Buttes White Buffalo Healing Lodge uses art, culture to help recovering addicts

BUTTE — The White Buffalo Healing Lodge here in Butte has given people a path to recovery and it’s also helping artists at the same time.

Casey Heavy Runner waves his hand over part of the mural he completed for the addiction counseling center.

“For the Blackfeet, where I’m from, the bear paw represents good luck,” Heavy Runner says.

Casey Heavy Runner.jpg — Casey Heavy Runner

“When I was trying to find my way in sobriety trying to figure out what to do while I’m sober — because you’re basically killing a part of who you are to find something new when you get sober,” he adds.

Heavy Runner has a history of run-ins with the law and is currently serving a sentence for possession of dangerous drugs at the Butte Prerelease Center. He says that the contact with his culture through meditation, round dancing and visual arts helps him find a new path.

“I’m starting to understand that the therapeutic of that kind of thing is huge and it gave me a better understanding — okay, well, this is what I can do, you know? I can also help people but I can also help, you know , myself through my art and that’s where it’s become spiritual for me and that’s how I use it today, says Heavy Runner.

Another man who participates in therapeutic activities with the White Buffalo Healing Lodge agrees with Heavy Runner’s thoughts on sobriety. Arthur Windy Boy, who is also serving time at the Butte Prerelease Center for possession of dangerous drugs, has found connecting with his culture through song and painting helpful in his recovery.

“Ever since I could walk, you know, hold a pencil in my hand, I’ve always put pen to paper and made artwork for as long as I can remember,” said Windy Boy, member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy.

Somewhere along the way, Windy Boy says he fell in with the wrong crowd and became an addict. He says the addiction not only stole his artistic talent, but it stole his freedom and time with his family.

“It took me many years to be a drug addict. But now I’m happy where I am today. I’m happy to be a part of the Butte community,” said Windy Boy.

Both Heavy Runner and Windy Boy look forward to returning to their families after completing their sentences.