A complicated problem requires a complicated solution

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/02/2025 (293 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last Thursday, leadership at Tataskweyak Cree Nation (TCN) took the unusual step of publishing a list of more than 60 residents and non-band members — who they called “people of interest” — in an effort to crack down on drugs, alcohol and violence.

“We are dealing with non-band members that are coming in the community and we have our own people harboring these individuals,” the statement from TCN chief Doreen Spence and council said. “If you are hiding these individuals in your home, there will be consequences.”

On the band council’s social media page, six photos of individuals “found to be hiding in homes here in TCN” were specifically identified, with a promise of a reward if any tip “leads to an arrest or contraband confiscated.”

For a long time, leadership at TCN has tried everything within its legal powers to stem an escalating crisis.

It was a move that prompted lawyers and media to question the legality of releasing individual names and information.

It’s true. One would be hard pressed to imagine a similar situation occurring elsewhere in Canada without a great deal of consequence and compensation.

For a long time, leadership at TCN has tried everything within its legal powers to stem an escalating crisis.

In 2017, government officials passed a bylaw banning alcohol.

Then, to stop booze, bootlegging, and illegal drugs, check-stops were regularly established on roads into the community.

In 2020, a Community Protection Bylaw was passed by TCN chief and council outlining how “persons of interest” could be identified and removed if needed.

After that, a series of declarations of emergency were issued.

On July 14, 2021, TCN chief and council issued a plea to Health Canada, indigenous Services Canada, the RCMP and the Province of Manitoba for “immediate mental wellness supports and long-term solutions.”

“We have reached a breaking point and our community is under crisis with alcohol and drugs contributing to it,” the TCN press release declared.

Two years later, TCN was one of 11 northern Manitoba communities included in a “regional state of emergency” declared by Keewatin Tribal Council due to “system-wide deficiencies in public safety, health services and infrastructure.”

Since then, TCN re-declared their state of emergency on May 6.

Is an emergency an emergency if those who are supposed to deal with an emergency don’t treat it as one?

Is an emergency an emergency if those who are supposed to deal with an emergency don’t treat it as one?

Last Thursday, TCN chief and council took matters into their own hands, releasing the “people of interest” list after speaking with individuals on it.

According to the press release: “TCN Chief & Council spoke to a number of people to give them a final warning and explained why their names were listed, we offered support services and asked them to stop what they are doing!”

An invitation was then issued.

“If your name is listed below, please reach out to the Chief and Council or come to the band office… If you feel your name should not be on here, come and see us!”

There’s a saying I often use: a complicated situation requires an complicated solution.

Finding complicated solutions is pretty much how First Nations deal with crisis.

Years ago, Indigenous parents would have to openly flout Canadian law to keep their children out of legally-mandated residential schools.

Indigenous hunters and trappers used to have to lie to authorities just to feed themselves — as free movement was illegal.

Indigenous ceremonial and political organizations used to have to hide far off in the bush because of bans on Indigenous spiritualities, clothing and meetings.

Today, Canadian law is still a problem for First Nations.

The Indian Act, for example, continues to impose a draconian system of financial, political and social controls via suffocating rules, chronic underfunding and bureaucracy that leads to woeful infrastructure, subservience and poverty.

First Nations governments have little to no control over their own affairs beyond poorly-enforced band council resolutions and bylaws that rely predominantly on Canadian institutional recognition and enforcement.

Meanwhile, very little alternative to Canadian law is available.

If ceremonial lodges, traditional institutions or grassroots organizations exist, they suffer from competition, a lack of support, or the simple fact that people are fighting for their lives.

On Thursday, the leadership at Tataskweyak Cree Nation took a risk… They offered a way to show accountability and responsibility and to converse with one another.

On Thursday, the leadership at Tataskweyak Cree Nation took a risk.

Instead of asking for help that never comes they devised a way where community can share in the responsibility for the crisis and collectively come up with a solution.

They offered a way to show accountability and responsibility and to converse with one another.

Some might call this tattling. Blaming. Pointing fingers.

Possibly.

I’m going to bet though that every single person in TCN is related to, a neighbour to, or knows people on that list, so they probably knew what was happening anyways — and therefore are partly responsible for the crisis.

In other words, any finger pointing comes with three fingers pointed back.

On Thursday, leadership at TCN came up with an unorthodox method to deal with a crisis.

A way to shed light on a dark, difficult situation.

A complicated solution to a complicated problem.

niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca