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For generations, Montana’s meth epidemic has ravaged the Crow Nation. But one area nonprofit is helping the community heal through low and no cost addiction recovery programs for Indigenous populations.
The Cycle of Meth Addiction in the Crow Nation
Teyon and Lonny Fritzler are brothers who grew up near the Little Bighorn River but now their childhood home is boarded up. They dream about ways they can rebuild the modest clapboard home on the rolling prairie where their grandfather taught them how to break horses.
It’s here where their grandmother taught them to harvest buffalo berries. It’s here where they watched as their father became addicted to meth.
Thirty-four year old Teyon began using meth at age 15 with his dad. Lonny, who is 41, began using after college. He was driven in part by environment and family history and in part by the stress of caring for their grandfather, who had dementia.
The brothers’ persistent meth addictions outlasted the lives of their father and grandfather.
To recover, the brothers had to leave Lodge Grass, Montana, their hometown on the Crow Indian Reservation, where the population numbers about 500 and access to treatment is limited.
Their own recovery journey illuminated the dire need for affordable addiction treatment options closer to their Lodge Grass home.
An Underserved Community
Meth use and addiction remain an enduring public health epidemic in the U.S. and a growing contributor to the overdose crisis. But Native populations have been hardest hit and, historically underserved, in this crisis.
Statistically, Native Americans have had the highest rates of meth addiction in the U.S. as compared with other demographic groups.
The National Indian Health Board is a nonprofit working to improve health outcomes among Indigenous populations. The CEO, A. C. Locklear, stated that “Meth has never left our communities.”
Rural areas also have higher rates of meth use in comparison to cities and it is here that many Native communities reside. Research suggests that Native Americans are also at an increased risk of mental illness, chronic disease and poverty.
These are all risk factors when it comes to addiction. The conditions creating these risk factors have their roots in more than 100 years of systemic discrimination.
Added to that, the Indian Health Services, the healthcare provider for many Native Americans, has long been underfunded. Cutbacks under the current administration have shrunk health programs even further nationwide.
Increasing Access to Affordable Addiction Treatment in Lodge Grass
Current estimates suggest that 60% of Lodge Grass’ residents 14 and older deal with alcohol or drug addictions.
But the nonprofit Mountain Shadow Association is among many community-based, Native-led initiatives designed to change that. They’re supporting Lodge Grass’ newest construction project: a place for families to heal from addiction.
The ultimate plan is to create an entire town campus providing mental health resources and social services, including housing for kids whose parents are in need of treatment elsewhere. They’re also planning to build affordable sober housing for families in recovery from alcohol and drug use.
Teyon and Lonny Fritzler are two of the builders on the project. They both feel the work is an opportunity to help rebuild their community and support lasting healing within the Crow Nation.
Lonny said, “When I got into construction work, I actually thought God was punishing me. But now, coming back, building these walls, I’m like, ‘Wow. This is ours now.’”
Progress Already Made in Community Based Recovery
But the forthcoming resource centers and supportive housing programs are just part of the story. Significant progress to support addiction recovery in Lodge Grass has already been made.
In the heart of the town, a former church has recently been converted into a drop-in center where people can come to find a free meal and sober support.
Beginning in 2017, Lodge Grass mayor, Quincy Dabney helped organize community cleanups where people picked up trash alongside the roads and in people’s yards. The focus changed to tearing down condemned and empty houses, which, according to Dabney, had become spots where meth was sold, distributed, and used, even during the day, with children playing nearby.
Unfortunately, the problem endured. In 2024, a multistate drug trafficking operation based on the Crow reservation was broken up by officials. The operation distributed drugs to other reservations in Montana. This was only one example of how drug traffickers have exploited tribal nations as distribution and sales hubs.
But now cartels are being rooted out, drug trafficking networks are being disrupted and community-led recovery programs are flourishing. Just down the road from Lodge Grass’s drop-in center, work is underway for the new addiction recovery campus, called Kaala’s Village. In Crow, Kaala means “grandmother.”
The first building under construction is the therapeutic foster home. The plans are for a ceremonial area, a community garden, and housing to gradually reunite families.
The goal is that residents will eventually help build their own small homes. They’ll have the help of experienced builders who are also trained in mental health support. These peer coaches will work alongside the residents as they build their homes and start their new dependency-free lives.
The Need for Sustainable Funding Continues
Though much has been done to expand low and no cost recovery services across the community, much more is required. There’s still a need for grassroots efforts because a reliable funding system still doesn’t exist.
Federal funding cuts have led to increased competition for fewer available philanthropic dollars. And because of this, recovery initiatives like those in Lodge Grass will continue to be created, preeminently for the community, by the community.
How to Find Low Cost Addiction Treatment Near You
If you’re ready to break the cycle of addiction for yourself and your family, you have options. Explore low and no cost treatment programs in your area or call
800-914-7089
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today.
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