KHKEWISTAHAW FIRST NATION — “The elders tell us that when you see someone who has addictions—someone that’s hurting and that’s in pain—they are our teachers. They have a special place in God’s heart. They have a special place in God’s kingdom which is why we’re told, ‘be careful how what you think of people’, because as First Nations, we come from an equalitarian society where everybody was equal,” said Elder Ross Cadotte during a prayer offering outside the Eagle Sky Healing Lodge.
The 10-bed healing lodge officially opened on the Kahkewistahaw First Nation on Sept. 27. The centre is a safe and secure place for people on their healing journey, offering cultural, spiritual, and mental health supports in addition to a holistic treatment program. Relative support staff and security follow the Seven Grandfather Teachings in helping people between the ages of 18 and 25 in the co-ed facility.
It’s been some time in the making with the Yorkton Tribal Council first announcing plans to base the centre in the former health building on Kahkewistahaw back in early March.
“We negotiated the lease for the facility here, but they came over and above the lease requirements on what we needed,” said Ivan Cote, Health Director with the YTC on working with the Kahkewistahaw Chief and Council. “They were more than willing to help us, and we do appreciate that because of their help and their assistance in providing us this facility.”
Doubling the number of beds at Eagle Sky Healing Lodge is the next step, something still in discussions, according to Cote.
“We’re starting at the facility with 10 beds, and it’s our intention to expand to 20 beds with the approval of the funding from the province,” he said. “We take this as a very serious and positive step because as we speak right now, there are funerals back home for people who have passed away from overdose. It’s a small step to us, but it’s a big step when it comes down to our fight against the addictions and saving our people.”
There is a waitlist for Eagle Sky Healing Lodge, which will be admitting people effective Oct. 7. Manager Danita Benjoe credited staff members, calling them ‘family,’ and explained their approach to helping clients through their healing journey.
“All you need is your heart and compassion and that empathy and that love to our relatives,” she said. “That’s what we’ll be showing here when our relatives come through our doors. It’s going to be like a home for them.”
Assembling the right people on the team at Eagle Sky was quite a challenge, as Benjoe recalled.
“It was April when I stepped in here and there were only two of us—I and my janitor! It was a difficult task in recruiting and getting this place up and running,” she said. “I took it many times to ceremony, and I had my staff come my way. I just want to give thanks to our Creator, for allowing us to come together and for bringing this detox centre together.
Having just the right type of people in a detox centre is crucial, something program consultant Cliff Bird noted.
“I’ve always said the frontline workers are my heroes,” he said. “They’re the ones that bring their ‘A’ game every day, not knowing what they’re going to be faced with. At times, they’re going to face the brunt of folks that are coming off addictions, folks that are in horrific withdrawal, they have to face it all.”
Helping 10 at a time
Back in April, the province announced their Action Plan for Mental Health and Addictions, which included the commitment of adding 500 addictions treatment spaces across Saskatchewan. At that point, 183 spaces had been officially announced in Lloydminster (15), Estevan (26), Saskatoon (32), and 36 virtual spaces through EHN Canada. More spaces are needed, but Kahkewistahaw Chief Evan Taypotat sees the work before the Eagle Sky Healing Lodge as a path to sovereignty.
“As we settle our claims, as we build hotels and gas stations and other things, somewhere in there we forget to mention the people that are battling addictions— the people that need our help,” he said. “When I think about this beautiful Eagle Sky Healing Lodge—10 beds, 10 people at a time we’re going to heal, that has to be in the word sovereignty as well. We have to help fix those people that want our help.”
He also addressed security concerns that may be associated with addiction and those battling it, noting that the local Community Safety Patrol will have an increased presence near the facility.
“We talked about it in the pipe ceremony this morning, where we said, ‘the people that are coming to the First Nation are coming with problems, coming with baggage’,” Chief Taypotat explained. “We need to make sure that the good hearts embrace those people the minute they walk in the door and fill them with love because they’re coming from places with hate, First Nations with hate, homes with hate. I’m really excited to see what the good hearts do for our community.
“I wish we could ask Chief Kahkewistahaw, ‘Are we making you proud? Are we doing what your vision was 150 years ago when you signed Treaty Four’?” Chief Taypotat continued. “This building alone, I know Chief Kahkewistahaw when he hears us today, I know he’s proud of us, so that makes me really happy to know that he’s within earshot. His spirit’s here, and he’s going to watch over these people as they come to our community for healing.”
