Why these northern Saskatchewan teens want their town to go sober

Tavian Stewart grew up in a sober household. He doesn't drink, and neither do his closest friends.

But the 15-year-old from the Cumberland House Cree Nation in northern Saskatchewan says he knows many people who drink or experience alcohol abuse. 

Some people also start drinking young because they learned the behaviour from their parents, and it pains him to see that, Stewart says.

"Sometimes I'd see people my age walking around at 4 o'clock in the morning with nowhere to go because they don't like being at home, because of the alcohol abuse in their home," he said.

"I hate seeing people walking around hurting. Some sell their food, some sell their clothes for the next case of beer."

Stewart and his best friend Kato Settee hope to break the cycle of alcohol use by launching a Sober House project.

The initiative was first started by a group of high school students in Prince Albert, Sask., in 2018. The idea is for people to place a sign in their window to indicate that a home is a sober home, and that alcohol and intoxicated people are not welcome. 

After meeting with the youth in Prince Albert and learning from them, Stewart, Settee and a few other friends are now presenting the Sober House project to elders in Cumberland House.

"I'm hoping that [the Sober House project] would make it a better place for the young ones to grow up in, so they can make a brighter future for our community and themselves, and so that they don't think that they have to drink, " Settee said.

This segment originally aired in November 2019.