The Grieving Indian

by Arthur H., George McPeek

The Grieving Indian tell the story of Arthur H., and the painful lessons he learned as he tried to rebuild his life. This is a powerful, healing book. Every Native American needs to read it for the help and hope it offers. Every person who is not Native American needs to read it for the depth of understanding it will give. A Canadian bestseller. More than 70,000 copies in print.

128 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1988

Reviews

[JR · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very outdated book about what the indigenous people have gone through and many of the traumas that go along with it.

The book is told by a former alcoholic who turned to the Christian faith to get clean, and he writes about the traumas he’s seen in his journey.

He touches a lot about death and how he drank as a way to cope.

This seemed a bit preachy and sounded alot of the time he was just giving excuses.

Overall, I didn’t really care for this. And it’s time in the 80s. This might have been groundbreaking but not now. This doesn’t hold up.
2⭐️

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The voice of the author in this book is that of a sober, modest, humbled, humble, wise man who is well-traveled in the paths of human emotions, who deeply understands despair, and who speaks with a quiet truthfulness and certain conviction of one who knows what they are about. While sometimes agonizing it is yet filled with hope. He talks about his own and more broadly the too common experience of Native Americans who, on a personal level, experience trauma with regularity and often do not have the stamina, or support, or knowledge to deal with trauma properly and healthily, leading to bad decisions and frequently shortened lives. While the author was in and speaks of the Native American populace primarily, the lessons and observations and wisdom for the human conditions he describes can be applied to anyone in those situations. The author is passed away, but I would have loved to meet him; he had at times a terrible life but he also overcame, and ultimately helped many people over the course of his life and ministry.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arthur speaks to the trauma and struggle of indigenous people in a world where their land, culture, and community have been methodically stripped from them. He shares his personal story of separation from land, culture, and family; and how he was lost in grief and anger. His story of recovery is an offer of hope for anyone struggling with sin in their lives.
As I read Arthur’s account of what it was like for him to struggle with alcoholism, I reflected on an understanding of sin that is very much like the way AA talks about alcohol. The way that it centers someone’s focus entirely on themselves and their gratification. How insidiously it becomes such a focal point of one’s life that even when they recognize that they need to stop they find themselves unable to break away. How it consumes and destroys the life of the one who struggles, and the lives of all those around them.
In the 12 steps there is recognition of powerlessness and dependance on God for recovery, much the way we understand that it is only through the grace of God and the love of Christ that we can break the cycle of sin and be restored.
Arthur's description of grief reflected the struggle that many Christians I know have with the cultural shift away from a Church focused society. As we continue to move into a post-Christian world, we will see many people grieving what they see as the death of the church, and this may manifest in many of the ways Arthur describes in chapter five.

[Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

The true story of a Canadian Ojibwe elder, World War II veteran, minister who struggled with his own demons of substance abuse.

[Robin Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I lived in a small Native community for ten years. Those I know who struggled with alcoholism were often the nicest people when they weren't drunk.

"The Grieving Indian" was eye opening. The author, Arthur, found as a redeemed alcoholic himself and counselor to many struggling with the same captor that the root of alcoholism is grief.

He saw dealing with the hidden grief and forgiveness, with God's help, was the answer over and over for himself, his family, and his clients.