Mental health workers are clearing land for a traditional Innu camp as a safe place for people to detox from the effects of alcohol and drugs as parents and leaders from Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation continue fighting the drug crisis ravaging their community.
Amid the preparations, a woman who once sold drugs in the community says more employment resources and attainable training are needed to help people stop dealing and turn to meaningful work instead.
On March 24 a group of community members held a meeting where about 60 Innu, including members of the local band council and the Innu Nation, discussed what organizers are calling a crisis.
The following day the group met with RCMP representatives, then went door-to-door to speak with those they say are involved in the drug trade, requesting all non-Innu involved to leave Sheshatshiu and offering Innu options for treatment.
One woman was home last week when the knock came on her door. “I was really mad because they just handed the paper and said that my partner had to leave the community without even checking if we still does it,” the woman says. “But then I realized that was a wake-up call for me.”
The Independent is not naming the woman due to concerns for her safety. What the group that knocked on her door didn’t know, the woman says, is that she and her partner stopped dealing the week prior in an effort to clean up their lives.
She says she turned to drugs after losing siblings, who had struggled with alcoholism, and her stepfather, who helped raise her.
“To me, drugs — I was just numbing my pain.”
In March, the woman was inspired by her young child, who she says will soon be old enough to realize her parents were dealing drugs in the community. The pair want to create a better future for her, she says.
“It’s pretty hard to find a job around here,” the woman explains. “That’s how I supported her […] especially paying rent.”
She says it was easy to get connected with people in the drug trade, as there are many dealers in the community, including some who people don’t know about.
Before turning to selling drugs, the woman says she sent out resumes for various jobs. She would like to work a simple office job, where she could work nine-to-five and go home to her daughter and live a regular life.
The woman says she and her partner were exploring options a few days after they stopping dealing drugs when the knock came at the door. She says it helped them realize it was time to get clean before Child Seniors and Social Development (CSSD) workers knocked on her door or took her child away.
“I’m gonna do this for myself and my family, because I don’t want to lose them,” she says.
The woman is beginning treatment for her addiction this week and is both “happy and scared” about starting the program.
“I’m very scared, very scared, and I’m going to be so sick,” she says. “I’m also thinking about the future, thinking about my little one — like, she needs healthy parents.”
The woman wants to return to school and has upgraded her courses in the past but dropped out after transportation barriers made it difficult to attend classes, she explains.
An income-support program would help Innu seek treatment while still being able to pay for food and shelter, the woman explains, adding more training should be offered in the community for trades, as well as employment opportunities, since not everyone has reliable vehicles and the financial resources to travel back and forth to Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
Innu governments should also look into programming similar to the Nunatsiavut Government’s Aullâsimapvet, a pilot project funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada that helps Inuit cover the costs of gas, ammunition and food for travelling on the land, she adds.
Land-based detox inspired by community meetings
Throughout the community meetings, Innu spoke about the need for a detox program rooted in Innu culture, and on the land. Gabriel Rich was inspired by the meetings and felt a need to act, without waiting for the provincial or federal governments.
Rich is a mental health and addictions worker at the Mary May Healing Centre in Sheshatshiu but is volunteering his personal time to clear the area around Three Mile Road. Rich, his wife Karen and another volunteer began clearing land for Innu tents to hold a detox out in the country, surrounded by Innu traditional practices.
“We’ve been hearing a lot of things, and ‘Something should be done.’ We are doing something. We put their voices into action,” Rich says. “Building something that will majorly impact our people right in Sheshatshiu.”
Rich and other volunteers previously started working to create a walking trail to improve their mental health. The group has now made three trails. Being out in nature has helped people in the group stay sober, he says.
“The smell of trees, the smell of nature, the people, the socialization — it makes everything so much enjoyable. You know you’re not alone, and you are never alone,” Rich adds. “Tranquility, peacefulness.”
Rich, who marks seven years sober this week, says his wife has been with him every step of the way.
When people are struggling with addictions, it can feel as though there is no hope and it’s hard for one person to do it alone, he says, explaining a detox space where people can come together and help each other would be great for the people of Sheshatshiu.
“I believe people can build a really great life, you know; you just need a little push. Yes, I know you can do it,” Rich says. “If I could just do this, you know you can do it.”
Rich hopes to have the detox space ready as soon as possible to welcome everyone without judgement, and include medical professionals on site to help with any effects of people detoxing from substances.
For someone trying to get sober, there are a lot of barriers, a lot of unknowns, and a lot of fear, Rich says, but it can be done.
“The other side of the addiction is a beautiful life,” he says. “Today’s an opportunity to wake up, right? That you’re still alive. You got another chance. Keep trying.”
