Firewater: How Alcohol is Killing My People (and Yours) by Harold Johnson

This book came to my attention because of my interest in the impacts of mental health and addictions issues within the criminal justice system.

Firewater is a small but powerful book that explores the almost taboo topic of the devastating impact of alcohol on Indigenous people in Canada. As Johnson explains it, Indigenous people do not want talk about it because it feeds the stereotype of the "drunken Indian" and non-Indigenous Canadians don't want to address it for fear of being deemed racist. So with apologies, he promises "I am about to drag this filthy, stinking subject out into the light where everyone can see it. It is my hope that the light kills it."

Harold Johnson is a member of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation and is a senior Crown prosecutor in La Ronge, Saskatchewan.  His position within the justice system provides him with unrelenting exposure to the negative impacts of alcohol.  He points out that in Northern Saskatchewan 23.4 percent of deaths are from injury (compared to 6.4% for the entire province). Many of these deaths--suicides, car accidents, drownings, stabbings, beatings, house fires and freezing to death--are alcohol related.

After providing an historical overview and detailing the costs of the "alcohol story," he makes an impassioned plea to tell a new story: a story that embraces traditional culture, strong leadership, and the need to heal grief and build safe communities. Ultimately the story that Johnson tells is one of hope and empowerment.

Although the subject matter may seem narrow, Firewater addresses fundamental social challenges in a way that will expand and focus our current understanding.

Three and half out of five smileys.😊😊😊😶