What do you think?
Rate this book
Crazywater: Native Voices on Addiction and Recovery
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A raw, powerful portrait of Indigenous resilience drawn from stories of pain, survival, and cultural revival that challenge stereotypes and spark an essential conversation on healing and truth.
In a country still reckoning with the legacy of colonialism, Crazywater is more timely and necessary than ever.
Brian Maracle, a Mohawk journalist and former host of CBC’s Our Native Land, offers an unflinching collection of seventy-five voices from across Turtle Island—voices that speak honestly about Indigenous experiences with alcohol, trauma, and healing. Drawn from over 200 interviews, this book is not another government report or academic analysis—it is a national story, told by the people who have lived it.
With Indigenous communities still facing the intergenerational aftershocks of residential schools, systemic racism, land theft, and cultural erasure, these stories resonate deeply in today’s Canada. This is not just a book about addiction—it is a book about survival, resurgence, and the strength of spirit. Maracle complicates degrading stereotypes, revealing the deep roots of pain but also the powerful growth of culture, language, and spiritual revival that has taken hold in communities across the land.
At a time when Indigenous health, mental wellness, and sovereignty are front and centre in national conversations, Crazywater offers a humanizing, clear-eyed contribution. It dares to speak the truth about the costs of colonization, and insists that healing is possible. Crazywater is a testament to pain, but more importantly, to hope, honesty, and the unstoppable will to reclaim life, one story at a time.
A raw, powerful portrait of Indigenous resilience drawn from stories of pain, survival, and cultural revival that challenge stereotypes and spark an essential conversation on healing and truth.
In a country still reckoning with the legacy of colonialism, Crazywater is more timely and necessary than ever.
Brian Maracle, a Mohawk journalist and former host of CBC’s Our Native Land, offers an unflinching collection of seventy-five voices from across Turtle Island—voices that speak honestly about Indigenous experiences with alcohol, trauma, and healing. Drawn from over 200 interviews, this book is not another government report or academic analysis—it is a national story, told by the people who have lived it.
With Indigenous communities still facing the intergenerational aftershocks of residential schools, systemic racism, land theft, and cultural erasure, these stories resonate deeply in today’s Canada. This is not just a book about addiction—it is a book about survival, resurgence, and the strength of spirit. Maracle complicates degrading stereotypes, revealing the deep roots of pain but also the powerful growth of culture, language, and spiritual revival that has taken hold in communities across the land.
At a time when Indigenous health, mental wellness, and sovereignty are front and centre in national conversations, Crazywater offers a humanizing, clear-eyed contribution. It dares to speak the truth about the costs of colonization, and insists that healing is possible. Crazywater is a testament to pain, but more importantly, to hope, honesty, and the unstoppable will to reclaim life, one story at a time.
224 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1994
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 1, 2024
Why is the indigenous community, perhaps more than any other community, affect by alcohol to such a large degree?
Economic states, biogenetics, generational trauma, racism are all possible reasons. Perhaps there isn't one but many reasons why.
Crazywater paints a beautiful and real picture of the state of alcoholism within indigenous communities. Although the book is 30 years old at this point, it is still as relevant as ever. Alcohol is just as much of a difficulty as it is all those years ago.
The stories told in the book are a wide range. Some are 5 sentences and some are 5-10 pages. Short or long they are all extremely powerful and convey similar messages. A message that the indigenous community is strong and able to withstand lots. While also showing that there is only so much pain we as humans can handle and without a support system we will fall. A very powerful book that I hope will reach many more people in the future.
Economic states, biogenetics, generational trauma, racism are all possible reasons. Perhaps there isn't one but many reasons why.
Crazywater paints a beautiful and real picture of the state of alcoholism within indigenous communities. Although the book is 30 years old at this point, it is still as relevant as ever. Alcohol is just as much of a difficulty as it is all those years ago.
The stories told in the book are a wide range. Some are 5 sentences and some are 5-10 pages. Short or long they are all extremely powerful and convey similar messages. A message that the indigenous community is strong and able to withstand lots. While also showing that there is only so much pain we as humans can handle and without a support system we will fall. A very powerful book that I hope will reach many more people in the future.
November 5, 2025
The writer used to work for the state propagandist, the CBC, a fact that would have prevented me from reading the book had I known it beforehand. In his Acknowledgements he states that he had received financial assistance from at least one government agency and travel assistance from others, so I take it he was paid for the book before he wrote it. Our tax dollars at work.
Maracle didn't have to do much thinking, basically he reports verbatim what was told to him by various indigenous people in "Great Turtle Island" about their struggles with alcohol and drugs and their attempts at recovery. The stories themselves are interesting, albeit with predictable recurring themes. Residential school bad. White man bad. Refreshingly, one or two actually went so far as to admit that many benefits were obtained with the European arrival and that Indians are responsible for their own drunkenness.
While the stories of recovery are encouraging, these are individual victories; nothing has changed. The book was written 30 years ago, and I personally think the substance abuse problem has gotten worse. In this city, rubbing alcohol is sold from behind a counter and liquor stores have lineups, with people being let in individually and their ID scanned. If I go with the wife, she has to stand outside until I am scanned in and both doors close behind me. This isn't because white men were filling backpacks with liquor and dashing. Some parts of the city look like an indigenous zombie apocalypse with oblivious drunks and druggies wandering into traffic. The point being that the problem has been with us a long time, and aside from writing books about it, nothing seems to be fixing the situation.
Maracle didn't have to do much thinking, basically he reports verbatim what was told to him by various indigenous people in "Great Turtle Island" about their struggles with alcohol and drugs and their attempts at recovery. The stories themselves are interesting, albeit with predictable recurring themes. Residential school bad. White man bad. Refreshingly, one or two actually went so far as to admit that many benefits were obtained with the European arrival and that Indians are responsible for their own drunkenness.
While the stories of recovery are encouraging, these are individual victories; nothing has changed. The book was written 30 years ago, and I personally think the substance abuse problem has gotten worse. In this city, rubbing alcohol is sold from behind a counter and liquor stores have lineups, with people being let in individually and their ID scanned. If I go with the wife, she has to stand outside until I am scanned in and both doors close behind me. This isn't because white men were filling backpacks with liquor and dashing. Some parts of the city look like an indigenous zombie apocalypse with oblivious drunks and druggies wandering into traffic. The point being that the problem has been with us a long time, and aside from writing books about it, nothing seems to be fixing the situation.
February 10, 2021
One of the most, if not THE most helpful book for me re: recovery.
May 9, 2014
The stories of addiction and recovery are moving and enlightening.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews