Buffalo River Dene First Nation Chief reissues state of emergency after Elders attacked

The Chief of the Buffalo River Dene First Nation in northern Saskatchewan is reissuing a state of emergency after two Elders were hurt in separate attacks last weekend.

Norma Catarat initially issued a state of emergency call on June 3 after an increase in drug and gang violence in the community of 800 people north of Meadow Lake.

During a news conference Wednesday, Catarat said one Elder was in her home last Friday evening when she was attacked at random. The attacker allegedly was a woman in her late 20s with gang affiliations who had been released from the Pine Grove Women’s Correctional Centre four days earlier.

The Elder had taken out her hearing aids before going to bed, said Catarat. The Elder didn’t hear anything when someone kicked in her door, dragged her by her hair to a hallway, and beat her.

“Luckily some neighbours heard her scream for help, so they came to assist her,” Catarat said. “She was transported to (the) hospital with two broken ribs and a bruised collarbone.”

The Elder is now in Alberta with her daughter, too scared to go home.

During the second weekend incident, another Elder was assaulted during an alcohol-related altercation.

“We have Elders that are sitting around at night with guns loaded so their wives can sleep,” said Catarat. “That’s because of affiliation of family members with gangs.”

Elder Lawrence Piche, who also spoke at the news conference, said some of his family members belong to gangs and he asked them to take a hard look at what they were doing.

“You’re supposed to be warriors. Your job is to help the Elders and the people. I ask of you to take a serious look at yourself: ‘Where am I going? What am I doing?’ ” he said.

Piche told his relatives their gang leaders wouldn’t feel sorry for them if they ended up in jail or prison, adding he would give up his own life for his people.

“Those drug pushers that are bringing in the drugs, you are destroying your own people. You bootleggers out there — there’s Elders out there that are bootlegging — you are destroying your people,” he said.

“I have grandchildren that’s in that gang. And it hurts. I know where my grandson’s going. He’s going to go to prison … Take responsibility for your actions and turn it around and make it good for one another.”

Catarat said she has also been a target of harassment and intimidation.

“(Gang members) are targeting and they’re intimidating,” she said. “I am willing to do what I can, and I’m not running. I’m not running.”

As an interim measure, she and her council are looking into hiring private security guards — at a cost of nearly $200,000 for three weeks — to work 24 hours a day seven days a week. The security team would be made up of retired RCMP members.

“This is going to come out of our own budget. We have to pay that to be able to bring safety back to the community for our Elders and our community members to feel safe,” she added.

FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron also reiterated the call and the need for a nationwide tribal policing service called the First Nation Police Association. He also asked for additional funding for expanded RCMP services, along with resources to deal with the gang violence.

He said meetings with RCMP Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore and Commissioner Brenda Lucki have gone well, as have meetings with the provincial and federal governments.

“It’s action and implementation that’s required,” he said.