A small number of residents of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation northwest of Edmonton got together to stage a rally on Thursday to bring attention to what they say is becoming a large problem: rising crime.
“My sons are waking up in the middle of the night because of gunshots, they’re crying, saying they don’t want to die,” said Lauren Alexis, the rally’s organizer. “That’s not right at all.”
She said the proliferation of drugs and violence in her community has people concerned and the rally, which saw about a dozen people show up, was aimed at calling for the band leadership to do something about it.
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“I’m really glad that somebody is standing up and starting this today,” said Bruce Potts, who said his daughter died of a gunshot wound nearby. “And I really hope that people realize this is serious.
“This is a serious thing that is happening in our community.”
Law enforcement on the First Nation is under the jurisdiction of the Mayerthorpe RCMP detachment. However, the detachment is about a 35-minute drive from the community.
“By the time they get here, a lot of the incidents are done,” said Chief Tony Alexis, adding he would like more communication from the RCMP on how the community can address the problem.
“They’re supposed to be out here.”
The RCMP has had a “satellite office” in the community but police presence there has been inconsistent, in part because Mounties said the phone line had been cut. Alexis acknowledged there had been issues with the phone line, but said it is functioning now and he would like to see a more steady presence in the office.
“Just recently, a vehicle came here… And they were taking shots,” the chief said of an alleged case of shots being fired by outsiders who drove into the community. “Those are not good things.”
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Alexis suggested he believes community residents can help alleviate the problem by more consistently reporting crime and in a more timely fashion.
“If people are not reporting the crimes… or the drug dealers, what are they (RCMP) going to do? They always end up at a place where there was no evidence and they walk away.”
The chief said he hoped to improve the community’s ability to work together with RCMP to evict chronic troublemakers.
“We want people to know (about the problem),” Lauren said. “It’s crazy, it’s not safe.”
“We have a lot of ceremonies and dances out here and people come but nobody tells them what really goes on – it’s like it’s hidden,” she added. “There’s a lot of kids out here and they play, run around freely, and they hear gunshots.”
Officers responded to 134 reports of violent personal offences on the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation in 2016, according to the RCMP.
Those reports included robbery, assault and sexual assault. They said officers responded to 183 such reports the year before.
Police said drug-related calls for possession and trafficking also dropped from 14 in 2015 to 11 in 2016.
Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation is about a one-hour drive northwest of Edmonton.
-with files from Kent Morrison
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