Reserve votes on evicting gang members

Samson Cree battle gun violence with bylaw turfing troublemakers

VANCOUVER— Chief Marvin Yellowbird knows first-hand the violence on his Alberta reserve, the Samson Cree First Nation.

Last summer, his 5-year-old grandson was struck and killed by a stray bullet while sleeping in his bed.

“It is a tragic day today for the Yellowbird family as well as the community,” Yellowbird told an emotional news conference at the time.

On Wednesday, the 7,000 residents of Samson Cree, who live on the reserve in Hobbema, about 100 kilometres south of Edmonton, voted on a new bylaw that would remove residents linked to the violence that has had a devastating impact on the reserve.

The results were not immediately known.

“Under the Residency By-law, any 25 residents of the SCN reserve may apply to have another resident evicted, or removed from the reserve,” the proposed bylaw says.

If the person who is living on the reserve is not a member of the Samson Cree band, the residency tribunal can decide itself whether to evict the person.

The vote was done by mail-in ballots and in-person polling stations.

Hobbema, home to four First Nations, including the Samson Cree, has battled gang violence for years. During the oil boom a few years ago, about a dozen gangs were active there; that number has been reduced to fewer than four, among them the Indian Posse and Red Alert.

From January to August of last year, there were more than 100 reports of gunshots in the Samson Cree reserve, including the shooting that killed Ethan Yellowbird.

Three years ago, Asia Saddleback was struck by another stray bullet while the toddler was sitting at her family’s kitchen table. She survived.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Robin Alexander of the Maskwachees detachment said Wednesday that the proposed bylaw is another proactive step the reserve is taking to curb violence.

Reserve officials have removed brush along the side of roads and increased street lighting to improve visibility and safety for residents.

In 2008, the First Nations enacted a curfew that limits when young people can be outside after dark.

“There’s progress being made in this community not because of the police but because the community is becoming more involved and being tired of having their community be a dangerous case,” said Alexander.

“It’s clear that the band is not taking lightly what has happened. I don’t anticipate there will be a lot of banishments and removal of people from the community. This is about having a coordinated effort.”

Enoch Cree, another native community near Edmonton, passed a similar bylaw but Alexander said it’s not known whether anyone has been ordered removed.

Derwin Swampy, a Samson Cree resident who supported the referendum, said residents should have had the right to remove problem residents years ago. Much of the local violence goes unreported, he said.

The most serious offenders are bored kids under the age of 18 who have no purpose in life, said Swampy, who estimates there are about 30 problem residents.

“These people they are trying to kick out have families living here who should be doing something to get the young people away from the violence,” he said. “This is about 10 years too late.” Swampy said while he and many people favoured the bylaw, there are concerns it will be ineffective because any problem residents who are removed could easily move into a neighbouring First Nations community.