Tony Bigchild had a stark message for St. Albert this week: drugs will kill you.
The words were held high in his hands on a sign written in big red letters.
"They will kill you," he said, as he and 75 others marched through downtown St. Albert Wednesday morning.
"I've been down this path. I've been at death's door. I know what it's like to be there, and I don't want people who are suffering right now to go through that," he said. "I want them to know that there's help."
Bigchild, a 38-year-old father from Red Deer, was one of about 75 people who participated in St. Albert's first ever Sober Walk on Wednesday. The event, organized by Poundmaker's Lodge, was part of National Addictions Awareness Week.
The walk is usually held in Edmonton but organizer Robin Arcand said the lodge brought the walk to St. Albert this year to shed light on addictions in small communities.
"Addiction doesn't just take First Nations people," she said. "It takes any nation, any age … It's a disease, and it's going to grow and grow until we create more awareness and guide people to where they can get that help."
Broken soul
Shouting cheers and waving signs with messages like "Smudge, not drugs," the jovial group marched from Legion Memorial Ball Park down Sturgeon Road to St. Albert Place, led by a group of traditional drummers from Alexander First Nation.
Tara Charron, 23, was one of those walkers.
"I'm just a normal girl who got caught up in addictions," said the Morinville resident. "If someone can get saved, just one person, from this walk, I believe we will have done our job."
Her addiction started with a few drinks in high school, she said, and then a few more. Soon, she lost her house, her money and her self-respect.
"It ruined my life. I was drinking every day to excess, until I passed out," she said.
Eventually, her counsellor pointed her towards Poundmaker's.
Also in the procession was Edmonton's Kevin Xavier Matthews. He said he was walking for his cousin, Dale Mitchell, who died five years ago when he leapt off the High Level Bridge while on ecstasy.
Matthews, 18, said he started dealing and doing cocaine when he was 15.
"I got kicked out of my house," he said. "I couldn't get a job … I had nowhere to turn to but to sell drugs."
Eventually the money took over his life to the point where he didn't care about anybody or anything except the money. But soon, he said, he started to see the effects the drugs had on those around him.
"You're basically feeding tragedy."
Matthews said he realized something had to change after he was arrested for assaulting someone while drunk.
"I figured alcohol and smoking weed isn't the best for me," he said. He checked himself into Poundmaker's.
Bigchild said years of poor parenting led him into depression and binge drinking. He had a lot of anger issues and he lost his wife and three kids because of them. One day he sat down with a local elder and asked for help.
"I was at death's door," he said. "I was contemplating suicide."
With tears in his eyes, the elder said he would do whatever he could to help, on one condition: that Bigchild make a commitment to the Creator to stay on this new path.
He did.
There is help
Now at Poundmaker's, Bigchild said he's been sober since August, and has found new purpose in his life through native spirituality.
"I love the drum, I love to sing, and I love to help and talk to my people," he enthused. "I've got a good life ahead of me."
Charron, clean for the last 100 days, said she was looking forward to her first sober birthday in years.
Addicts aren't just people living in boxes on the street, she said.
"We have families. We have lives. We have a lot of stuff to offer. We just have a problem with addiction."
Bigchild urged addicts to get on their knees and ask the Creator for help.
"Nobody can win this alone," he said. "When you're on your knees with a broken soul, he doesn't care what you call him, so long as you call him."
Matthews, who has been clean for a month, encouraged addicts to take a look at how their actions affect those around them.
"In the long run, you're only hurting yourself."
