Tribal councils support Wasaya

Shibogama and Windigo are supporting Wasaya’s airport scanner initiative.
“We are trying to support these new initiatives such as the one that Wasaya had started to put scanners at each airport,” said Shibogama First Nations Council executive director Margaret Kenequanash. “Shibogama has contributed $16,000 to try and see if we can get infrastructure up and happening quickly. The next step is to see if the other tribal councils will support Wasaya in the work they are trying to do.”
Windigo First Nations Council CEO/council chairman Frank McKay said Windigo also supports Wasaya’s initiative to install scanners at the airports.
“We haven’t identified funds yet for our contribution,” McKay said.
McKay said prescription drug abuse is a “very difficult issue.”
“This is one area that is very difficult to control because they are prescription drugs,” McKay said, explaining Windigo’s health director was looking at various ways to have more structure and control of prescription drugs among medical personnel. “I think it has to be examined – how do they access these drugs. Are the recipients of prescription drugs distributing them? There must be some form of distribution.”
McKay said it’s an issue that needs to be examined.
“We have to examine how … we combat this,” he said.
Shibogama has been looking at the social impacts of prescription drug abuse and how to develop programming.
Kenequanash said two Shibogama communities have also developed alternative programming at their clinics.
“Right now whatever programming that is being done is being delivered through the nursing stations,” Kenequanash said. “They were also looking at alternative healing programming, which would be land based, but that is more of a long-term strategy.”
Kenequanash said prescription drug abuse is so rampant and the drugs so addictive that once people get hooked, they don’t have an out to stop.
“Currently there are no services out there that they can say I need help to get out of it (prescription drug abuse),” Kenequanash said. “It’s really a new thing that our people are getting into and I don’t know if they are really aware of what those impacts are from using prescription drugs. I see prescription drugs as a slow death for those who are using it.”
Kenequanash said one option is educate people about the effects of abusing prescription drugs.
“There are people who are actually benefitting from this because they sell it,” Kenequanash said. “Even those people need to be educated what they are doing to their people because they are basically killing them.”
Kenequanash said the Shibogama communities have been funding security programs with their own funds to prevent prescription drugs from entering the community.
“The workers that are doing the security programming require training, special clothing to protect themselves,” Kenequanash said. “We need to start lobbying for funding for the security program that’s complementing the policing in the communities.”
Kenequanash said the Shibogama communities have also been working with Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service to improve communications and working relationships.
“I hope we can all begin to see the epidemics that we have in our communities with regard to prescription drugs and see how we can work with one another instead of just talking about it,” Kenequanash said. “I know at the communities, they are trying, they are making an effort, but the regional organizations and the political organizations, I think we need to pull ourselves together and see how we can effectively lobby and provide support programs for the communities so they can help their people.”