New program gets Fort Good Hope youth on the land to combat struggles

Floyd Kakfwi of Fort Good Hope, N.W.T. said he's struggling to stay sober.

"My experience? It was a lot of drinking, a lot of time spent in jail, yeah, a lot of time."

Kakfwi said he wanteda different way of life, adding he"just couldn'tseem to make it happen."

But this weeksomething gave him hope: an On the Land program launched in Fort Good Hopefor young peoplebetween the ages of 15 and 35.

• Traditional First Nations culture may help reduce teen suicides
• 'We Matter' campaign speaks directly to Indigenous youth

The youth spent days at a time out on the land working side-by-side with elders to learn the traditional values of the community.

During the day, the group set traps and chopped piles of wood to earn a $100 wage; by night they shared life stories with one another,living together in a cozy, wooden cabin.

Ron Pierrot, former chief and councillor who helped organize the one-weekpilot program, said he was taken aback by the youths' responses.

"You know if you put them out in a bush and teach them, you give them equipment, they wouldn't stop working," said Pierrot. "Man, some of them work really, really good."

A solution to the 'turmoil' among the youth

The new program was created after the recent suicides of two youth in the community.

• Hope, help and healing: National suicide prevention conference begins in Iqaluit
• N.W.T. young offender staff to merge with adult jail

"Good Hope has experienced some turmoil with the youth," said Pierrot. "Things [are] bleak for them."

Pierrot said a lack of jobs makes things especially difficult, and many youth get caught up in the criminal justice system.

"That's the problem with my community is that there's not much resources," said Kakfwi. "There's not much people that I can talk to and the young people can talk to, so there's a lot of drinking a lot of drugs and I'm doing both."

...They are needed in the community.- Ron Pierrot, councillor of Fort Good Hope, N.W.T.

Pierrot feelsthe program is a way to keep the youth out of trouble and help them feel purposeful in their communities.

"They feel like they have a position in society and the community here," he said. "They can play a really important role and they are needed in the community."

And Kakfwi agrees.

"Being out there for a few days now, I'm actually thinking about wanting this sober life to be there for them [the youth]," said Kakfwi. "I want them to count on me for something. I can't do it if i'm drinking."

Funding a challenge

The program is funded locally by the community as well as by the territorial government, which will match dollar for dollar.

"Everybody's trying to help as much as they could," said Pierrot, adding thatfinances are still a challenge.

"We're trying to do whatever we could. Stretch the dollar, I guess."

The program is scheduled to end on Sunday, but young men and women like Kakfwi want to see it go on.

"Hopefully it'll continue and it'll give me more strength to live a better life."