A warning to indigenous people listening. This podcast series includes stories of physical and sexual violence, suicide, and death. Listen with caution and care.

It's fall again in Thunder Bay. The air is crisp here.

It's cold enough that it stings the skin if you're not dressed for the weather.

On days when the sky is blue, you take advantage of the brisk temperatures,

and you get outside before winter sets in for the next five months.

It'll snow soon.

Aaron, whose name has been changed to protect their identity, volunteers for a safety patrol group that used to be called Bear Clan Thunder Bay.

It's an indigenous led group of community folk that take to the streets of the city

to care for those on the fringes.

On a good patrol, Bear Clan will discover people in trouble before they get hurt.

There are also days when they find people afterwards.

On this day, Aaron wasn't volunteering out on a patrol.

They were just out for fresh air.

For the sake of the family, we've edited out portions of this conversation because it contains sensitive details, information we weren't comfortable sharing.

The weirdest thing about this whole thing is that I was just like completely overcome with anxiety the other day.

As I got home that night, I just laid there and basically in bed and just let these waves of anxiety wash over me.

And it was nuts, I had a really hard time sleeping.

I called up a good friend of mine to see if they wanted to do a walk, just a short one.

And it's funny because I actually named off a whole bunch of different areas.

They don't know the city super well, so I'm trying to help them get to know it.

And I named off a whole bunch of spots.

And where we ended up going wasn't an option.

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