A southern Alberta First Nation is celebrating the opening of a new addiction treatment centre that provides culturally connected treatment. Members of Siksika Nation and the Alberta government celebrated the opening of the new Siksika Nation Iitaisokinaapyoyis Healing Lodge Recovery Community on Wednesday morning. The 76-bed facility, located on the First Nation some 95 kilometres east of Calgary, marks a significant step forward to allowing members of the nation to start their recover journeys, the nation’s chief said. “For a very long time we’ve struggled with addictions, so being able to bring a facility like this to Siksika means a lot,” Siksika Nation Chief Samuel Crawfoot told reporters on Wednesday. “Anybody who’s worked in addictions knows that addiction is tied to trauma and there’s high rates of trauma (among First Nations).” Crowfoot says the trauma of First Nations’ displacement to residential schools and foster care system has contributed to a much higher addiction rate than other Canadian communities. And while Siksika Nation members — many of whom are affected by addictions to opioids, alcohol and/or fentanyl — could access treatment in centres off-reserve, Crowfoot said that could still open them up to the stress of “going into a foreign world” for care, far away from their families. Instead, the new facility will provide cultural spaces, long-term, live-in care close to home. “We’re not actually asked to leave our homes for once. We don’t have to leave our families, we can still be in our communities,” Crowfoot said. “It was a suppression of our culture that caused that harm. It will be the flourishing of our culture that saves us.” The new facility is one of five recovery communities being developed in direct partnership with Indigenous communities and the Alberta government as part of the Alberta Recovery Model. The facility is expected to serve about 300 people annually. — with files from Tyler Barrow
