The First Nations of Quebec have long recognized the growing challenge of addictions among their families and communities.Each community member and family personally knows and shares in the suffering brought on by the de-humanizing condition ofdependency.Recent studies have enabled us to better understand the causes of addictions. They have confirmed that the major causes originatedoutside our communities. The First Nations of Quebec share in the common First Nations heritage of misguided colonialistpolicies, including the loss of our land base and economies, the ongoing overwhelming threat to our languages and cultures,and perhaps most significantly, the abuses and systematic dispossession of our cultures, languages and self-esteem as experiencedby many in the residential school system.The residual of these policies has been a major breakdown in our ability to cope. Large segments of our Peoples, of all ages,now live with low self-esteem, a profound sense of guilt, and severe incapacities in terms of making meaningful contributions toour families and communities.Not surprisingly, a very large number of these People, most of whom suffer in an isolated silence of shame, have turned to agrowing number of dependency behaviours as a way of escape, only to find their situation worsening.
| Authors | First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Health and Social Services Commission – FNQLHSSC |
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| Date | April 2011 |
