Substance Abuse In My People Myself By Mary Lawrence

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The book written by Mary Lawrence (1996) called My People Myself is a great story of a native women’s struggle in society. The book does an excellent job of portraying a native women’s life on an Indian reserve in British Colombia. With Mary Lawrence’s real life story the struggles facing natives are brought to the forefront and the truths of growing up as a native Indian are described in the harsh settings of old run down houses. Readers are able to read and see that native Indians have endured great pains over the years at the hands of society and the government. The struggles that are depicted in Mary Lawrence’s book are in regards to physical abuse and drug abuse. In addition the author discusses sexual abuse. The book My people, myself talks about the authors struggles with drug, alcohol, and prescription pill addiction. The book goes into great detail in describing the cycles of these drugs and the methods of using and selling drugs. Mary Lawrence also discusses the problems she faced regarding social relationships. These relationships were with her male partners, family members and friends.
The author of My people, myself was one of six children who grew up on a reserve just north of the town Vernon in British Colombia. Mary Lawrence …show more content…

This is when she was ripped form her home and forced to go to a residential school with her older siblings Marge and Hugh. This was due to her moms drinking binges that would cause her mom to be away from the house for days at a time and the children being home alone would have to fend for themselves. Mary and her siblings did have their Grandmother but sometimes it would be days before she would realize that the kids were by themselves. The drinking binges became more and more frequent and the police started to pick up the mother for alcohol offences and she landed in jail in Vancouver. This is when the children were taken to

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