3 stories of Indigenous resilience over the holidays

Spiked eggnog, family reunions and big shiny presentsbring joy tomany at this time of year, but for some the season also packs a stressful punch.

CBC News spokewith three Indigenous people who shared stories of coping with pain and the triggers that come with the holidays.

Trevor Angus on avoiding triggers

Little tuffs of wood shavings fall to the ground as Trevor Angus chiseling away at a cedar panel.

Agreat marriage, a beautiful home and a rewarding and lucrative career as a carver are the cornerstones of theGitxsanandWet'suwet'enartist's life.

But his life wasn't always so put together.

"I was heavily into cocaine and alcohol. It's a total trigger for me to see that,even if I see it in a movie, it gets my brain goingand I want it, I get antsy," Angus said from his studio in Langley, B.C.

"At this time of yearIavoidsituationswhere Ifeelvulnerable."

Trevor's addictions began in 2001 when his younger brother killed himself. In the same 18 month period, he lost nine other relatives and friends to suicide, car accidentsand a work accident.

"It was a devastating time for me and my peers, because we were all very close knit," Angus said.

A lot of the drinkingwas used to numbfeelings around those deaths, because it was so hard on him.

When drugs and alcohol took over at age 29, Angusstopped drawing and carving. He devoted his life to what he calledhis love: cocaine.

Eight years ago, Angus turned his life around. He quit drinking and using drugs and devoted his life instead to his family and his art.

"I had to turn my entire life around, and in a big way that meant letting people goand finding new friendswho were also soberand who could change my perspective," Angus said.

He advises others struggling with holiday triggersto reach out by calling friends and families, to use the resources that are availableand to avoid where people will be drinking or using.

"Remember why you are on this path to begin with. You have to look at what got you to where you are today," he said.

"My dad is my inspiration. He has been sober for about 30 years now and we both know if we didn't quit, we probably wouldn't be here today."

Patricia June Vickerson truth telling

Ts'msyen and Heiltsuk psychotherapist Patricia June Vickers knows all too well the pain some people grapple with at this time of year.

"Because Christmas is a time of remembering, if a person has memories of suffering and loss that are connected to this time of year, then it makes it challenging," Vickers said from her office in north Vancouver.

In her 20 years as a therapist, Vickers has heard countless stories of struggle from clients, but she also has her own story to rely on.

"The violence that happened to my grandmother and father in residential school was atrocious," she said.

The cycle of violence haunted her family for generations. In 1989, she found out her father was sexually abusing her two daughters.

"It blew my personal world to pieces, and my belief in God to pieces," she said.

'I wanted all the secrets out'

Vickers's saidshe was fortunate enoughto have a support system and took the first step by calling a crisis line.

"It was quite a journey of healing and coming to understand how we as a family got here and how my father got here, as a man, a father and a grandfather," she said.

In 1993, her older brothersought help at a treatment centre. Many family memberstraveled to see him, including Vickers' father. But still enraged by his sexual abuse spanning years, every family memberrefused to help him get to the centre, even though he had suffered debilitating strokes. So he took the bus to the centre in the Southwest States on his own.

When you tell the truth in afamily, it's unimaginable, the wisdom and the beauty that comes from that.-Patricia June Vickers

His wife, and many of hischildren and grandchildrenvisited him thereand took part in a healing circle.

"I wanted all the secrets out, because that truth telling is the most important thing. It was intense and powerful and powerfully healing," Vickerssaid.

Forgiving was not an overnight event, but the Vickers family began the process of confronting abuse and sharing what a devastating impact it had on thesurvivors.

Vickers admits she has not heard of another family taking on such an extraordinary endeavour.

She says healing is about constantly practising non-judgment and compassion towardothers and herself. Her family continues toworkat the process of forgiveness.

"When you tell the truth in afamily, it's unimaginable, the wisdom and the beauty that comes from that and that is trans-generational."

Bonnie Morgan: Resilience in adversity

Educator Bonnie Morgan's hair hangs in a long soft ponytail as she speaks about hope around the holidays.

Tattooed on the Secwepemc woman's neck are two black feathers, now faded to blue to represent she and her grandmothers' connection to the land, language and ethno-botany.

"The medicine from their teachings was to heal through adversity and to be accountable at all times," Morgansaid.

Morganhas beenan Indigenous educator for the Langley School District for nineyears. The 46-year-old mother speaks with confidence, but she is no stranger to hardship.

"This past year I went through a divorce and the housing market left me homeless at the beginning of May," Morgansaid.

She and her nine-year-old daughter, Isabella, stayed on friends' couches for five months until they were able to move into their new place.

Morgan saidchanging the narrative of her story from victim to champion is what helped her get through it all.

"I let my daughter think that we were on an adventure. I told her we had many friends so we had many homes," she said.

"She learned to live with little, whatever she could fit into a small suitcase."

Residential school survivors give strength

Morgan saidthe stories of residential school told be elders giveher strength to transform difficult situations into learning platforms.

• Orange Shirt Day: How Phyllis Webstad's 1st day at residential school inspired a movement
• Reconciling Canada's 150th: Why 2017 should start with tears

"They are my heroes. My mom, Flora Morgan, went to residential school at St Joseph's Mission in Williams Lake, [B.C.]. She faced horrific abuse daily," she explained.

Today, Morgan'smother takes care of Indigenous foster children because she wants to give back after having her childhood stolen.

"Through her story and her strength I have been taught that healing can happen. I have been shown what a resilient, strong, cultural Indigenous woman that's been through hell can look like. Amazing. Strong. Hopeful," Morgansaid.