The Crow Tribe of Montana is
made up of 9,000 members. It is located in the southeast part of Montana. Within
its manmade boundaries are those natural ones created by the Bighorn and Little
Bighorn rivers, which form a valley bordered on the south and west by the
Bighorn and Pryor mountains and on the east by the Wolf mountains. The land
stretching outward from these mountains is composed of gently rolling hills
that seem to flow westward like an endless plain, met only by the clouds and
finally by the distant horizon. This is the sacred land of the Crow people.
The headquarters for the
Crow tribe is located in Crow Agency, Montana. The Crow people were known for
their unique and distinct style of dress.
The Crow men were strong, fierce warriors and the most handsome of all
tribes. The women were strong, hard
working and the most beautiful of all tribes.
Today in the Crow tribe, the
traditional culture is still very strong.
Yet the Crow people still have problems with drugs and alcohol. Methamphetamine addiction is now an epidemic
on the Crow reservation. The nation that once was made up of fierce warriors
and strong women is now weakened by a new enemy, drug abuse.
Today's warriors must fight
against this new adversary. The Crow
nation has begun several strategies to fight this problem. The Crow people hope that treatment centers
on the Crow reservation and community involvement will help the Crow people be
a strong nation that is drug and alcohol free.
The Crow nation has a
treatment center available for both the Crow people and non-Crow people. This program is called Crow Detox and is located
in Crow Agency. This treatment center
uses both traditional healing and Western methods to combat drug abuse.
The Crow Detox treatment
program lasts from 7 to 30 days. There is room for twelve resident patients at
the center. Patients range in age from
17 on up. Most of the residents who
come to detox treatment center are court-ordered to be there. This treatment is
funded by the Crow tribe. Crow detox cooperates with the substance abuse
program at Indian Health Services and with public health services. Unfortunately, the Crow detox center is not
very successful in its treatment of methamphetamine addiction. Only about 1 out of 100 patients
successfully recover from methamphetamine addiction.