Gene Thin Elk

[dee]

Does anyone know about this person?  
One of the nation’s leading authorities on alcoholism treatment, Gene D. Thin Elk, uses Native American traditions and values as part of a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. Thin Elk is a Native American Counselor/Instructor at the University of South Dakota. He is listed among Time Magazine’s “100 People of the Year,??? received the Distinguished Service Award from the state of South Dakota, and was named one of the100 New American Heroes??? by Newsweek Magazine.

[copperwoman]

Yes, I know Gene.  He is who he says he is.  Too many years ago to admit, he was my teacher.  I took the 'Red Road to Recovery' counsellor training at the community college on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in Belcourt, North Dakota.  Later, I took more advanced courses in St. Paul.  Back then he was partnered with a guy named Rick (can't remember his surname).  Red Road is legit too.  It's the first culturally appropriate alternative to AA.

[educatedindian]

I've never met him, but he has quite a long list of good work, enough to write a book about. Rehab work, anti racism, work with universities, and some environmental work too. He's enrolled Lakota and extremely well known up there.

I suppose it's a sign of the problems Nuage can cause that people start to wonder even about someone who has done so much good and is admired by so many.