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By Derek Craddock
Several members of a Saskatchewan First Nation are making a long trek to the provincial capital to call for solutions to the opioid and overdose crisis.
On Thursday morning, members of the Muskoday First Nation near Prince Albert came together to start a walk of more than 300 kilometres from the community to the steps of the Legislature in Regina.
The purpose of the walk is to raise awareness of the epidemic of overdoses related to fentanyl and crystal meth with one clear message: “It’s killing us.”
“These drugs, these opioids, any kind of drug there is, it’s killing our young people, they are our future,” said band councillor Merle Crain.
Last year, Saskatchewan set a record for overdose deaths with 421, surpassing the 410 deaths reported the previous year. The number countrywide for 2022 was 5,360 opioid deaths, roughly 20 per day.
David Pratt, the First Vice-Chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN), spoke before the walk began, stressing the need for more government support for opioid treatment. He said the FSIN is still compiling the data but believes more First Nations people have died from opioid overdoses in the last few years than from COVID-19.
During an assembly of FSIN chiefs last month, Pratt said they declared a regional state of emergency due to the number of communities being impacted by drug use and overdose.
He cites that three of the largest member nations have lost a combined 150 people to opioids in the last three years.
Pratt and Crain agree that unless something is done, the situation will only get worse.
“I think we have it as young as 13-year-olds getting into these drugs and, like I said, it’s only going to get worse unless we try to think outside the box and try and help our people,” said Crain.
One of those participating in the walk is Curtis Bear, who knows firsthand the dangers of drug addiction. In 2013, he was injured after trying to break up a fight. He said he was hit with an ice pick in the head. His mother told paNOW that doctors did not believe he would survive after surgery.
Bear said alcohol and drugs were a factor in the fight.
He added he wanted to take part in the walk not just for awareness but to remember community members who died from fentanyl and crystal meth use.
The team started walking from Muskoday on Friday morning en route to Melfort. Their journey will take them through Spalding, Copeland, and Fairy Hill before their arrival in Regina on June 15.
They will be providing regular updates through the Facebook group Crystal Meth and Fentanyl Overdose Awareness.