National chief calls for change after boy’s shooting death at Alberta reserve

The fatal shooting of a five-year-old boy on a reserve in Alberta serves as a stark reminder of the responsibility aboriginal communities have to take care of future generations, the head of the Assembly of First Nations said Tuesday.

National Chief Shawn Atleo opened the assembly’s 32nd annual meeting on a sombre note, expressing his condolences to the family of Ethan Yellowbird, who was struck in the head by a bullet Monday while sleeping in his bed on the Samson Cree First Nation near Hobbema, Alta.

The child was the grandson of reserve Chief Marvin Yellowbird.

Atleo said the tragedy is particularly difficult for a community that was making progress to deal with gang violence.

“We have reached out to the family and the leadership … They really feel that this is the most horrific, terrible setback,” Atleo told hundreds of delegates gathered at a local arena.

“This kind of tragic news brings heightened focus to the work that we’ve gathered here to do over the next three days,” he continued.

“We have to demonstrate the leadership and show the courage that is needed to say, ‘No more.'”

In Calgary, Alberta’s solicitor general said the public should be “outraged” by the shooting and demand more action to diminish the history of violence at the reserve.

“The community has to be involved, because I can’t solve these problems from afar and I can’t arrest myself out of any problem,” Frank Oberle said. “There has to be some degree of community engagement and some of the ideas have to come from the community and role modelling and those types of things.

“But I don’t suggest for a minute this is all their problem and they have to solve it. They’re Albertans and we’ll work together to solve these problems.”

He said more police won’t solve the problems, but he wasn’t specific when asked what the solutions might be.

He noted the number of RCMP officers in the area has nearly tripled to 40 from 15 in the past few years. And he said he will make sure the police have enough resources for this investigation.

Marvin Yellowbird, who was not at the meeting in Moncton, has joined the RCMP in urging witnesses to come forward with information about the shooting, which also left a woman injured. The shot that killed the boy came from outside the house and police have said they are looking into whether gangs were involved.

Less than two hours before the killing, another home in the community was hit with gunfire.

Books of condolences were available for signing at the Moncton meeting, which runs through Thursday.

Chief Andrew Phillips of the Scowlitz First Nation in British Columbia said violent acts, while not limited to First Nations, highlight the need to educate young aboriginals and engage them through sport and recreation.

But Phillips said that’s not always possible without the proper infrastructure.

“I’ve discovered that we’ve had to beg and write proposals,” said Phillips, now in his fifth term as chief.

“We’ve had industry take resources from our communities and they should be providing the funds to assist with some of these needs because if you look at a lot of communities, they don’t have the infrastructure.”

Atleo said there was an urgent need for all First Nations to work together to build healthier, stronger and safer communities free of violence, which he said is a symptom of poverty and hopelessness.

“Let’s do our work to honour that young boy from Samson Cree and indeed, every child,” he said.

But Atleo conceded it won’t be an easy task. He said it’s difficult to plan for the future and build economies on reserves that are mired in restrictions and outdated policies.

The Assembly of First Nations wants to move beyond what it says is an antiquated Indian Act imposed unilaterally to create a more independent relationship with the federal government in the next few years.

Chief Glenn Hudson of the Peguis First Nation in Manitoba said the Indian Act simply doesn’t work for modern communities.

With some 9,000 members, Peguis is the largest First Nation in Manitoba.

“We have to look at developing our own administrative processes and our own act, and certainly strengthening our relationships with the federal government and the provincial government,” said Hudson.

Atleo pointed to the recent auditor general’s report to Parliament that spoke of a deteriorating quality of life on reserves. The report — a 10-year examination of First Nations policy — concluded that education, adequate housing, clean drinking water and child welfare are all in an “unacceptable state.”

The assembly also released a discussion paper Tuesday that calls for the abolishment of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs.

“There’s strong consensus that the bureaucracy has been an utter, utter failure for First Nations,” Atleo later told reporters.

Atleo couldn’t say what a new entity would look like, but he said it should ensure the fair provision of services and be created jointly between First Nations and the federal government.

The Prime Minister’s Office and aboriginal leaders are in the process of arranging a summit meeting this year that Atleo said could address that issue, among others.

In its recent throne speech, the Conservative government promised action to help aboriginal communities share in Canada’s social and economic opportunities.

Despite the challenges facing First Nations, Atleo said there has been progress.

Three years ago, the government of Canada formally apologized to victims of abuse at residential schools. The country also recently endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People recognizing the right of First Nations to govern themselves.

And just last month, the assembly and the federal government launched a joint panel on how to improve education for aboriginal children in kindergarten to Grade 12.

It’s work a long time in the making that needs to continue, said Atleo.

He said that while Canada is often regarded as a beacon of human rights on the international stage, there are First Nation communities that continue to go without clean drinking water and reserves struggling with poverty and violence, not unlike Samson Cree First Nation.

“We’re reaching out to opinion leaders — not only to the prime minister, not only to elected officials in Parliament, but reaching out to Canadians to say it’s time that Canadians stood with us and addressed issues that are in their own backyard,” he said.

“We can’t do this on our own. We did not get here on our own.”

— With files from Bill Graveland in Calgary

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