Taypotat called hosting the new centre on their land ‘an honour,’ giving his well wishes to the staff.
“We will do anything and everything for the people that come up with solutions,” he said. “This is a solution, and we are at your beck and call. We will find the money. We will find a way because sovereignty involves healthy people, and we will get there.”
Stark reality of addiction
Drug toxicity deaths set a provincial record in 2023 with 484 (291 confirmed, 193 suspected) people in Saskatchewan having died from drugs. Some of this rise has been linked to more fentanyl, xylazine, and benzodiazepines entering the overall drug supply.
During the opening at Eagle Sky Healing Lodge, Bird spoke of the explosion of crystal methamphetamine that his home community of Montreal Lake Cree Nation faced seven years ago—including six recent unsolved murders in the community linked to drugs.
“We recently had a young man that was beaten to death and his body burned over $35 worth of meth,” Bird said. “Crystal meth deaths among our young people are going to rival everything our nations have faced. Folks, if we are afraid of a time when we will begin to lose an entire generation—or a big portion of a generation—to crystal meth and these drugs, I want to say, ladies and gentlemen, that train has left the station.”
Bird foresees the Eagle Sky Healing Lodge to be an extremely busy facility and a crucial component in healing from addiction.
“Initially, I would suggest that you keep your doors open for your local people, but I guarantee within the next three to six months, they will literally be kicking your door down to get in from all communities, all people groups, they’re going to have our white brothers come as well because they’re in huge trouble,” he said.
FSIN Vice Chief David Pratt also stressed the importance of healing, asking for a show of hands in the crowd of around 150 who “has a loved one that’s battling active addiction right now or lost a loved one.” Nearly every hand shot up in the crowd.
However, given the dark statistics, Pratt also spoke of the immense hope and opportunity to heal.
“That’s the message we have to give to our people: there is hope for them,” he said. “They’re struggling because of trauma, things that happened, but we’re still dealing with that ripple effect from the residential schools. What are our grandparents and our great-grandparents and our parents went through, and what some of us went through, that trauma that they carry, it’s still within us and we’re all on that healing journey—every one of us—and we’re all at different levels. I want to encourage you, don’t give up on our people. Love them. That’s the thing that’s going to make the difference.”
He also addressed the Eagle Sky Healing Lodge staff, reminding them to take time for themselves.
“We have so many losses that we carry in our own families, but we work so much, we just keep going,” Pratt said. “We don’t have time to properly grieve and take care of ourselves. So I want to encourage the leadership and the frontline workers, to take that time for yourself. Take care of yourself. It’s important whichever way you have to use whether it’s through church or through ceremony, get that spiritual help that you need. It’s okay. The world will not end if you turn your phone off for one weekend.”
More hope for the future
Ochapowace First Nation Chief Shelly Bear called the opioid crisis one of the toughest we’ve ever had, noting that it’s not just youth being affected, but people of all ages.
“As leaders, the battles that we face standing beside our people are pretty tough, and addictions and the opioid crisis that we’re living in is one of the toughest that we’ve had,” she said.
But Chief Bear had something very important to share with those in attendance—Ochapowace will soon be home to a treatment facility.
“We’ve chosen our site, we’ve actually been granted 20 beds for Ochapowace to build a treatment centre on our nation,” she said, adding that there is a site in mind south of Broadview. The challenge for project organizers is in the financial support—Chief Bear explained that money from the provincial government will come once the treatment facility is constructed.
“So that’s the dilemma we’re in right now,” she said.
The reason treatment centres are so important—especially near detox facilities—comes through the process of healing. Once people withdraw from drugs and alcohol, the next step in their journey is an outpatient rehabilitation program. It is here that people learn how to reclaim their lives after active addiction and reintegrate into society.
YTC Tribal Chief Isabel O’Soup shared about one young man she knew who was on the verge of being named a dangerous offender but had the opportunity to enter treatment. As a result, the man turned his life around “and is living a good life” with a home and a job.
“When I see him, I see hope,” Chief O’Soup said. “I see hope for First Nation people.”
She also spoke of how healing is not a quick process, but it is also one people can embark on.
“We just need to deal with what’s inside of us, because we weren’t always like this,” said Chief O’Soup. “I tell everybody that we took 150 years, probably, to get the way that we were from all our historical traumas, and we might take 150 years to get to where we want to be, but we’re getting there now. Our focus is to keep it small, so you don’t get overwhelmed one person at a time.”
