Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation declares state of emergency due to an increase of violence

Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, which covers a large area of northern Saskatchewan, has declared a state of emergency due to violence after a 17-year-old was killed.

Deschambault Lake RCMP say they received a report of an injured person on a street in Deschambault Lake, Sask., on Oct. 1 at about 11:15 p.m CST. Officers found the victim dead.

Police arrested a 17-year-old girl from the community later that day and charged her with second-degree murder. She cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Tristan Custer, 27, was later arrested and also charged with one count of second-degree murder.

Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation consists of eight communities with 12,000 total members. Deschambault Lake is located about 320 kilometres northeast of Prince Albert.

Chief Karen Bird said this is the latest incident in an increase of violence in the communities, with gunshots heard almost every day. Bird said the community decided to declare a state of emergency due to community concerns and to get support from the federal government.

Bird said many of the violent incidents have involved teenagers.

"That's just not right, to be losing our young people this way. There's a better way of living than a life of violence," she said. "Sometimes these young people are forced into a life of violence on the reserve, you know, not having opportunities."

Bird said the northern community is one of the biggest in Saskatchewan, but also one of the most underfunded. She said one of the root causes of distress in the community is lack of housing. She said there are 900 houses to accommodate the 12,000 members.

Peter Ballantyne's chief and council recently met with the grand chiefs of the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) in Edmonton to talk about solutions.

PAGC Vice-Chief Joseph Tsannie said drugs and alcohol are a big challenge in the communities.

"The drug unit that we depend on to help tackle a lot of the challenges that we have within the province, they're not there anymore," said Tsannie. "We provided a support letter to have that service continue, but with the cutbacks within the province, that initiative is no longer there."

Bird said it's getting to the point where people in Peter Ballantyne's communities are living with anxiety 24/7.

"We've had enough. We need to make a big deal about this now. It needs to be heard, what we're going through as a Cree nation."