illegal drug activity, which is being reported on a weekly basis. In addition to the above mentioned items, there are additional initiatives under consideration, which include, but are not limited to legislative options. I firmly believe we should leave no stone unturned.

In my role as a leader in our community, and as a father and a grandfather, the main problem I see with this drug epidemic is the self-destruction of so many of our people, which now includes many of our youths. I see this as the number one destroyer of the family unit. This drug epidemic has brought undesirables to our territory and they prey on our people on “check day”, which puts us all in jeopardy. The taskforce may not be able to provide all of the solutions we need, but we can continue to plug away at establishing deterrents, remaining vigilant. We do not have to live with this in our communities. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be serving the people in this capacity and am hopeful we will be able to reduce the presence of drug dealers on our territories.

Respectfully,

Rickey L. Armstrong, Sr.

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“As the drug epidemic continues to impact our territories, we’re committed to seeking solutions for a healthier Nation.”

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The drug epidemic has ravaged families within our community resulting in far too many untimely deaths and causing considerable heartbreak and sorrow. Council is committed to confronting this epidemic and we believe that a broad community-based approach is necessary to stop the death, destruction, and anguish. Council has taken action through passing some recent council resolutions:

Council Resolution R-08-08-20-08 does two things: 1. It makes Nation members convicted of drug-related felonies ineligible to receive their annuity payments during the duration of their sentences, and 2. It makes Nation members ineligible to receive annuity payments for up to a one-year period if they are found aiding or abetting non-members who are subject to an exclusion order due to drug activity on territory. The forfeited annuity funds based on #1 and #2 above shall be deposited into a special account to be used for the purpose of drug rehabilitation and treatment of Seneca Nation members.

Council Resolution R-08-08-20-09 adopts an expedited foreclosure and eviction process to be used against mortgagors who are convicted of drug-related criminal offenses while participating in the Seneca Nation Mortgage Program.

Council Resolution R-05-08-21-08 authorizes the Law Enforcement Commission to develop agreements with local outside law enforcement agencies to investigate drug overdose deaths that occur on territory as possible homicides.

Additionally, Council recently directed the Nation’s Salamanca lease administrator to send notices of default to three different leaseholders in the City of Salamanca for drug activity that was occurring on their leased parcels. When these leaseholders responded that it was their renters who were involved in the activity, a subsequent notification was sent by the Nation to the leaseholders demanding that they evict the renters immediately or the leaseholder risked Seneca Nation cancellation of the lease due to nuisance and illegal activity. All leaseholders quickly complied, evicting their renters who were involved in drug activity. These leaseholders are now required to institute criminal background checks on future renters. The Nation will continue to utilize the option of notices of default, up to and including lease terminations, to combat drug activity in Salamanca.

Council appreciates all of the community input and strong support in confronting the drug epidemic. Please continue to tell us your personal stories and to offer us your suggestions. We must continue working diligently, together, to eradicate the drug trafficking and drug abuse in our community; and to make certain that all those who want treatment receive it.

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This may not be an easy thing to do. All through our usage, we told ourselves, “I can handle it.” Even if this was true in the beginning, it is not so now. The drugs handled us. We lived to use and used to live. Very simply, an addict is a person whose life is controlled by drugs. Perhaps you admit you have a problem with drugs, but you don’t consider yourself an addict. All of us have preconceived ideas about what an addict is. There is nothing shameful about being an addict once you begin to take positive action. If you can identify with our problems, you may be able to identify with our solution. The following questions were written by recovering addicts in Narcotics Anonymous. If you have doubts about whether or not you’re an addict, take a few moments to read the questions below and answer them as honestly as you can.

Questionnaire link here: https://www.na.org/admin/include/spaw2/uploads/pdf/litfiles/us_english/IP/EN3107.pdf

“Am I an addict?” This is a question only you can answer. We found that we all answered different numbers of these questions. “Yes.” The actual number of “Yes” responses wasn’t as important as how we felt inside and how addiction had affected our lives. Some of these questions don’t even mention drugs. This is because addiction is an insidious disease that affects all areas of our lives – even those areas which seem at first to have little to do with drugs.

