Facing Impossible Odds

 OP-ED

Every step towards the future counts

Xavier Kataquapit

Published Mar 25, 2026  

Xavier Kataquapit /apsmc

I’m happy to see the ongoing support and assistance in our northern remote communities to help our people cope with so many lifelong and generational issues, trauma, and pain that our people carry. It took me many years to understand that these programs or services are not a one-stop service or a single program that will provide instant resolutions or cures for the issues that plague our people. Much of the trauma that our people deal with are issues that affect our communities across generations. 
These are issues that stem from generations of systemic racism in our northern communities, where being Indigenous was considered something negative to be looked down upon. That culture of looking down on a people is what led to the Residential School system, where Indigenous children were removed from their families and taught that they were not good enough as people. That cultural racism is also what led to the 60s Scoop, where Indigenous children were swept into the foster care system. There are also many more issues and difficulties that Indigenous people face everywhere across Canada that contribute to our families having to deal with way more trauma, tragedy and sadness. All those past harms may have stopped but when people suffer those difficulties as children, it is a pain they carry with them for a lifetime. 
So if these issues are born of years, decades, or generations, it stands to reason that it will also take a great deal of time, or even lifetimes, to deal with them in a positive and healing way. 
Over the past few years, it felt good to know that in my home community of Attawapiskat, the Crisis Mental Health Support program has provided much needed help in so many ways. This program by the Attawapiskat First Nation provides male and female traditional and mental health counselors in the community to those in crisis, those who are grieving or those who need trauma support. They provide group assistance and one-on-one counseling and they are available at all hours. 
The Crisis Mental Support program workers are trained individuals with experience in providing mental health support and counseling. Many of these workers are community members who can speak to those they assist in our Inineemoon (Cree language). Community members have reported that it’s comforting and reassuring to have these workers available and to be able to speak in our traditional language. These workers are available 24 hours a day, every day, with individuals rotating through regular shifts throughout the day or night. 
The community also supports a Peacekeeping program that aims to prevent or reduce the amount of alcohol and illegal substances entering the community.  In a recent public post by Joe Louttit, a community leader and organizer of the Peacekeeping program, an estimated $3.5 million street value of drugs and alcohol was prevented from entering the community this past year. Joe admitted that it did not fully stop the entry of all harmful substances from the community, but at the very least, it reduced the harm that could have been caused. 

The troubles that our northern remote communities are feeling today are reminiscent of the issues we faced with alcohol in the 1970s and 1980s. At the time, alcohol abuse felt like it was choking the life out of people. Airports were just introduced during this time, and regular flights brought in a steady supply of materials, including alcohol. Back then, as a child, I can remember feeling constantly in fear of what would happen as there was a near constant barrage of tragic events involving alcohol abuse that led to injuries, destruction and even death. 

Our community Elders and leaders rallied at the time and instituted a ban on alcohol and illegal substances because they saw what alcohol and drug abuse were doing to our people. It never completely stopped these activities, but it reduced this harm. I can also remember the feeling of safety and security that came back to the community once we knew that our Elders and community leaders were working hard to protect our people. 
In many ways, this modern opioid crisis feels the same as the alcohol abuse crisis in my home community in the 1980s. There are many different new street drugs that are making it far too easy to fall into the deadly trap of addiction.  
This is why I feel hopeful about the work that the Crisis Mental Health Support program and the Peacekeeping program have provided. In the face of overwhelming odds, the community is fighting back against a wave of alcohol and modern drug abuse. They are working to find solutions to help people cope with historical trauma. These programs may seem like small things that can’t do enough to help. It is the same hopeless feeling we felt in the community when we dealt with alcohol abuse in the 1980s. However, over time, these small steps created a small window of opportunity for a new generation to grow up in a brighter, healthier, and supportive environment. 
It may feel like these programs are fighting against impossible odds, but every step we take to save anyone we can, in any small way, contributes to greater rewards in life in the future. 

LINK: https://www.northernnews.ca/opinion/every-step-towards-the-future-counts 

 

We weren't supposed to be here anymore

my photo

 B.C. First Nation takes overdose battle to UN

• Brenna Owen The Canadian Press
• Apr 24, 2025

Members of the Tsilhqot'in Nation were at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on Thursday calling for the British Columbia and Canadian governments to help expand support services in the battle against the toxic drug crisis.

