Artist’s vision sparks new old way of life

Bossy Ducharme from Duck Bay, Man. had a vision, and from that vision he made a change that few would consider an easy one.

For one year he will only eat pre-European-contact foods indigenous to North America before colonization brought non-native plants and food sources to this county.

Why is he doing this? He says what began as a year-long documentary film project turned into a spiritual journey.
“The catalyst to this documentary was the startling statistics of high diabetes rates, over representation in the prison system and higher teen suicide rates in Aboriginal youth,” said Ducharme.

“After coming from my vision and being afraid and crying in the fetal position for three hours and talking to the Spirit (universe) and getting angry, I wondered what would happen to my life if I just quit drinking. I wondered what would happen if I quit smoking. I wondered what would happen if I took out all this crap they brought to our land when they arrived.”

Three years ago, I hit rock bottom, and I had a vision... an out of body experience where I started floating out of my body while I was watching myself sleep, and I floated out into space and looked down upon earth, and, long story short, I saw my death.”

He said it began three years ago in the fall of 2007that Ducharme had a yearly physical with blood tests. After the results were returned, the doctor told him it was serious and he was going to have a heart attack.

“I finally realized I wanted to live, to be happy, to make films, to act/dance/sing, to get in shape, and most of all, to help my people. This is how I am going to contribute to the world we live in.”

After hitting rock bottom, Ducharme realized it was not a good day to die, and this became the title of his upcoming documentary.

Ducharme has an online blog https://sites.google.com/site/bossy1stnationdietjournal that is frank and honest about his way of life before he began his pre-European-contact diet and spiritual journey. Rock bottom for him was drugs, alcohol, losing his job and housing and ending up in the shelter system, a place he was intimately familiar with from many times before.

He saw there was a way forward from that with a healthy balanced way of life that didn’t include substance abuse, or a diet rich in saturated fats from fast food. He learned that one can eat a healthy traditional diet and reduce the risk of developing diabetes and other related health problems that plague so many in the Aboriginal community.

And he has gained supporters on his journey. People have given donations to him for wild rice, maple syrup and the meats necessary for his diet.

Last year on Sept. 21, 2010, after a lot of research on pre-contact diets, Ducharme turned his research into his daily reality. He didn’t do this to lose weight; he did it because he believes it is the way Aboriginal people are meant to eat, and that he would be at optimal health ingesting only food that was native to North America.
It has been seven months since Ducharme committed to eating this way. His diet mainly consists of buffalo, deer, moose, wild rice, nuts, seeds and berries.

While it may seem restricting, and was a difficult transition for Ducharme initially, it has been the best decision he ever made.

Ducharme has lost over 70 pounds. His doctor says his health has improved and he feels peaceful and serene.
Has his outlook on life changed? As a result of the many changes he’s had to make to accommodate this new old lifestyle he has stumbled upon the need for balance, routine, and trust, in himself and the choices and decisions he has made. So, yes, his whole perception of life has changed.

He doesn’t worry as he used to, and is more calm about problems, and lives more in the moment than he ever has before.

He loves the positive outlook, the energy, the stamina... his connection to the Great Spirit, faith in himself and the universe.

“I have always had faith. It’s the one thing I’ve had since my earliest memories; not religion, but my faith to what people call a higher power.”

Windspeaker asked who he hoped to reach with his documentary and he said that he hoped that when the Native youth see it that they’ll feel proud to be who they are, and they’ll see a good role model, someone who’s “been there” and someone who changed his life around and made something happen out of nothing.

“That they too can find meaning to their lives, despite the circumstances they were born into.”