Behind the Ekwok Lodge, the smells of soured salmon and pig muck hang in the air. Despite the odor, Ben, whose name has been changed for privacy reasons, smiled shyly as he pointed out the nails in wooden boards that surround the pen. The nails stick out to deter bears.
“We feed them fish and other left over foods. You hear their squeals because they’re being picked on.” Ben said as one pig let out a shrill squeak when a bigger pig muscles it out of the way. “I don’t know why.”
For the past month, 22-year-old Ben, who grew up between Ekwok, Dillingham, Togiak and Anchorage, participated in a substance use disorder recovery program. The vision of the program was to teach subsistence skills as a part of the regimen. All the graduates are Alaska Native, and the idea is that cultural activities can be integral to recovery.
While raising pigs might not be a traditional subsistence activity in rural Alaska, these nine smelly animals gave the clients ample opportunity to practice one that is — fishing. The program participants set nets every day to bring in enough fish to feed the pigs. For two men, including Ben, this was their first time to be involved in subsistence fishing.
The three men graduating from the program helped daily with construction and maintenance on the lodge, which has been out of use. They chopped wood and carried water up to the lodge from the river. They fished for salmon to feed to the pigs and to cut and smoke for themselves. They took a maqii every night, cleaning themselves in the steam bath.
“It’s fun picking berries, making akutaq from the berries that you picked, and taking a load off with cutting up fish. It was nice labor,” Ben said. “I’m slowly, slowly getting used to being clean and sober and looking forward to keeping it that way.”
Friday was graduation day. More than two dozen people, family members, the local priest and members of the Ekwok community gathered to celebrate the month the graduates have spent in recovery.
The mood was relaxed and celebratory in the main building of Ekwok Lodge. It is a big room with large windows and wooden walls decorated with trophy fish. Children ran along the sides and between couches and wooden chairs as the graduates stood up to receive their diplomas. The program’s leaders and community members congratulated and affirmed each one individually. Several coordinators spoke of their own recovery from addiction. The graduates themselves spoke warmly about the program and about their commitment to sobriety.
Ekwok Natives Limited masterminded the program and put up the funds, which were substantial. Jimmy Hurley Sr., president of ENL’s board, estimated that the village corporation spent about $100,000 to cover the costs for all participants and to bring in Tutan Recovery Services, a private business from Anchorage, to run the program.
“Everybody used to put up fish, but the subsistence part, it brings pride in the people,” Hurley said, explaining ENL’s investment in the program. “If you’re a native and you don’t know how to put away salmon, I think there’s a lot of embarrassment. That should be a part of every recovery, bringing culture into it. Culture is really strong. We’ve lost so much of it.”
Getting this program off the ground was not without obstacles. The power and water both went out to the lodge at points during the camp, and at least one person enrolled did not complete the program.
Overall, however, word from coordinators and the graduates was positive.
“At the end, they’re able to take some of their product home with them, and this will help sustain them when they’re looking for jobs,” Hurley said. “They’ll remember the camp, the sobriety they had here. They’ve got enough confidence in themselves right now that they could really go and take on a feat.”
This is Tutan Recovery Service’s first time operating outside Anchorage or incorporating subsistence as a component of their recovery program. At a time when the governor has declared the epidemic of opioid use in Alaska a crisis, many are looking for more effective means of combating addiction. Relapse is always a concern in programs that address substance use disorder. Eydie Flygare, the program director, anticipates that the subsistence component will be a help as the clients return home.
“When you find out where you came from and then you start doing some things you did when you were a kid. You’re just like, ‘Okay, yeah! I got it!’ The fact that a few of them are going back to do subsistence again, and that includes the spiritual aspect, I think absolutely it helps,” Flygare said.
As for Ekwok Natives Limited, Hurley said that the corporation board has been supportive of this year’s pilot run of the program. However, the price tag is too large to continue without grants or outside funding. In the coming months, they will explore their options for continuing the wellness camp.
The graduates have all flown back to their homes in Anchorage and in Bristol Bay hopefully to continue their journey with sobriety. They left with smoked fish in their bags for this winter and the skills to do it again next summer.
