Charlotte Manuel speaking to CFJC crews on Friday (Apr. 19), ahead of her 45th sobriety anniversary on Saturday (Apr. 20). (Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

Charlotte Manuel

Walking the red road: A Tk’emlúps elder reflects on her 45-year sobriety journey

Apr 19, 2024 | 5:30 PM

TK’EMLÚPS TE SECWÉPEMC — At 82 years old, Charlotte Manuel begins every morning with a smudge. Maintaining that practice is part of how she’s been able to reach 45 years of sobriety, a milestone she will reach on Saturday (Apr. 20).

“First thing when I get up in the morning, I smudge, I say my prayers — ‘Thank-you for another day of living and sobriety.’ I take the smudge, go through and sometimes I go out and sit on the porch and drum away,” she explains. “Sometimes I just go out there and look at the trees, listen to what’s out there.”

Now a Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc elder and knowledge keeper, Manuel’s recovery path began with a visit to an Al-Anon meeting. Eventually, she attended AA meetings and other sobriety programs, including the Round Lake Treatment Centre. Manuel says her aunt drove her to that first stay at Round Lake and encouraged her to stick with it.

“It was really important for me to stay sober. I didn’t want to relapse because I didn’t want that kind of life again,” she explains. “When I had seen what I did to my children because of my addiction, that hurt me more than anything in the world.”

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During recovery, Manuel says she began to re-evaluate her identity, working to get to know herself better.

“I was born and raised as a Catholic and I went to residential school, and I didn’t believe in that. It confused me when I came out of there. I didn’t know what kind of God to believe in,” Manuel says of rediscovering her native spirituality. “I was totally confused about God. And I thought, ‘I’ve got to find something to believe in.'”

A large part of that came through exploring Secwépemc culture — participating in ceremonies, building a sweat lodge and running sweats for others, and finding more about what she believed in.

“I continued my learning about my native spirituality. And when I came out of the treatment centre, my aunt took me under her wing and she taught me the stories, the songs, the dances and all of the crafts that I do today,” she said, gesturing to the crafting projects to the side of her living room. “I’ve got beadwork over there that I do.”

Amid painful losses and milestones of celebration, Manuel surrounds herself with family — in person, in the many photos proudly displayed throughout her home and in spirit.

“I turn around, I look back, and I see my family. I see my grandchildren, I see my great-grandchildren following me. And so I wait until they get in front of me, then I follow behind them. Because they’re my future leaders.”

With her 45th sobriety ‘birthday’ approaching, Manuel hopes others who are considering, or currently walking the same path of healing, won’t give up on themselves.

“There’s two roads that you can follow. One is the destruction road, one is the construction road,” she adds. “I prefer the construction road, where you’re always building yourself up and you’re building yourself on.”

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For more information on mental wellness and substance use treatment, click here to access the First Nations Health Authority’s resource directory.