By Xavier Kataquapit
I think all of us northerners are fed up with this long and dismal winter. The misery is made worse because so many people in my life have passed away this winter over the past month. It does not feel like spring.
I have lost my cousin Norman Kataquapit, a kind and gentle man I grew up with. I know his brothers Robert, Billy, Steve, Ron, Eric and Lindy and their families and friends will always hold the memory of Norman in their hearts. It’s especially sad as our families have only recently recovered after losing their brother Jeffery just over a year ago.
In the same week, another cousin and childhood friend, Joe Wheesk, passed. He was one of the bright lights from our community who excelled in education and went on to work with Nishnawbe Aski Nation for many years. His family and friends are dealing with the loss of someone who cared greatly for the people of Attawapiskat and so many others in the north.
Our community also lost one our precious Elders, Laura Wesley, a wise and encouraging person who was adored by her family and friends. Within a week, Attawapiskat has had to deal with three funerals. This happened just after having lost a young man, Preston Kebokee, who also passed away earlier in the month.
In my own circle of friends in the south, I also learned that my former neighbour Claire Obonsawin passed suddenly. We will all miss her love, friendship and the wonderful meals she prepared for everyone.
Death feels like it has come to my front door and there has been a darkness and sadness with the loss of all of these wonderful people. This experience has also made me a little stronger and, in their memory, I’m willing to stand up to so many of the right wing, colonial minds that are threatening democracy all over this world. We are not taking care of each other in the best ways possible and the very wealthy in the world are doing their best to destroy our democracies.
In our First Nations across the country there is an alcohol and drug addiction pandemic that is killing people and making our communities dangerous and unhealthy. We see all kinds of money being spent on so many things, but we are not funding enough programs, both traditional and western, to help our people heal and deal with these addictions.
I got sober and in recovery in 1996 and I consider myself very fortunate for the assistance I have had from Alcoholics Anonymous and friends and traditional people who I have met on my journey.
I recall the days of the 1970s and 80s when things were very crazy. Most First Nations did not have running water, sanitary utilities and all kinds of terrible things were happening in our communities.
The reasons are obvious with the dire conditions of colonization where we were forced onto reservations where we were trapped and controlled. For hundreds of years, we were used as part of the fur trade as slave labour to enrich European masters. We were terrorized by the residential school system, taught that we were less than other Canadians and led towards a path to give up our hunting and gathering nomadic way of life.
No wonder we were so ripe for being addicted to alcohol and drugs introduced into our communities. We were a defeated people and wounded to the core.
We need to do our very best to support all those working in health, organizational management and policing to help the vulnerable and prioritize how to assist our people to get and stay sober and in recovery. We need to do so with the knowledge and strength of First Nation people who can fill these positions and make sure that it can be sustained for the long term. It will be up to our own people, who have experienced and survived all the trials and tribulations of colonization, to assist with our recovery. We need our own people in place and should be mentoring them into positions.
In the memory of all of those I have lost so dear to me this dark winter, I urge our leaders to work in the spirit of shining light and healing in our First Nations. A reality has developed where many of our people have fallen through the cracks, many persecuted, many negative occurrences have hurt thousands of us in the midst of alcohol and drug addictions and environments. We need a healing and we need it now.
I have always been an avid reader and from an early age I was always searching for a new book to read. When I first discovered the writing of Victor Hugo I was enlightened and I never forgot a quote I read so many years ago. ‘If the soul is left in darkness, sins will be committed, the guilty one is not he who commits the sin but he who causes the darkness.’