Changing
Shelly Reeve
Kotzebue
The anger rose inside of her
She was so mad that she could not stir
Her heart was pounding with fear
Her fists were clenched and her eyes started to tear
She ran away from him as far as she could
And as far as her legs would
He had beaten her so many times
That all she could do in her head was make rhymes
The time had come
As he drank his rum
He had been thinking
That his life had been ruled by drinking
He treated his wife so bad
When he thought about it, it made him sad
He would try to control it
His anger would just boil while he’d sit
When he was young he was
taught to talk it out
Instead of being mean and making someone pout
Now since he was drunk and his life stunk
He would avoid conflict until the end
He set this rule to never bend
He tried to apologize
But his wife couldn’t sympathize
Through all these years she’d lived through pain
And now maybe her life would gain
Respect from her husband
And she felt love
In the relationship flew the peace dove
We have to talk
Maybe go for a walk
This is the time we have spent
Look at where it has went
Do you know how I feel
I want to change, I want to heal
As he said this
She decided to give him a kiss
Alcohol Abuse
Paula J. Octuck
Kotzebue High School
I grew up around the abuse of alcohol.
My mother’s ex-husband
was badly into alcohol. He drank
every night. Then he would come home and beat on my mother. Every
once in awhile
it was also on us kids, too.
When I was growing up, I
was the second oldest in my family. My older sister was usually the
one that tried to
save us every single time.
I had three younger sisters
and one younger brother. She would either try and call for help or find
a way
to get
out of the
house and get
someone to help us. She got beaten almost as much
as my mom.
The past two years of their marriage was the hardest.
The Women’s
Shelter became our weekend home. The thing was, he
would not go too far on the alcohol on weekdays because
we had school and my mother had to go
to work. But on weekends, he would go get drunk,
come home and find a reason to beat on my mom or
the rest of us. There were many times we had to run
and hide in one of my aunt’s homes.
Once, in
the past two years, my mother made an attempt to
leave him. We moved out of the house, rented an
apartment and hid
out there,
not telling
anyone but our closest family where were were. But
his sister moved in down the hall from us and saw
us and
told my stepfather.
Then, a month later, behind us
kids’ back she made up with him and
took him back. We remodeled our old house because
no one wanted to rent it and we moved back in. Everything started
all over again.
After that he said he had changed.
He said he would never beat my mom again. We all got used to the
arguing and
were relieved
he never
fought
my mom
again. Soon, he began to beat her again though,
and she finally got the courage to leave him
permanently. My
mother divorced
him and
now the
wounds he made in our lives are healed and we
are moving on.
I guess I am telling you this so you would know
that alcohol is not a great thing. Once you get
beaten
by a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife,
don’t go back. They will think that if
you come back once, you will come back again.
The
two messages I have are: Don’t get into
alcohol and don’t
get into a relationship where there is violence
because it can scar you for life.
Photo courtesy of Christine Ahlalook
Avoid Alcohol,
Avoid
Conflict
Anonymous
Kotzebue High School
11th grade
Avoidance of conflict is a very important
value, not only to the Inupiaq, but to people of all societies. Greed,
hate,
anger, jealousy, drugs and alcohol are some of the things that provoke
violence and violence doesn’t solve anything.
People should
learn to control themselves and their actions and avoid getting
into fights because there are enough. problems in this world already.
Alcohol
is one of the biggest problems. When a person is intoxicated, they
don’t have control of their actions because the alcohol shuts
down part of their brain. Violence doesn’t make things better,
it only causes more problems. |
Photo courtesy of Christine Ahlalook
David Russell
Kotzebue High School
12th grade
The Iñupiaq Values of our people in NANA region give
a meaning of love, kindness, happiness, sharing and caring. These
values are the
roots of our unity
with one
another.
For generations our Elders made sure it was our responsibility
to follow these values. As they were taught the same way, they teach
us today. The
honoring and
praising of God and his great creations is in my mind, first and most important.
Respect for Elders is the second, not to mention one of the most important,
Iñupiaq Values.
The value of humor also plays a large role for our
people. It gives happiness and laughter which is greatly needed in
the harsh
reality of depression,
peer pressure and low self esteem. All this and more are now in the minds
of today’s
children and teenagers. How can we help?
Well, a start lies in the hands
of the value, Avoidance of Conflict. It is in the minds of the strong
willed that today’s youth are under attack
by peer pressure which includes the alcohol and other drugs. Family
feuds are becoming
more and more of a problem in our community.
In most cases, it has been
an alcoholic father who beat on both mother and child. I feel a lot
of experience because I have lived through
it myself for 17 years.
It hurts so bad to see something like that happen to family. It becomes
unbearable
both physically and mentally.
It would be a much better place if this
did not exist in families. All the values of our Iñupiaq culture
form the roots and the backbone
of
unity and
peace within
each of us.
Religion and the belief in God is what keeps me strong
willed as the values of our heritage keep the unity of our people
together
as one
mind.
Together, with the help of the all mighty Lord, only
though him, all things are possible. |
Iñupiat
Ilitqusiat