You're Killing Your Sister: The Drug Dealer

You’re Killing Your Sister

Posted on December 15, 2015

I was at the Wake (Awake) of my cousin last week. While at the Wake my brother and I visited with another cousin. He was telling us a number of his experiences with addictions, drug use, drug sales and the street life. He is now on a good path and doing a strong battle against the addictions. One of the things he told us, he did sell prescription medicine in the Reserve. Our Reserve is inundated with prescription abuse and addiction. It is no exaggeration to say it (pill addiction) is affecting all ranges of people, regardless of age, occupation and lifestyle. There have been many deaths related to the addiction.  He told us of his brother-in-law who came to talk with him. His brother-in-law told him to stop selling pills to his sister. “You’re Killing your Sister” he said. So our cousin stopped supplying pills to his sister. A year later his same brother-in-law came to see him to purchase pills for the sister. Our cousin didn’t sell any pills to him. Addiction touches everyone.

A friend of mine was telling me about his brother, “the old snake in the grass”.  The brother stays in his home looking out through the curtains waiting for traffic. The brother sells marijuana-dope. Lately he has diversified his portfolio and has taken to selling prescription drugs to hungry customers. My friend has said that he wonders how his brother will feel when someone dies with the pills the brother sells? My friend has told his brother this as well.

We all know who the dealers of death are (cue the dramatic music) and where they live. We are their families, their friends, their acquaintances and in some cases their nephews.  So if the market is so open why isn’t it being addressed as openly?  We whisper to each other, “there’s that loser”, “there’s the one that gave the pills that killed ______”, “how come no one tells on them”, “he is family to the Council”, and words like that.

I think we have a weird relationship with the police and justice system. We can’t trust the police. Our memories are not short so we remember the police actions to our family, to our friends to everyone in the Reserve. Yet many people call them in secret about this guy driving with no license. We call on the people that are stealing, that are fighting their partners-wives. We do call the police. There was a time when we did not call the police. If we did, we didn’t want the person arrested, we just wanted the situation to be calmed down. Unfortunately that is not the way it works, the cops come and take people away. There is no talking, no trying to resolve the situation. Let the courts handle that. We don’t want to deal with police.

So why is the drug seller out in the open with no consequence? Is it because we are complacent with that situation? Do we give in to the power of addiction? Do we help to kill our sister? Or maybe our daughter? Our Son? Our cousin? Our friend?

I am that way, complicit with the actions of the dealer. Why?  I am not a fan of the justice system so I would not involve the police. I do however, believe in O(n)Jinay. What we do is answered. I know that in not doing anything, I am Killing my sister, my brother, my daughter, my son.

So are you guilty as well?  Guilty of Killing Your Sister?

The situation in our community (the larger Indigenous community) has exploded. The Meth is a crisis everywhere. We are seeing our Sisters, daughters, aunties being killed. Meth is ravaging our people. Will we be complicit as it destroys lives?