On Wednesday, dozens of people arrived in downtown Calgary after walking more than 15 hours from Morley, Alta.
“It’s been pretty tough,” Robbie Daniels with Sober Crew Calgary said. “We had blisters and by the end of the day people had heat stroke.”
This is the second year the group has gathered for Ama’hna’bino or ‘They are Taking Me Home’ walk, which honours those who have lost their lives to addiction, suicide and murder.
“We’ve lost so many people to addiction through opioids,” Daniels said. “That’s all I’ve known is addiction, my dad was an alcoholic.”
Daniels has been sober for more than four years after struggling with addiction for nearly three decades and has been working with others to offer hope and support.
“I tried to recover many times but I never included my higher power,” he said. “This time, I get up early in my day and offer my tobacco, that’s how I have to live.”
Simon House Recovery Centre said it’s seen an increase in deaths due to trauma surrounding the residential school system and its Indigenous applicants have tripled in recent years, with clients seeking treatment programs supported by First Nations Elders.
“When we open up (wounds) and they are not validated, this creates serious consequences from many attempting to bury their trauma in addiction,” said Simon House’s director of Indigenous relations Kerry Gladue. “There needs to be more treatment programs, such as what we do here, addressing trauma with a culturally sensitive approach.”
Meanwhile, over the past several weeks the province has been unveiling new recovery-based treatment communities built in collaboration with First Nations partners.
“We see First Nations disproportionately affected by the deadly disease of addiction in the province of Alberta,” Mental Health and Addictions Minister Dan Williams said at a July press conference. “Our vision in the province of Alberta is to see a place where every single Albertan has immediate access to treatment and the opportunity to seek recovery as soon as they desire it.”
The province said it’s created more than 10,000 addiction treatment spaces including detox spaces since 2019 and more will be included once the recovery communities are built.
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