Rise in overdoses in Six Nations has community concerned

People in Six Nations of the Grand River are speaking out about the harms they're seeing from drugs, as overdoses have increased in the community in recent months.

Six Nations Health Services told CBC Indigenous there has been a spike in overdoses in the Haudenosaunee community near Hamilton but could not confirm the drug responsible pending test results. It did say in an emailed statement that "drugs like fentanyl are known to be circulating in the community."

Intergenerational trauma, drug traffickers pushing harder drugs and the pandemic are all contributing factors, according to Six Nations Police Chief Darren Montour.

He said when he first started working as an officer on the reserve 31 years ago, he mainly saw marijuana use in the community but in the last 20 years it's escalated to crack, cocaine and more recently methamphetamine, fentanyl and carfentanil.

"I can tell you that our calls for mental health are up, as is every other policing agency across the country," said Montour.

Montour said drug traffickers may target smaller communities for the profit.

"It's an issue that affects every community, and the traffickers know that because they sometimes double or triple their money when they go north and sell it to the Indigenous communities," he said.

"It's an epidemic that they're trying to quell."

According to a recent report by the Chiefs of Ontario and the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network, hospital visits to treat opioid-related toxicity among First Nations people in Ontario doubled in 2021 and the rate of opioid-related deaths nearly tripled compared to 2019.

In 2021, the rate of opioid-related deaths among First Nations people in Ontario was seven times higher than in non-Indigenous people.

In a statement, Six Nations Chief Sherri-Lyn Hill said leadership's highest priority is health and wellbeing of the community, and leaders will continue to protect people from the dangers of drug harms.

She said a moment of silence was observed at at the November general council meeting for those they've lost in the community. 

Roberta Hill's 47 year-old son Jake died by overdose last summer.

Hill said he was in trouble with the law at an early age but thinks there's a reason why he began acting out.