Fort William First Nation honours those in recovery
By Rick Garrick
FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION — Fort William First Nation held a variety of activities, including activities for people in recovery, during its 3rd Annual Recovery Day on Sept. 18 at the Fort William First Nation Health Centre.
“It’s great that they’ve had so many people attend today,” says Fort William Chief Michele Solomon. “It’s just really a great way to bring everybody together and acknowledge that we have this issue in our community and there’s people here to support people that are struggling.”
Chief Solomon says there is always a need for support for people in recovery.
“For family members, it’s a really big struggle trying to navigate how best to support their loved one,” Chief Solomon says. “You’re always caught in this situation of, is what I’m doing helping them? Or is what I’m doing hurting them? Of course, there’s no intention to hurt anybody, but sometimes our intentions to do good can further support the negative behaviour that people are caught up in.”
Ashley Harju, mental health and addiction coordinator at Fort William, says it was important to celebrate and provide awareness about recovery with the community.
“It’s important to get the community together to celebrate individuals who went through their recovery journey, individuals who are still in that journey or ones that may not feel they are ready to start,” Harju says. “We should all be working together to bring everyone back up because a community is what really builds a community.”
Harju says they also had Hepatitis C, HIV, and syphilis testing available for people at Recovery Day.
“We do have that available today and we will have that for National Addiction Awareness Week as well,” Harju says.
Jamie, one of the people in recovery who was preparing food at Recovery Day, says he began his recovery journey in about 2017.
“I’m coming up to five years of sobriety on Oct. 14,” Jamie says. “I live a good life now, I’m proud of myself and proud of the people that have got me this far. I enjoy my fire-keeping duties now — it’s been part of my sobriety and I always tell everybody that’s what put the fire back up inside of me, so that’s where I’ve stayed.”
Jamie says it is not an easy journey being in recovery.
“What defines us is not how many times we fall down or relapse, it’s how we get back up over and over,” Jamie says. “When people ask me how do I stay sober, it’s with the culture, I do a lot of fire-keeping around Thunder Bay.”
Robin, one of the people in recovery who was involved with the Narcotics Anonymous group at Recovery Day, says she follows a 12-step program that provides her with a guide to live by.
“I was in addiction for 36 years,” she says, noting that she has been sober for three years. “But I do it not by myself, I do it with other people in the fellowship and connection with other people. The fellowship in Thunder Bay is pretty big, and so is recovery.”
Helen, one of the people in recovery who was involved with Dilico Anishinabek Family Care’s Sage Healing and Wellness Lodge (SHAWL) group at Recovery Day, says SHAWL is amazing for people who want recovery.
“It supports you, they guide you into the right path, and it’s not judgmental,” Helen says. “They’re very caring and they’re very supportive of your recovery. I recommend anybody that needs it for pre- and post-treatment; it really saved my life. It’s awesome, you feel like family. It’s amazing how much the staff and other clients they look out for each other, and they’ve all got the same goal — recovery and living the recovery lifestyle.”
Fort William Elder Marlene Pierre says Recovery Day was very helpful for getting information out to the community about recovery.
“I think the hardest part is admitting that you have a problem,” Elder Pierre says. “There’s all kinds of factors that go into it and you need the counselling. That’s the hardest part for these young people is to take that initial step of getting to discuss their problem. So this (Recovery Day) is excellent.”