Brat Camps And Canoe Journey

From what I can distinguish, brat camps differ from wilderness therapy in that wilderness sessions emphasize therapy in addition to presenting teenagers with the physical challenges of the raw outdoors. In that way, the Indian nation’s Canoe Journey more closely resembles the wilderness approach. It has also proven to be a powerful journey for Indian teens. “In the Pacific Northwest, children, teens and young adults participate in the Canoe Journey each July and August, pulling in traditional cedar canoes on the waters traveled by their ancestors. For some participants, the journey to the host nation lasts several hundred miles, requiring mental, physical and spiritual preparation. There are gatherings along the way to the final destination, with traditional ceremonies, dance, food and song. Participation in the Canoe Journey”has made a total turnaround in children who were on the path to destruction,” Holt said.” As posted in Troubled Teen Resources, Mexican cartels are specifically targeting native American population with meth, all the more so since recent stateside crackdowns have reduced the number of meth labs north of the border.

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It’s another instance that if teenagers were made aware of where their drug dollars are going, they might be less inclined to support the big business of narcotics traffic with their own purchases. Unlike most of the US population, troubled teenagers on reservations are sorely lacking in the tools and programs with which to fight back. ‘We have 55 people in our detox clinic…If we had a bigger building, we’d have double that…. Sixty-nine percent of tribal respondents to a BIA study indicated that they had no meth rehab centers… Ninety percent of tribal police reported that they need additional drug-investigation training, and Indian country law enforcement is woefully understaffed.” (unknown source) By Ann Walker