LUTSEL K'E/SNOWDRIFT
Raw emotion mixed with inspirational triumph was on display last week as the community of Lutsel K'e marked the beginning of National Addictions Awareness Week on Nov 17.

J.C. Catholique, left, and Lutsel K'e Chief Felix Lockhart drum at a "feed the fire" ceremony Nov. 17 in Lutsel K'e. Both men were in the film Our Healing Journey, which chronicled the sobriety journey for 13 band councillors and staff who all went to rehab together in 1989. - John McFadden/NNSL photo

It was 25 years ago that the Lutsel K'e band council and staff, 13 of them in total, graduated from an addictions treatment program in southern Alberta.

They celebrated that milestone and sat down with much of the rest of the community to watch the debut screening of the film Our Healing Journey at the Zah Lockhart Memorial Hall. Vancouver filmmaker Anthony Purcell's 51-minute documentary chronicles the journey of sobriety those 13 people took and are still on.

The film begins in 1990 and shows the councillors as they talked about the sometimes difficult conversation on becoming and staying sober.

Purcell came back to Lutsel K'e several times to re-interview the film's subjects and talk to them about how they were doing. The film shows footage and interviews with them again in 1993, 1996 and 2007.

In 1989, at the urging of Lutsel K'e elders, a resolution was passed by the band council, stating its leaders had to be sober and ordered councillors and staff into rehab.

"There was too much drinking in the community, too much alcohol," said Ron Desjarlais, one of the 13 people who made the rehab trip to the Stoney Tribe Medicine Lodge in Marley, Alta., in the foothills not far from Calgary.

"It often takes a tragedy for people to act," he said. "And we had several of them. Two young men died playing 'chicken' on snowmobiles on the lake in 1986. They both swerved the same away and both of them died," he said.

"We also had a boat tip and a man drowned about the same time and both incidents were related to alcohol. The band leaders realized they had to take drastic measures. We had to get sober. We had to set an example for the rest of the community. We knew if we didn't the federal government was going to take our land and put us on a reserve. Our food comes from the land. We didn't want that to happen."

Lutsel K'e Chief Felix Lockhart was also one of the 13 people who went south for treatment in 1989. He was chief at the time as well, and played a prominent role in the film which includes footage of his wedding in 1996.

He returned to Lutsel K'e earlier this year to become chief again after living in Yellowknife 11 years and says alcohol problems seem to be on the rise.

"There is lots more alcohol and drug abuse in the community than when I left," he said.

"It's not unexpected. People need to get back to what we were doing 25 years ago. That is, meeting with each other, meeting with elders, discussing the reasons alcohol is again a problem in the community. People don't like being told not to drink. We have to discuss the reasons surrounding why they drink in the first place.

"The resolution calling for sober leaders still exists today. It's never been rescinded and the community still wants the leadership to lead by example. Many of our elders have passed on but it is important that people in the community remember what they told us. Their words are still with us."

Georgina Catholique Nitah also took the sobriety journey in 1989. She was born and raised in Lutsel K'e but has lived in Yellowknife for the past six years. She was a band councillor when she joined the other councillors and staff in rehab.

"We had a goal of having sober leadership," she said. "It had never happened before. I took a lot of work. We had to leave families behind, but it was a success."

Catholique Nitah said she's had to deal with some difficult times, including the death of her mother and the breakup of her marriage.

"But I'm very proud to say I never started drinking again," she said. "I worked hard at the sobriety challenge and what I learned in rehab stayed with me, stayed in my heart."

People who watched the film, young and old, seemed to get a real kick out of seeing how the subjects in the film had progressed and aged over the years.

Organizers of the anniversary and film screening placed a strong emphasis on the young people in the community. Most of the 73 students in Lutsel K'e attended the event, including the school's principal Devin Roberts.

"It's important for the students to learn about this sobriety journey, their cultural identity and character," he said.

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