Chief Francis Laceese said the crisis is a "continuation" of threats Indigenous Peoples have faced in the form of residential schools and the smallpox epidemic that devastated Indigenous communities in B.C. in the early 1860s.

"We weren't supposed to be here anymore. The drug crisis is a continuation of this threat to our survival," Laceese said of Canada's residential schools, which separated more than 150,000 Indigenous children from their families.

"I think the government has to intervene, especially the Canadian government and British Columbia, to help us with this crisis," he said.

There had been a meeting recently with B.C. officials to discuss the crisis and impending closure of a four-bed detox centre in Williams Lake, he noted.

Thursday's news conference, which the U.N. says was sponsored by Canada's permanent mission to the world body, came one year after the Tsilhqot'in National Government declared a local state of emergency following a spike in deaths from toxic drug poisoning in its six member nations in central B.C.

"I think the statistics will show how many people have passed just in our community or at the nation level, B.C. level," said Laceese, the chief of Tl'esqox First Nation and vice chief of the Tsilhqot'in National Government.

Asked about harm-reduction measures such as overdose prevention sites and B.C.’s program that provides prescription alternatives to toxic illicit drugs, the executive director of the Tsilhqot'in National Government said access is a challenge because of the remote nature of many communities.

“We don’t have a lot of those,” Jenny Philbrick said of harm-reduction services. “We’re looking for total wraparound services moving forward for our people.”

The First Nations Health Authority released data this month showing 427 members of First Nations in B.C. died of a toxic drug overdose last year.

It marked a 6.8 per cent decrease from 2023, but the death rate was still an average of 6.7 times higher than other residents of the province.

The health authority's chief medical officer, Dr. Nel Wieman, said that represents "the largest gap" between First Nations members and others since B.C. declared a public health emergency over toxic drugs in 2016.

The Tsilhqot'in Nation said last April when it declared the local state of emergency that toxic drugs, combined with the historical and ongoing harms of colonialism, were contributing to higher rates of overdose deaths among Indigenous Peoples.

The statement called on "all ministries and agencies to work together to end this loss of lives" and pointed to a lack of treatment facilities.

Chief Roger William with the Tsilhqot'in National Government told Thursday's press conference that they need help to address the crisis "in our own way," in part through culturally centred programming

"On-the land treatment processes. Supportive recovery through equine therapy. Funding to support our culture and language," he said.

He said Tsilhqot'in members often face racism and discrimination in health-care settings, such as hospital emergency rooms, and they need provincial and federal help to improve access to treatment and recovery services.

William said expanding supportive housing is also a key part of the fight against the toxic drug crisis. The basic needs of Tsilhqot'in members must be met in order to stop their "people from falling into using drugs," he said.

He said there had been some progress working with government.

"We're saying that it's not enough" to address the crisis, he said.

William noted his nation is not the only First Nation in B.C. grappling with the crisis, and others have also declared states of local emergency.

"(We) want to find space for all First Nations to come together and talk about solutions," he said.

Sierra William, a member of the Xeni Gwet'in community where Roger William serves as chief, also took part in Thursday's press conference.

She said smallpox, residential schools and the Sixties Scoop — during which children were taken from their homes and adopted by predominantly non-Indigenous families — had all led to trauma in Indigenous communities.

Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission outlined a decade ago what must happen to improve the well-being of Indigenous Peoples, she said.

"If the calls to action were to be realized, some of our people wouldn't have a reason to turn to drugs," she said.

William said for her, self care doesn't mean taking a bubble bath.

"Self care for us is doing things to connect us to our culture, to our ways of life. The exact things (that) were taken away from us through colonization."

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission had called for sustainable funding for existing and new healing centres to address the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual harms caused by residential schools, William noted.

The commission, which was tasked with researching Canada's residential school system, found the institutions were rife with abuse.

The commission estimated 6,000 children died in the schools, the last of which closed in 1996, though experts have said the actual death toll could be much higher.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2025.

LINK: https://www.chroniclejournal.com/news/national/b-c-first-nation-at-un-calling-for-government-help-in-battling-toxic-drug-crisis/article_0a3b24c5-5419-5d28-aace-4deb2ccbdb14.html