The different drugs we used were not as important as why we used them and what they did to us.

When we first read these questions, it was frightening for us to think we might be addicts. Some of us tried to dismiss these thoughts by saying, “Oh, those questions don’t make sense,” or “I’m different. I know I take drugs, but I’m not an addict. I have real emotional/family/job problems,” or “I’m just having a tough time getting it together right now,” or “I’ll be able to stop when I find the right person/get the right job, etc.”

If you’re an addict, you must first admit that you have a problem with drugs before any progress can be made toward recovery. These questions, when honestly approached, may help to show you how using drugs has made your life unmanageable. Addiction is a disease which, without recovery, ends in jails, institutions and death. Many of us came to Narcotics Anonymous because drugs had stopped doing what we needed them to do. Addiction takes our pride, self-esteem, family, loved ones and even our desire to live. If you have not reached this point in your addiction, you don’t have too. We found that our own private hell was within us.

If you want help, you can find it in the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous.

“We were searching for an answer when we reached out and found Narcotics Anonymous. We came to our first NA meeting in defeat and didn’t know what to expect. After sitting in a meeting, or several meetings, we began to feel that people cared and were willing to help. Although our minds told us that we would never make it, the people in the fellowship gave us hope by insisting that we could recover. Surrounded by fellow addicts, we realized that we were not alone anymore. Recovery is what happens in our meetings. Our lives are at stake. We found that by putting recovery first, the program works. We faced three disturbing realizations:

1. We are powerless over addiction and our lives are unmanageable.
2. Although we are not responsible for our disease, we are responsible for our recovery.
3. We can no longer blame people, places and things for our addiction. We must face our problems and our feelings.

“The ultimate weapon for recovery is the recovering addict.”

Reprinted from: Narcotics Anonymous Service Pamphlet #7: “Am I an Addict?”

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After three years (2017, 2018, and 2019) during which the number of overdoses and drug-related deaths at the Cattaraugus Territory decreased significantly, the number of overdoses jumped to 12 in 2020, almost reaching the high of 14 in 2016, when, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Opioid overdoses [in the United States] accounted for more than 42,000 deaths in 2016, more than any previous year on record” (https://www.hhs.gov/opioids/about-the-epidemic/index.html). Similarly, the Allegany Territory recorded the largest number of overdoses during 2020: a 71.4% increase over the next highest number in 2017. The second highest number of drug-related fatalities (three deaths) also occurred in 2020, exceeded only by four fatalities, also in 2017. The table below details data for the Allegany Territory:

The overwhelming challenges we face, in combatting the opiate epidemic in our communities, are multi-faceted. One very important way that our community members can help is to educate yourselves and your families about the disease of addiction. Understand that nobody ever decided they would like to become a drug addict. The disease of addiction is insidious and does not distinguish itself by age, social class or skin color. Understand that we have predatory drug dealers coming on to our territories every day – for the sole purpose of selling drugs to our members. This is not their community. They do not care about the lives of our members or our community. If you are interested in helping to combat this issue in our communities, please review the information on the back page of this edition and get involved. Your help is needed and appreciated!

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The black walnut is a very, very bitter nut, especially when it has the green hull and first falls to the ground. I welcome anyone to try and eat a green hull sometime to see what I’m talking about. I was doing research on Senecas at Buffalo and came across a diary of a Jesuit priest from like the 1650’s that wrote – (Paraphrased) – “The natives are cooking their food in black walnut oil. There are no sick among them and they attribute their health and well-being to this practice”. The thought came over me, and most know this already, that most times, the thing that can best help health-wise is a medicine that tastes horrible and is bitter and makes you uncomfortable. Medicinal herbs are mostly all bitter. So there are things that can help an unhealthy person to overcome some physical health challenges and make them better, like black walnut.

