Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week began December 1, coinciding with World AIDS Day.
This year’s week follows the theme "Communities Make the Difference.”
Raising awareness, erasing the stigma around HIV/AIDS and encouraging people to get tested are some of the key messages.
“It is a community healing. We have to look at trying to help our people release the stigma of being sick with an illness. They are part of our community. They are spiritually connected to their families. So, we have to support them through that,” said Dave Rice who refers to himself as “a helper to our people.”
He has spent many years helping his community and mentoring youth.
“Some of them are living off-reserve so we have to try and support them that way. When they come back to our community, there is a stigma there too. Our people struggle with that. So, we have to be looking at our culture, our spirituality, the smudging, the ceremonies, the language we use to help our people.”
Rice says awareness workshops are planned for the week.
“They’re making people aware to get tested too. We’re urging our members to get tested because nobody is immune to this illness. Nobody is.”
When he was 28 years old, Rice went through a two-week period of uncertainty, not knowing if he had contracted HIV/AIDS.
“It was terrifying. Back then it was like a death sentence. There wasn’t the medical stuff they had today. It wasn’t that advanced back then. That was back around 1978 so there was still a lot of stigmas and stereotyping back then for people who had that illness,” recall Rice.
“So, I was worried about who I might have hurt at the same time. And if I did get this illness, I would have to tell people that I had been with. So, it was a ripple effect.”
His test results came back negative. But his brother was not as fortunate.
He got tested after a woman he had been with told him she had tested positive for the disease.
That brother had the benefit of new treatments due to research.
“I think it was the mid-'90s that he found out, and he is still alive today.”
Leading up to Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week, Chief Scott McLeod of the Nipissing First Nation spoke at the World AIDS Day event in North Bay, stressing the need to be supportive.
“In my culture, community support is actually a medicine. And if you think of it, you can understand why it is a medicine, because if you are left alone to try and heal by yourself, it is very hard for your body to heal,” said McLeod.
“You need to be strong physically and mentally. And so, it is vitally important for the community to pull together and help provide that medicine to the ones who need it to heal.”
The Chief also spoke of privilege and how it can stand in the way of providing that healing.
“My definition of privilege is when it doesn’t directly affect you, then it is not a problem. And that is what we have to deal with, is privilege. It is almost the root of every issue that we face in this country. And until we get over that privilege and open our eyes and open our hearts to helping other people, you can’t fully overcome some of these things. So, it is very important that we have community support to help those who need to have their spirits lifted, but also, more importantly, to raise awareness that it can affect anybody including yourself.”
It has been reported that an estimated 14 per cent of people living with HIV in Canada are unaware they have HIV.
“So, it is really important to get tested if you think you are at risk for HIV,” said Stacey Mayhall, executive director of the AIDS Committee of North Bay & Area.
“We’re encouraging people to be proactive, to go get their test to find out, to get on their medications and stay on their medications and make sure they have an ongoing relationship with their doctor to keep them on track.”