At the Blue Bay Healing Center, Salish and Kootenai tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana have developed a program to deal with alcohol and drug abuse.
A 6-step process was followed in program development that involved looking at the problem, determining who is being hurt by alcohol, assessing tribal values, identifying healing principles, looking at available resources, and implementing an action plan. Goals of the action plan are to foster personal recovery from alcoholism for high-risk individuals, to develop a system that helps tribal youth consciously choose not to abuse alcohol and drugs, and to intervene in the generational/cultural cycle of substance abuse. The Blue Bay Healing Center's program is community-based, is part of the Salish-Kootenai culture and tradition, offers a learning process to educate tribal families, and focuses on the individual as part of the tribal community.