One subject, I think not concentrated on enough though, is the mental aspect of overcoming any addiction for natives. What a struggle this can be! Some will buy a self-help book to try and figure out how to overcome their bad habits or go to church. Some think they have it figured it out for a time, but have a relapse and after that, hate themselves for it even more. Some are dry drunks and become hateful when anybody around them is suffering from addiction and are really outspoken about it. I think relapse is a good indication you not have had the right remedy for yourself or enough will power, and many fail. I know I struggled a lot trying to figure this all out, but with the help of my father, Hugh Jones, I finally accomplished it at the age of thirty. I was taught as a youngster by my father, Hugh Jones, about many topics. None that I enjoyed listening to or put to good use at the time, for the most part. That is, until life got real and smacked me in the face with a lot of problems. My father taught me lots of ways to look at things, like overcoming drinking, doing drugs, smoking and drinking coffee – all in one shot; and I haven’t gone back to that way of life in almost 25 years. I also know my wife, Sheri, had it really rough as I tried to figure this out over time; but she hung in there and deserves some type of “Patience Award” for sure. At this point, I’m trying to maintain, but I also know if I don’t control my thoughts (since every action first starts as a thought), I could get into trouble and have a relapse.

“A huge obstacle to overcoming addiction is that most don’t know where to look for help and often go to a clinic where someone from the medical field lays out a plan that isn’t in harmony with who we are.”

-Robert Jones

My story probably won’t help everyone, but why not share and take the chance that it just might, ennit? I totally recall the pain and anguish that tortured my soul when trying to convince myself I was worth it, while attempting to overcome my addictions. That seemed for me, to be the biggest struggle – to believe that wholeheartedly. I had to feel like changing first and recognize the life I was living, for myself and my family, wasn’t what it should be. I had to have a sincere desire to change it. I also felt I had let the Creator down – to the point of shedding some serious tears. I got to the point of dam near having a heart attack from feeling bad about what I had been doing and the way I was living. I made promises to myself and Creator that I wouldn’t do those things ever again. I had to be absolutely sincere on that. As much as possible, I also had to right the wrongs I knew I had done to others. (A simple example of that is if you borrowed someone’s lawn roller and haven’t returned it – you need to return it.) These steps sound simple enough to some, right? Believe me, THEY ARE NOT!

In the Code of Handsome Lake, it talks about repentance. This repentance thing in Handsome Lake is the key to beating the problems of addiction and is mentioned more than a few times in the Code. One absolute helpful pointer is to learn how to pray for the help needed. Some people think prayer is for non-native Catholic priests, or something. Communicating with the Creator and the “powers that be” was our way of life – long before the Ha-deet nyohs got here, so don’t be skat to do that or feel ashamed.

For me, alcohol certainly had me in its grip and could make me do a lot of things I never would have done, otherwise. A huge obstacle to overcoming addiction is that most don’t know where to look for help and often go to a clinic where someone from the medical field lays out a plan that isn’t in harmony with who we are. I have called this, “trying to fit a square peg into a round hole” syndrome. Let’s look at this: Creator made all kinds, right? Red and yellow, black and white. Creator had laid out his own clinical plan for his original Onkwehonweh people years ago (in the beginning). First, with Great Law, then in the Code of Handsome Lake. In my belief, a person can overcome addiction using the specific plan laid out for them by the Creator, by following these two specific standards. Look to your roots first! Try and convince yourself to live up to the role of being a drug-free Red man or Red woman, to the best of your ability. It’s a lot of hard work, but it can be done. I know, because I did it and I do it. We never accomplish becoming perfect, but can learn to be on that path. Will you make mistakes while in the path? Certainly you will. But, by a certain point, you will know what you have to do take care of it before it can take you back to a life of drinking and doing drugs.

What an amazing feeling it was – to have that fire back in my chest and that feeling that I was putting a smile on creators face and to feel forgiven, because that’s when the real change happens and I could progress, spiritually. Creator wants the best for all of us and absolutely cares about each and every one of us. Our lives matter! Your life does matter! It was all worth it for me and I know it will be worth it for you too.

I apologize if this offends anyone. These are my thoughts and the core of what has worked for me and I took the chance that sharing some personal information might help someone searching for answers, or ways to look at their addiction to drugs or alcohol or anything else. I know all my conversations with my mentors, when trying to overcome addiction, were private; but the drug dealers on our territories and this drug epidemic is getting out of hand. I know I have put myself out there, but I did it because I sincerely hope it helps another Seneca, truly searching.

Nya:wëh

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