Camp encourages sharing, healing
Teepee site in Saskatoon’s Victoria Park meant to spark discussion about trauma
SASKATOON Darla Fourstar is on a foster care “healing journey” after her experience in the system as a child.
She is supporting her longtime friend Chris Martell, who organized the Healing Camp for Justice in Saskatoon’s Victoria Park. One teepee has been set up for the camp, into its third full day on Friday. The site is now monitored by private security.
Martell, whose son Evander Daniels died at a foster home in 2010, set up a teepee in the park on Tuesday night.
He has a permit for the Healing Camp for Justice to remain in Victoria Park until July 20, the city of Saskatoon confirmed Thursday. The camp is now waiting for a permit for a fire pit.
At the healing circles held nightly at 7 p.m., Fourstar said when the sage and sweetgrass are lit, she is able to talk about her own experience in foster care.
“The stories that we hear, the support that we’ve had is great,” she said.
“We’re not protesting, which is a lot different from healing. And this healing camp is healing from foster care, or ... the trauma we’ve gone through.” She said they want to bring “healing and good vibes” to Martell as well, who has posttraumatic stress disorder.
She described the camp in Victoria Park as “Healing Camp 2,” saying the first camp is “full fledged in Regina” referring to the Justice for Our Stolen Children camp, which has been set up in Wascana Park since February.
Fourstar wants to see the foster system overhauled, and when kids leave the system she wants them to have good stories, not stories of trauma, she said. She wants all kids to be treated fairly in care, she added.
Fourstar, like Daniels, was in Aberdeen foster homes, which led her to take on raising awareness about foster care with Martell.
Their walks have taken them through four different Saskatchewan cities, Prince Albert, Regina, North Battleford and the Saskatoon, en route to Daniels’ grave at Sturgeon Lake First Nation, the latter known as the Walk to Evander.
A few times since Daniels’ passing, Fourstar has noticed her friend go “in the dark,” but now she said Martell has been working out, looking to tradition, has become a vegan and has taken up boxing. She said Martell has been a big part of the lives of his other three children.
“His every waking moment, he suffers with losing Evander,” she said.
Martell said on Thursday he reached out to the city to inform them about the camp. Since the camp was set up on Tuesday night, officials with the city have visited the site in Victoria Park each morning, he said.
The Saskatoon Police Service has been in contact with the city about Martell’s teepee, and spokesperson Kelsie Fraser said they do not consider it to be a situation that requires police involvement. Members of the Saskatoon police’s cultural unit met with Martell on Thursday to establish a line of communication as well.
Martell believes having the city ’s approval will mean the atmosphere at the camp will be positive.
“That’s what we’re trying to build here is a positive atmosphere for people to come share their trauma.”
He plans to share his own experience because he wants to move forward with his life. “A lot of people with trauma need to express, and that’s why I tried to come home and do this to show that foster care is not a taboo and we need to talk about it and share our trauma.”