'PARTY GONE BAD"

OKANESE FIRST NATION -- Rocked by multiple murders on Balcarres-area
reserves, First Nations leaders contend drug and alcohol abuse led to
the deaths.

"Drugs and alcohol were involved here -- it was a party gone bad,"
said Mike Pinay, an elder co-ordinator for the File Hills community.
"We're going to have to talk to the young people. We have to go to
the root of where this comes from, which is drugs and alcohol --
that's our enemy. We aren't the enemy of each other -- it's the drugs
and alcohol that are hurting our people."

On Saturday, the body of SaskTel worker John Charles Davies, 45, was
found on the Star Blanket First Nation. A 17-year-old teen, of the
Okanese First Nation near Balcarres, appeared in court Tuesday
charged with second-degree murder. Police found two more bodies of
youths, from the Little Black Bear First Nation, in dense bush on the
neighbouring Star Blanket First Nation on Tuesday around 5 p.m.

Pinay stayed with the grandmother and mother of one of the two youths
Tuesday night.

Waiting for police to identify the youths is traumatic, Pinay said in
a Wednesday morning interview.

"It's especially hard on mothers and grandmothers because they are
the ones who bring life into this world," he said. "You always think
you will leave before your children."

Pinay said the dead boys, aged 14 and 16, were like "grandsons" to him.

"The boys were cousins -- everybody is related on the reserves," he
said. "You see these young boys when they're babies and you watch
them grow up and we try to steer their lives in a good way. We are
making progress, but this is a big setback. This tragedy affects all
our people. I'm walking around with a very heavy heart today."

Pinay also lost his long-time friend, Bradley Paul Bellegarde, 41,
whose body was found inside a residence on the Little Black Bear
First Nation, which neighbours Star Blanket, on Sunday afternoon.

"We spent years hunting together and today he's gone too," Pinay
said. "I'm very close with all the families and my sympathy goes to
the SaskTel worker's family. It's very tragic. I know how they're
feeling.

"I also understand the public's anger towards First Nations people.
This can happen anywhere and it's happened in other areas.
Unfortunately this happened in our community and we have to deal with
it. Our old people used to say, 'To take someone's life is the
ultimate.' Long ago, there was no such thing as murder. That's what
our people have learned over the years: drugs, booze and murder."

First Nations must take a stand against alcohol and drugs, said Chief
Marie Ann Daywalker of Okanese First Nation at a Wednesday afternoon
news conference held at File Hills Agency Health Centre on Okanese.

"We will continue to consult with elders, as well as the provincial
and federal governments and relevant health agencies to develop a
strategy to ensure that this type of tragedy will not happen again,"
Daywalker said.

When media asked Daywalker what evidence she had that alcohol and
drugs were involved, she said: "I don't believe that a person in
their right mind, without alcohol and drugs, would go and kill
another person."

On behalf of the File Hills community, Daywalker delivered an
emotional message of sympathy and an apology.

"We want to express our deepest sympathy to the family and co-workers
of Mr. Davies," she said. "We are so very sorry for your loss and our
prayers are with you and your family at this time. As well, our
deepest sympathy goes out to the families' of the victims...We would
also like to apologize to our good neighbours in the surrounding
communities for the fear that they experienced this weekend. We ask
for their support in the hopes that together we will all heal from
the effects of these senseless tragedies."

First Nations communities have been screaming for help with drug and
alcohol problems for years, said Lawrence Joseph, a Federation of
Saskatchewan Indian Nations spokesman.

"As you know, not only in the communities in File Hills, the
population is extremely young and very well educated and I guess it's
safe to say very bored with life, with the fact there is very little
to do," Joseph said.

What's needed is holistic help -- including public education and
health agencies to provide physical and mental health resources, he
said. There is a lot of tension in the File Hills communities because
there are few answers to the murders, Joseph said.

"Understandably, emotions are going to run high, but I appeal to the
community and also to families to give the due process the time to
complete its course," Joseph said. "The police are doing everything
they can."

To aid grieving members, a trauma team will stay at the File Hills
Agency Office on Okanese for as long as needed. Daywalker urged band
members to seek counselling from elders and trained professionals.

Although there is not a sense of fear, there is "hesitancy about what
has happened", said Chief Cliff Starr of the Star Blanket First
Nation.

"Nobody is fearing for their life, but they are concerned that maybe
all the people haven't been arrested that have been involved in the
case, so far," Starr said.

As a precaution and to help restore a sense of safety, the RCMP will
increase their presence on the reserves.

"Once the investigations are complete, we have requested additional
officers out here just to work with our crisis and trauma team,"
Daywalker said.