MANITOWANING—The seventh annual Manitoulin Addiction Recovery Breakfast (shkimaadziwin) once again filled the Assiginack Curling Club hall as those battling addictions of all kinds came together to celebrate sobriety.
Many familiar faces filled the hall, including some of Manitoulin Island’s most accomplished individuals whose lives have taken a more constructive path since eschewing their addictions, joined by a host of those whose work involves providing support to those seeking a different path.
A very familiar face at the front of the room was master of ceremonies Al Boyd, formerly OPP senior constable and community services officer who admitted it was a little different being there “in civilian clothes. They called me and asked if I would still be interested in being emcee,” said Mr. Boyd. “This is one of the duties that I always looked forward to and I was more than willing to help out. I have kept on a couple of the boards and organizations that I feel deeply about and that I believe are very worthwhile, this is definitely one of them. I was very pleased to be asked.”
Danielle (Roy) McDonald opened the ceremonies with her powerful voice ringing out to the rafters as she sang a hand drum song. Elder Jim Fox provided the opening prayer before folks tucked in to a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages and toast.
The original keynote speaker, Alma Jean Migwans, was unavailable due to the funeral of Victor Migwans of M’Chigeeng, but her place was ably filled by Mark Eshkawkogan, who spoke on the spiritual connection to the land and water he feels each day in his walks, and how that activity helps him maintain his sobriety and deal with the anger that he feels from his earliest childhood.
Mr. Eshkawkogan was speaking in public for the first time and apologized if his presentation skipped about a bit. He relayed how he had travelled south in seeking his fame and fortune as a chef, but soon found himself at loggerheads in the urban environment.
“In 1992 I left the big city of TO to return to Wikwemikong,” he said. “I became active in the community. I have always enjoyed being out of doors and storytelling in the language.”
Mr. Eshkawkogan said that although he intended to deliver his address in Anishinabemowin, he would try to translate most of what he was saying for the benefit of those who were not fluent in his language.
“I had a vision,” he said. “I realized I had to come home.”
As a child between the ages of one and 10, Mr. Eshkawkogan had experienced severe abuse. It left him angry and challenged to face and live life without the crutch or tranquilizing effect of substance abuse. “That is what I was angry about,” he said. “People who have been sober for 20 years understand what I am talking about.”
Mr. Eshkawkogan walks in the bush nearly every day, and in the woods he often sees things that he does not understand. “When I see something in the bush, I have to go ask what it is that I am seeing.”
He spoke about his first time joining the water walkers in their circumrotation of the boundaries of the Wikwemikong Unceded Territory. “The first time I walked three days,” he recalled. “Two years ago I walked for 10 days, praying and praying all of that time.”
Mr. Eshkawkogan alluded to the abuse that he suffered as a child and its source. “From one to 10, what the church did to me, I forgive the church for what they did to me,” he said. “I still work with the church. My brothers and sisters ask me ‘what are you doing going in there?’ even though what happened to me, I figure forgive and forget.”
Mr. Eshkawkogan has a lengthy list of those who he has forgiven in his life, including his parents. “I am 52 and a half now,” he said.
One of his passions is running, and Mr. Eshkawkogan said that he has run in most of the Wiky Road Race events down through the years. He describes himself as a long distance runner, so the 10k run is perfectly suited to his style, but when he decided to raise funds to enable him to teach a visiting group of Tanzanians how to play hockey, his ability to sprint was called upon—with a bit of a surprise.
“I ended up racing a horse,” he laughed. “I told myself, ‘I am not going to win’,” he admitted, but he did have a couple of advantages. “I had never sprinted before,” he recalled. “I am a long distance runner. I didn’t think I could do it. But I won the first race.”
He raced again and nearly got run over, he recalled. He expected he could do well in the shortest run because the horse would take longer to get up to speed, and that proved true at the 40 metre distance, but he also managed to win the 100 metre course. Mr. Eshkawkogan trained for his challenge by watching videos of a running cheetah catching a gazelle. “That’s the way I gotta run,” he said.
“After that time, that is when I left alcohol alone,” he said. “I joined the water walkers. The water was calling me. I walked around the bush. I have been 12 years now.”
It is the land and the water that has provided his inspiration for sobriety.
“If you go every day into the bush you are a part of everything,” he noted. All of the birds and animals become used to your presence, you become an integral part of the spirit of the land and the land and its inhabitants come to accept you as one with them. That oneness with the spirits allows you to stand witness to many amazing sights.”
“There are 200 bears in Wikwemikong,” he said. “Maybe 50 cougars or so, I saw one up in a tree.” But he does not walk in fear when he is in the bush.
Mr. Eshkawkogan has a large collection of feathers that he has found on his walks and said he has great respect for Ms. (Josephine) Mandamin. “She is my hero,” he said. “My first Nish hero was Chief Dan George.”
Mr. Eshkawkogan said that he has had trials in his life since he has returned to Wikwemikong, including those who challenge him as an Anishinabe. “I put my tobacco down and I go out without a gun,” he said. “I never kill anything out there.”
Throughout his talk, Mr. Eshkawkogan was spirited in his delivery and used a number of props, such as feathers to illustrate his points, but it was his passion and animation that kept his audience in thrall.
“Pray, pray, pray, that’s what I do,” he said. “I love being a Native person, I love my language. This is the way I want to be.”
The breakfast concluded with a final drum song from Ms. McDonald and people left the hall carrying Mr. Eshkawkogan’s words of inspiration with them as they walked into the bright light of a new day.
