Documentary highlights drug crisis and harm reduction on Canada’s largest first nation

A documentary is shedding light on the opioid poisoning crisis on Kainai First Nation in southern Alberta.

The film details how harm reduction has helped bring healing to the community.

Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy was produced and directed by Elle-Maija Tailfeathers.

“I think that’s something that is often missing from the conversation around harm reduction. We don’t acknowledge we are talking about human lives and people are dying in this crisis and that means entire families are experiencing grief like we’ve never experienced before, and that’s not just for Indigenous communities, that’s for Canada as a whole,” said Tailfeathers.

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Tailfeathers is from Kainai Nation, her mom is a physician there. It is the largest first nation in Canada, but it has struggled with generational trauma and the deep-seated effects of colonization.

“The legacy of residential schools, and the 60s scoop and the Indian act and all the ways that colonial legacy lives on through the pain of our people, many of whom are living with substance use disorder. So, when it comes to hard reduction, I think it’s so important to think about it as we’re saving human lives.”

The documentary was filmed before the pandemic, and isolation and weakened supports have impacted the community.

“The current UCP government of Alberta cut back on so many harm reduction initiatives, the supervised consumption site in Lethbridge being one of them,” Tailfeathers said. “So many people have died.”

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• Calgary, Edmonton paramedics see jump in opioid calls

• Alberta opioid crisis ‘completely out of control’: overdose advocate

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The opioid poisoning crisis in Alberta is deadlier than it ever has been, and it is everywhere you look.

Tailfeathers says she hopes the success of harm reduction on Kainai Nation can be an example for the entire province.

“I really hope the Kenney government realizes they need to support harm reduction initiatives.”

Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy has won five awards so far and recently played at the Canyon Meadows theatre in Calgary.

Tailfeathers looks forward to more screenings, to continue sharing Kainai Nation’s story of grief and hope.