This group of essays is written to provide a series of suggestions to Native people who seek to deal with alcoholism from the perspective of their unique heritages and with an understanding that the pressures to which Native traditions and societies have been subjected may trigger dysfunctional behavior, such as excessive drinking.

In recent years, there has been a growing awareness that Native clients who suffer from substance abuse often face challenges that are distinct from those experienced by the mainstream population. For a number of years, I have been involved in research involving Native alcoholism and I have recently published a book on the subject titled The Path of Handsome Lake: A Model of Recovery for Native People. My book argues that many different Native cultures (in America and elsewhere) face similar challenges and disruptions because their cultures are often under great stress and/or because people are alienated from their heritage. The dyfunctional responses of many different Native people are similar because they are subjected to similar pressures. In a nutshell, due to contact with the outside world, Native cultures often experience disruptive transitions, and (in some instances) entire cultures or ways of life may face extinction. Under such circumstances, the culture loses the ability to support people and help them cope with the pressures of life. Cultural decline itself often causes additional trauma. Combined, these pressures can trigger dysfunction within the Native community. The obvious antidote for such maladies is to help Native substance abusers to reconnect with their heritage in positive and constructive ways. My earlier book and this one are inspired by the life and work of nineteenth century Iroquois leader Handsome Lake who developed a method to help Native people embrace their heritage as they recovered from substance abuse. Because my earlier book was scholarly and not focused on practitioner issues, using it within a therapeutic context may be difficult. Here, I adapt my ideas so they can be applied to therapy in a systematic and productive manner. The total program of therapy is presented in three volumes. The first is a short overview of the program that has been written at about a 10th-grade reading level. My goal is to provide a wide range of clients (as well as those who pursue self-help work) with an easily understood description of the program. The second document is a consumable workbook designed to be used with the reader. The workbook can be used both within the context of therapy and by those seeking strategies of self-help. The volume you are reading is a guide for therapists to consult when using this method to help Native clients. It is hoped that all three of these texts will play a significant role in the therapy and recovery of Native substance abusers.

The era following the American War of Independence was one of enormous conflict for the Allegany Senecas. There was then no Seneca leader more influential than Chief Warrior Cornplanter. Yet there has been no definitive treatment of his life--until now. Complex and passionate, yet wise, Cornplanter led his people in war and along an often troubled path to peace. This incisive biography traces his rise to prominence as a Seneca military leader during the American Revolution, and his later diplomatic success in negotiations with the Federal government. The book also explores Cornplanter’s dealings with other Native American councils and with his own people. It tells how Senecas faced heavy pressure to sell their lands, and how they concurrently embraced a reformed and revitalized Iroquois religion, as inspired by Cornplanter’s visionary half-brother, Handsome Lake. Thomas S. Abler skillfully weaves together previously discordant strands of the Chief Warrior’s life into a concise, animated and enlightening portrait. Even as Cornplanter examines a critical period in American history, it gives us a multi-dimensional knowledge of politics and diplomacy from the Seneca point of view. Thoroughly researched and clearly written, this is an ideal companion for students and aficionados of the American Revolution and early nationhood, the Iroquois, and New York State history.

Native Americans in the United States, similar to other indigenous people, created political, economic, and social movements to meet and adjust to major changes that impacted their cultures. For centuries, Native Americans dealt with the onslaught of non-Indian land claims, the appropriation of their homelands, and the destruction of their ways of life. Through various movements, Native Americans accepted, rejected, or accommodated themselves to the nontraditional worldviews of the colonizers and their policies. The Historical Dictionary of Native American Movements is designed to provide a useful reference for students and scholars to consult on topics dealing with key movements, organizations, leadership strategies, and the major issues these groups confronted. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Native American Movements contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 200 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, language, religion, politics, and the environment.

Seneca Possessed examines the ordeal of a Native people in the wake of the American Revolution. As part of the once-formidable Iroquois Six Nations in western New York, Senecas occupied a significant if ambivalent place within the newly established United States. They found themselves the object of missionaries' conversion efforts while also confronting land speculators, poachers, squatters, timber-cutters, and officials from state and federal governments. In response, Seneca communities sought to preserve their territories and culture amid a maelstrom of economic, social, religious, and political change. They succeeded through a remarkable course of cultural innovation and conservation, skillful calculation and luck, and the guidance of both a Native prophet and unusual Quakers. Through the prophecies of Handsome Lake and the message of Quaker missionaries, this process advanced fitfully, incorporating elements of Christianity and white society and economy, along with older Seneca ideas and practices. But cultural reinvention did not come easily. Episodes of Seneca witch-hunting reflected the wider crises the Senecas were experiencing. Ironically, as with so much of their experience in this period, such episodes also allowed for the preservation of Seneca sovereignty, as in the case of Tommy Jemmy, a Seneca chief tried by New York in 1821 for executing a Seneca "witch." Here Senecas improbably but successfully defended their right to self-government. Through the stories of Tommy Jemmy, Handsome Lake, and others, Seneca Possessed explores how the Seneca people and their homeland were "possessed"—culturally, spiritually, materially, and legally—in the era of early American independence.

The era following the American War of Independence was one of enormous conflict for the Allegany Senecas. There was then no Seneca leader more influential than Chief Warrior Cornplanter. Yet there has been no definitive treatment of his life--until now. Complex and passionate, yet wise, Cornplanter led his people in war and along an often troubled path to peace. This incisive biography traces his rise to prominence as a Seneca military leader during the American Revolution, and his later diplomatic success in negotiations with the Federal government. The book also explores Cornplanter’s dealings with other Native American councils and with his own people. It tells how Senecas faced heavy pressure to sell their lands, and how they concurrently embraced a reformed and revitalized Iroquois religion, as inspired by Cornplanter’s visionary half-brother, Handsome Lake. Thomas S. Abler skillfully weaves together previously discordant strands of the Chief Warrior’s life into a concise, animated and enlightening portrait. Even as Cornplanter examines a critical period in American history, it gives us a multi-dimensional knowledge of politics and diplomacy from the Seneca point of view. Thoroughly researched and clearly written, this is an ideal companion for students and aficionados of the American Revolution and early nationhood, the Iroquois, and New York State history.