SELMA DELISLE'S ANTI-DRUG CRUSADE IS MAKING INROADS

Warriors' Stick Battles Substance Abuse

We've had rocks and tear gas aimed at us, so a few apples aren't going to
bother us.'

So said anti-drug crusader Selma Delisle of Kahnawake in an interview at
her home last Friday after she and some of her colleagues were bombed with
apples by alleged drug dealers and addicts.

Delisle, along with Wilma Lahache, Molly Sky and Lynn Norton, were pelted
with the fruit twice recently as they set up an anti-drug vigil on the Old
Malone Highway near Lafleur's where many local kids hang out.

'We didn't expect it,' Delisle admits, 'but it won't drive us away.
Luckily, none of us was hit with an apple and we took it in stride. The
kids knew we were anti-drugs and they were mad because as long as we were
around, they couldn't get any.'

'Our group keeps getting bigger,' Delisle said. 'Whoever is available goes
there whenever we have the time.'

To Do What?

'We don't do anything except light a spiritual flame and burn tobacco. It's
a traditional thing to ask our ancestors to help our community and stop our
youths from using drugs,' she replied.

'Sometimes we're there until midnight and sometimes until 2 a.m. We stay
all night if need be, because many of these kids don't sleep. They maraud
at all hours.'

Delisle says she doesn't know what their parents are doing all this time or
if they even know where their children are. 'The worst thing is that some
of these kids are as young as 10 years old,' she maintains.

The purpose of Delisle and company is to 'try to bring awareness to the
community; not to drive the kids away. We want to make the community aware
of the fact that there's a severe problem of drug and alcohol abuse in
Kahnawake.

'The kids are only a byproduct of all this. It's the adults who close their
eyes and look the other way. These problems have been going on for years;
they haven't just started now. Drugs corrupt and weaken families and social
institutions in the community.'

What about the Peacekeepers? Don't they patrol the area?

'They go there and there are maybe 20 kids standing around. You have only
to look at their faces and know that not all 20 are doing drugs or causing
the damage (vandalism). Only a few faces are the problem, but they make it
look as if a whole bunch of kids are doing it. It's sad, because everybody
gets painted with the same brush.'

What do the children say to Delisle and friends when the latter set up shop
only a few feet away?

'They say nothing,' she replies. 'They just observe or walk by. The last
two times we got bombed with apples. But we know it's only the ones who are
being deprived of their drugs who are reacting in this manner, and it's not
necessarily the older ones either.'

With the help of some old-time tree workers, Delisle and company had an
anti-drug sign erected in front of the Knights of Columbus hall on a big
tree. 'It's so high that the kids can't reach it to destroy it,' she says.

Delisle admits that Kahnawake is not the only community suffering from this
quandary.

'It's the same all over,' she says. 'Something has to be done about it. In
Kahnawake a few years back there were 45-47 drug dealers and we issued
warnings for them to stop selling drugs, so they did. The only exception
was one individual who was banished from the community.' Now the problem
has resurfaced.

Delisle says that three or four years ago she was given what she calls a
multi-coloured 'Warriors stick' by Manitoba elders to help combat drugs.
The colours are black, white, red and yellow and signify 'coming out of the
darkness into the light and onto the red path into the sunlight,' she explains.

'When I received it, I committed myself to it,' she confides. 'These sticks
were sent to different communities to get people to clean things up. We
have no future if this situation is not addressed. The message of the
Warrior stick is not just to the youth, but also to adults who use drugs.
All ages are involved.

'What is the message received when children see how their fathers, uncles,
mothers, aunties and grandparents use drugs? They'll think there's nothing
wrong with it, because that's what they're seeing at home.

'But if this persists, and we don't do something, we'll have no future
because our children will become corrupt with no morals, no principles, no
nothing. And they're the future leaders of this community.'

Delisle feels that family loyalties can sometimes be misguided. 'People are
reluctant to turn in their own son or brother or parent, but they should
not be afraid to speak out,' she insists. 'The person who is turned in will
benefit in the long run.'

Kahnawake Peacekeeper Chief Mike Stalk agrees with the actions Delisle and
friends are taking. 'She's moving drug transactions and drug use off the
streets and out of public view,' he says. 'Anytime someone wants to fight
problems of this nature, I'm in favour of it. We'll probably never get rid
of it 100 percent, but at least people realize the problem is being dealt
with. And anyone who reads The Eastern Door knows that we (Peacekeepers)
have done a lot in this area during the past month or so.'

Delisle calls drug dealers 'unscrupulous people who are doing this to our
children. They are the scum of the earth,' she says. 'What happens is that
older people get young kids (aged 12-15) called 'mules' to sell drugs on
their behalf. The older people then feel they're safe because they won't
get caught. And nothing happens to the little kids they hire due to the
Youth Protection laws. So there are no fines, bail money or jail time
involved.'

Delisle has been pushing for preventive measures, such as a permanent
drug-sniffing dog...something which the PKs have been able to rent on
occasion. 'The laws are different when these dogs are involved,' she says.
'When dogs sniff out drugs on a person, that individual can be arrested
without a warrant.'

But, she concedes, it takes time and money for a dog and its handler to get
the proper training. 'Drug-dealers can come and go as they please now,' she
points out. 'But once a trained dog is in place, random spot checks can be
set up at various checkpoints, stopping non-Natives from bringing the drugs
onto the reserve.'

She and her group have also requested mandatory drug-testing for employees
of such institutions as the KSCS, MCK and PK station. 'There are people in
all areas of the community who use drugs, yet are called upon to make major
decisions for us every day,' she alleges.

'We're all affected by this, one way or another,' she continues. 'No one
escapes it. We must speak out and get involved, to try to resolve the
situation. Our adults must get out of the bars and raise their children the
proper way.

'Drugs are zapping the strength of our nation. Everyone who uses or sells
drugs, and everybody who looks the other way and whose head is buried in
the sand, is responsible for this intolerable state of affairs.'