Group welcomes all Prince Albert men to share mental health support    

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The effort has been underway for well over a year with some support from the Prince Albert Indian and Métis Friendship Centre.

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Burns and Clarke said they plan to use the cultural grounds the Friendship Centre is developing at Little Red River Park to conduct sweat lodges and other ceremonies as needed.  

“We want to create a support group for those men struggling with their identity, their story, their history, and overcoming that trauma of the history, of the past,” said Burns. 

For now, they meet weekly at Plaza 88 and all men are welcome, Indigenous or otherwise.  

Clarke said that a lot of Prince Albert’s current issues are directly connected to addictions and violence caused by gang activity. Their group hopes to counteract some of that.  

“We’re basically trying to build something that would be on the other side of the spectrum where people would then embrace identity and worldview in a positive, good way and have access to ceremonies,” he said.  

Despite Prince Albert’s high Indigenous population, estimated at around 40 per cent, not all have access to their traditional practices.  

They will work with Elders in communities they already have relationships with and say they have a lot of contacts and some ideas for healthy activities.  

“Warren Roberts from the Friendship Centre wants to cost-share so we can go out and pick medicines as a men’s group, go pick sweetgrass or rat root and make a day of it,” Clarke said. 

That’s an experience he doesn’t think many local men have been able to have yet. No age group has been targeted; teens and up can join if they want.  

Clarke said they know that a lot of men and boys feel a void in their lives and are left looking for ways to fill it. Some choose substance abuse, so the three men are providing an alternative that they don’t think is available at the moment.  

“At the end of the day, our mission is to fill that void because people are out there struggling with their own identities and worldview and when people have a void, they will fill those things with addictions.” 

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com