Jennifer Naytowhow is 27 years sober. Photo by Chelsea Laskowski.
More than 100 people took part in the Sturgeon Lake Against Drugs and Alcohol walk. Photo by Chelsea Laskowski
A Prince Albert area reserve held a walk on Friday to acknowledge the impacts of drugs and alcohol on its people, and to take action in building a healthier community.
More than 100 people had an RCMP escort, with some kids riding on horseback as they trekked from the Sturgeon Lake store to the treatment centre for more than 10 kilometres.
The Walk Against Drugs and Alcohol was the brain child of a Sturgeon Lake addictions worker who sees the impact of drugs and alcohol in everyday life.
Not only does Robin Longjohn work in the addictions field, he’s a recovering alcoholic and addict. He said after he hit rock bottom while living in Edmonton more than 20 years ago, he realized what those substances cost him and those around him.
“First and foremost, I had to bury a lot of my good childhood friends. And being an addict and an alcoholic, I wasn’t the parent that I should have been to my children. So I lost so many years,” Longjohn said.
The hurt he’s been through because of addiction is something many in the community can relate to.
“Alcohol and drugs took a lot of things way from me and coming back to my community, I didn’t realize that my community is lost in that cycle,” he said.
Whether it’s a child, parent, family member or friend dealing with addiction, no one on Sturgeon Lake is untouched by addictions, Longjohn said. This carries over into the education system and child and family services.
Band Councillor Fred Felix says the walk is a way of connecting with everyone who’s been impacted.
“Chief and council are aware of the problem in the community and us supporting this allows them to know that yes, there is a problem in our community and we recognize it and we are working on developing, creating, bonding with the people in our community once again,” Felix said.
He said community leaders and program developers need to recognize the problem and take steps to fix it.
Many of those walking have been sober for decades and want to make the community healthy for the next generations.
Jennifer Naytowhow is one of those people. She was joined by four grandchildren and many other nephews and nieces during the walk.
“It’s really emotional because you can see how many of the people are out there walking and it just gets to my heart thinking ‘yes, there’s a lot of people out here supporting,” Naytowhow said.
“As we walk through the village today you saw the people looking out the windows.”
Emotions ran high for Longjohn as well, who said the show of support is “beautiful” and “overwhelming.”
Naytowhow used to partipate in a similar walk organized by a group called Kokums and Mushums Against Drugs and Alcohol where they would walk from Prince Albert to Shellbrook, and is happy to see the community participating in something similar now.