Powerful presentation made to students in Liard and Simpson
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Fort Simpson (Nov 24/00) - It's been 10 years since Tanya Tourangeau has been involved in an abusive relationship, but she still becomes emotional when recalling those hurtful times.
"It's still hard to talk about," she told students at Thomas Simpson school as she wiped away the tears welling in her eyes.
Tourangeau and her partner, Stuart Lennie, from Edmonton, visited Fort Simpson and Fort Liard as part of National Addiction Awareness Week activities.
Lennie, a former weekend binge drinker, spoke of how he has fought to overcome his addiction and how meeting Tourangeau has helped him.
Originally from Fort Smith, Tourangeau hasn't allowed drugs and alcohol to consume her despite overwhelming circumstances. She recounted how, during her childhood, her father had abandoned the family home and her mother was an alcoholic and drug user.
At school, Tourangeau managed to become president of the student council and kept many people in the dark about her bleak home life. But she was actually dealing drugs for her mother at age 11, she told the students.
"Nobody ever told me that I could ask for help," she said.
Pregnant at 14
At age 14 she intentionally became pregnant because she wanted a baby, someone who would love her unconditionally. Fortunately, her baby managed to survive despite complications at birth. Unfortunately, her boyfriend was beating her so badly that she decided to run away from home with her young son. She said she went to the RCMP detachment with "16 fist-sized, deep black and blue bruises" all over her body. She also had broken ribs.
"I didn't want my son to be a wife beater," she said.
"I didn't want him to think it was OK to hit women."
She moved to Edmonton and returned to school
Fascinated by police work, she was made a constable on the Edmonton City Police force at age 17.
"I was really proud of myself. I loved wearing the uniform, the training and travelling all over," she recalled.
After four years as a cop, she said she realized that all she was doing was arresting people, many of them aboriginal.
She turned in her badge to begin touring and talking about native identity and breaking the cycle of drugs, alcohol and abuse.
Finding their roots
She met Lennie and together they formed Back to Our Roots, the presentation that brought them to Fort Liard and Fort Simpson.
"I could have followed in my mom's footsteps and been a big-time dealer," she said. "But we didn't give in to that."
Her younger sister hasn't followed the same path. She became an alcoholic and a drug user at age nine, says Tourangeau. By age 17 she was using crack, even while she was pregnant.
"My sister's still on that dark road ... she's still into blaming," she said.
She told the students she wasn't here to preach, but to encourage them to turn their dreams into goals and exercise their power of choice. Of Cree descent, she urged the aboriginal students to be proud of their cultural identity. She said her culture considers rocks and trees to be sacred.
Trees are the "grandfathers" with much knowledge, she said, adding that one of her favourite things to do is go into the bush, put her hand on a tree trunk, relax and feel the power flow through her. She encouraged all students to laugh more often and read as much as possible. "Books can take you anywhere," she said.
