Cross-country cycle show of support for First Nation in crisis

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This article was published 25/08/2021 (1845 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

People wiped away tears as they gathered around a sacred fire in Winnipeg’s Memorial Park Wednesday.

Members of Tatasweyak Cree Nation wrapped 25-year-old Rylee Nepinak of Winnipeg in a star blanket — a gift to honour him as he raises awareness and money for the northern community that’s coping with a suicide crisis. He started his bike journey in Vancouver on Aug. 11 and plans to end it in Halifax around the third week of September.

Mothers, elders, youth and community leaders from Tatasweyak surrounded Nepinak during an honour song; some cried, many embraced one another.

Just moments earlier the crowd had cheered and clapped as Nepinak finished the latest leg of his ride accompanied by more than a dozen youth who had joined him for the ride in Headingley.

“I started this for Tatasweyak Cree Nation. They’ve experienced 13 suicides in the past year, four of them just occurred in the last two months,” Nepinak said. “This ride is to make them feel important; it’s to show them that you’re 10 hours away, but you’re still a part of this community.

“All the hardships I faced before that on this journey… completely wiped away when I was embraced by them. It made it all worth it.”

Community members stood in a line and held placards bearing the names of lost loved ones.

“They’re here for you,” Nepinak said, addressing the youth in front of the crowd of supporters. “This is your story of resilience.”

Tatasweyak declared a state emergency on July 14, a day after the death of Corwin Saunders, the community’s 13th loss.

Coun. Theresa Garson, who lost three nephews this year, explained the community’s lack of funding has left its leadership short staffed and its support resources running on empty. Youth have been left without spaces to learn and play together, she explained, leading many to turn to substance use.

Mobile crisis teams, traditional healers, constables, Red Cross members and resources from neighbouring communities have tried to address the crisis, but in the last month the number of youth under watch has only grown.

“We’re not near out of this state of emergency,” said Garson. “We don’t have enough resources or trained staff to deal with our crisis because we don’t have enough funding.”

Melanie Spence’s son Chaiton was 18 — and had just graduated from high school — when he died in early July.

Spence said the community, also known as Split Lake, has no playgrounds, basketball courts or parks for the youth to congregate, play sports and connect with one another. The school collapsed early last spring. Then the extreme isolation measures as a result of the pandemic left everyone locked into apartments without yards, and without each other, she said.

“I think COVID played a big part because you couldn’t go anywhere,” said Spence. “It’s depressing.”

Nepinak said his ride is meant to inspire and empower youth from the First Nation to be active and pursue their goals.

“Having your voice heard is empowering, and it’s so important for our youth to feel that. If we’re going to be able to create leaders, we have to empower them — that’s the foundation of building a strong leader.”

The money he raises through a GoFundMe campaign will be re-invested in the community’s youth, who will be solely responsible for deciding how it is spent.

Jorja Cook, 14, Madison Spence, 15, and Shallow Chornoby, 15, joined Nepinak in Headingley Wednesday morning to ride into the city.

They’re hopeful the money raised along Nepinak’s ride — $17,000 so far — will go towards recreational facilities for kids in the community.

Their top priority is a community swimming pool.

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers