‘The community has the solutions’: Pelican Narrows comes together to address ongoing violence

Those in attendance included Elder Antonia Sewap.

“When I was listening to the people there, I was happy that they had their input and a lot of people communicated and gave encouragement,” she said.

“Our community was in crisis, and they really needed people to come out and be aware of what’s happening in Pelican.”

Sewap said she has experienced firsthand the devastation violence causes in the community, as she recalled incidents close to her own home.

She told paNOW it breaks her heart to see the crime and violence and how it’s affecting the young people in the community.

“It’s not safe and the future generation is going to be affected by this cycle. They need to be healthy and strong so they can be better parents and keep their children safe,” she said.

“This is very serious what’s been happening. It’s sad to see all the grief. I’ve seen a lot of young people…passed on because of alcohol and drugs and a lot of broken homes and that’s very sad. They have to break that cycle.”

Joseph Tsannie, Vice Chief from the PAGC was also at the community meeting and said he was encouraged that First Nations leadership took the initiative to hear concerns from community members.

He agreed with many others at the consultations that the solution to the issues relies on the community coming together.

“I always say that the community has the solutions, so that’s why I think it’s very important that those solutions come from the community.”

As for what those solutions could be, one of the biggest ones is creating a community safety plan.

Horace Ratt, the Chief Administrative Officer for Pelican Narrows is also involved with the Community Safety Officer Program and admitted more funding is part of the way to increase public safety.

“I believe any support would be beneficial,” he said.

“Once they have their safety plans, they can identify the gaps (and) they can also identify the challenges that they have in the community,” added Tsannie. “And making sure that staff, the community or outside resources are making sure that they’re held accountable and making sure that steps are taken to address some of those challenges within that community.”

Tsannie admits that another way to address the issues in Pelican Narrows and all of PBCN is to continue to look at the deeper issues, notably the years of trauma due to residential schools.

Leadership from the PAGC and PBCN are asking for more discussions in the future with the federal and provincial governments and the RCMP to look for long-term solutions.

“We need to meet with the community, with the leadership, with the agencies that are in the community and outside of the community and bringing those folks together and coming up with an actual plan in terms of how we want to make our community safe,” he said.

Leadership from PBCN continues to call for more funding to help programs around public safety and resources for mental health and addictions.

In a media conference last month, Chief Karen Bird said PBCN has been underfunded for years, noting that there are eight communities that make up the First Nation but they are funded as one community.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

by paNOW Staff

‘The community has the solutions’: Pelican Narrows comes together to address ongoing violence

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