How a 19-year-old man is helping Indigenous youth overcome mental health struggles
A 19-year-old man from Ochapowace Nation organized a youth mental health hunt to help Indigenous people aged 15-35 connect with the land while opening up about their personal struggles.
Boston Bear said the idea came to him four years ago to host a hunt, but he only recently opened up to his family about what he was struggling with.
“I’ve suffered and battled with anxiety, depression and schooling and suicide,” Bear said. “Hunting was just something that helped me cope with my struggles. It’s something I’ve struggled to talk about, even to this day.”
The camp consisted of 30 youth participants and 20 adult staff members from around Saskatchewan and beyond. They spent one week camping in the woods at Moose Mountain Provincial Park while living off the land.
They spent time hunting, learning traditional practices, hearing from guest speakers and taking part in ceremonies. All elements focused on mental health.
“To see the youth engage in land base is huge. Bringing them back to the land and showing them identity and seeing the wonder if it all,” Damon Delorme, urban councillor of Cowessess First Nation, said. “Watching their confidence levels soar is huge.”
Facilitators and guest speakers came in to share their knowledge about living off the land with the youth, and encourage them to open up.
“When we’re out in the bush hunting, and you’re sitting and waiting for those animals to come out, you have a lot of things that go through your mind,” Myron Bob, a facilitator of the camp, said. “The mental health part is how they felt when they were out here and the connection they are making to the land.”
The camp wrapped up on Friday, but Bear said it won’t be the last. He plans to host another hunt next year in hopes of helping even more people open up like he saw from participants this weekend.
“I didn’t think there was this many people. That had their own battles that they never bothered to share or didn’t know how to share,” Bear said. “I still don’t know how to share my story. It’s still a learning process for me. But this helped”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
Premiers not being truthful about carbon tax, Trudeau says while sparks fly in Ottawa
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Conservative premiers across the country are 'not telling the truth' when it comes to the carbon tax. Trudeau's comments came as fresh sparks were flying in Ottawa at a recalled House of Commons committee.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
'Ninja,' Twitch's biggest streamer, is diagnosed with skin cancer
American gamer and Twitch superstar, Tyler 'Ninja' Blevins, revealed he was diagnosed with melanoma, a form of skin cancer.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Here's what Trudeau says the upcoming federal budget will offer renters
The federal government will create a new 'Canadian Renters' Bill of Rights,' which would require landlords to disclose their properties' rental price history to prospective tenants.