Sober Indian Riders get their motors running

By Maggie Plummer

Springtime's balmy temperatures bring them out of hiding: motorcycles and their owners.

The bikes come rolling out of their garages, and the bikers begin tuning up engines and taking joy rides, sometimes humming the old familiar biker theme song under their breath - "get your motor running, get out on the highway, lookin' for adventure..."

The open road calls.

A local group called Sober Indian Riders (SIR) answers that call. A family-oriented group of clean and sober American Indian bikers, the group's main goal is to have fun and share the clean and sober biker lifestyle.

Potential group members don't have to be bikers, own a bike, or be in recovery. The only requirement for membership is that they live and/or support a clean and sober biker lifestyle, and - of course - like motorcycles.

It's about brotherhood and unity, says tribal member Francis Auld, who now has 31 years of sobriety and helped get the club going about two years ago.

One of the club's purposes is "for kids to see that being sober is cool," Francis explains. "We want to break that cycle. There's nothing wrong with being sober. We have these reservation-wide problems, those two kids found dead, so many precious lives wasted. Two people were killed for a mere 200 bucks. And these young kids running around, wanna-be gang guys...I'd like to take these young people down to Los Angeles and turn them loose so they could see the survival, see what they have here. I've seen survival. I appreciate this place."

As for his own sobriety, "temptation is always there," he says, "just an arm's length away. People find their serenity in different forms. When riding, you feel good. It becomes a way of life..."

Francis has a 2001 Harley. SIR member Buddy Papin has a bike that he calls "Francis's bike's elder" - a 1940 Harley-Davidson "Knucklehead."

SIR currently has about 10 members, with four of them "hard core," according to Francis. "It's slowly expanding," he says. It's pretty much local people, although one new member is from Nevada. He connected with the group on the Internet.

The SIR patch includes the black, white, yellow, and red, and features a braid of sweetgrass as well as two peace pipes.

Last year, the group went on a trip to Pine Ridge, South Dakota, at the time of the nearby Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. They visited the Bear Butte sacred site to show support for the "Defend Bear Butte" movement. Encroaching development is said to be threatening the mountain, which is sacred to the Sioux people and to other surrounding tribes.

That trip took 20 hours one way, Francis says. "It was, 'gas up, eat a dog, and keep going,'" he comments, adding that they even heated up burritos on their bike engines.

The local group enjoys what he calls "aboriginal runs" - picnic day rides to places like Yaak and Yaak Falls, the Rexford area near Eureka, other areas in the Kootenai National Forest, and south into the Bitterroot and Big Hole Valleys.

"It takes money," Francis admits. "Bikes ain't cheap."

SIR has a goal of making it down to an international Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) conference in Texas, scheduled for 2010. The group is also working on an event (which they admit is still in the dream phase) that would possibly include a poker run and mini-concert, and may embark on a seven-reservation run around Montana.

SIR is not a recovery program and does not endorse one recovery program or religion.

However, according to the group's website, influences of Native American traditions, Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and a "Higher Power" are strong within SIR.

Group dues are $15, and the SIR logo patch is $70.

SIR is an association, not a motorcycle club, and respects all traditional motorcycle clubs. The group has no boundaries and claims no territories.

Club supporters may purchase support pins for $6. Members are also talking about making a support patch.

For more information, call Francis at 675-2700, ext. 1076.

The Sober Indian Riders group visited Bear Butte last year, to show support for the "Defend Bear Butte" movement.