Cree man embarks on healing journey around Nunavik

John Clarence Kawapit joins hands with friends and family in prayer Jan. 30 in Whapmagoostui before Kawapit departed on his 12-day walk to Umiujaq. (PHOTO BY SAIGE MUKASH PHOTOGRAPHY)

Kawapit has help building an igloo en route to Umiujaq, where he said he spent the warmest night of his journey. (PHOTO COURTESY OF J. KAWAPIT)

A crowd comes out to greet Kawapit when he arrived in Umiujaq Feb. 11. (PHOTO BY HEIDI KUMARLUK)

When John Clarence Kawapit returned home last fall after surviving a suicide attempt, he knew it was time to make some major changes.

The 46-year-old Cree man from Whapmagoostui, which neighbours the Nunavik community of Kuujjuaraapik, has struggled with alcohol dependency for almost his entire life.

“Everyone in the community knows me for my addiction,” Kawapit said. “I’ve been drinking my whole life.

“I lost everything. And I’ve been holding onto that pain for 40 years.”

But after surviving his suicide attempt, Kawapit held onto a sliver of hope. He decided he needed to channel what energy he had into “doing something, something physically difficult.”

Kawapit thought back to hunting trips he used to take with grandparents as a child; he would spend weeks out of the land, and even as a youth, recognized how rejuvenating it felt.

Inspired by walkers before him, Kawapit set out Jan. 30 from Whapmagoostui on what he’s called his healing journey, heading north up the Hudson Bay coast on foot.

Kawapit left on snowshoes with a sled in tow, carrying only the bare essentials: a tent, blankets, food and some extra clothing to navigate the roughly 200 kilometre stretch to Umiujaq, the next community north.

“I knew it would be hard,” he said. “And I suffered from the cold and hunger.”

There is little comparison though between those feelings to the suffering Kawapit said he’s endured through his life.

Kawapit said both of his parents were alcoholics, and encouraged him to drink beer from the time he was five years old.

He said he later suffered sexual abuse and he continued to drink alcohol to cover the feelings of shame he harboured.

He did marry, but later separated from his wife. Today, Kawapit has six children, the eldest aged 26, and the youngest aged just eight.

He’s had jobs over the years, but lost many due to his alcoholism.

So Kawapit’s walk, though tedious, has become a time for reflection and cleansing. “I cry a lot,” he said.

And Kawapit’s had some help along the way, from friends who brought him food by snowmobile. He had help from passing hunters to build his first igloo, where he said he spent his warmest night yet.

At some point along the way, Kawapit realized he was being followed by wolves. “At the beginning I was scared, but somehow I realized that I didn’t have to be scared anymore,” he said. “I believe [the creator] sent those wolves to watch over me.”

The 200-kilometre stretch between his home community and Umiujaq took Kawapit about 12 days to walk.

“It got easier as I walked more. But the hardest time I have was as I got close to Umiujaq,” he said. “It got foggy and snowy and I have no view, I was probably walking in circles for awhile.”

His arrival Feb. 11 in the community of 450 made up for it, he said, as a group of children ran to greet him and walk him into town.

“They were so happy to see me,” he said.

Kawapit took the weekend to recover from the first step in his journey. “Someone already invited me for a drink, but I told them no,” he said. “I suffered enough just to get here.”

Kawapit’s plan is to leave Umiujaq Feb. 15 en route to Inukjuak, but this time with some company: four Nunavimmiut walkers who plan to join him, at least for the next stretch.

Kawapit’s long-term plan is to walk the entire coast of Nunavik, or at least until the spring comes or “until I run out of snow.”

When he eventually returns home, Kawapit isn’t sure what to expect; at the very least, he considers it a fresh start.

“But I know it’s not gonna happen just like that,” he said. “I’ll have to get more help.”

You can follow his progress on John’s Healing Journey Facebook page here.