'Our people are dying': Manitoba First Nation declares state of emergency

A remote northern Manitoba First Nation has declared a state of emergencyfollowing the deaths ofthree people in the community overthe past two weeks.

"We've seen the hurt and pain suffered by our First Nation and we can't wait any longer. We are dealing with emergencies and tragedy on a daily basis here it seems," saidChief Shirley Ducharme of O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation,a community of just over 1,000 people at South Indian Lake, about130 kilometres northwest of Thompson.

"Our people are dying and as leadership, we have to do something."

She is calling for the federal and provincial governmentsto provide immediate help in the form ofcrisis supportsfor people battling trauma, addiction and mental health issues.

"As we try to navigate what the problems are we try and gather our thoughts together and support our members. Everybody is impacted," Ducharme said.

She is also urging the province to limit the hours of operation for the local ferry to control the flow of alcohol entering the community.

People have turned to drugs and alcohol to relieve theirpain during the crisis, but the substance abuse just creates a domino effect and causesmore problems in the community, she said.

"We've lostcommunity members and we now see the escalation and violence."

Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakinak, a political advocacy organization thatrepresents 26First Nationsin the province's north, hasdeployed amobile crisis response team to assist O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation.

"They work directly with families who have experienced trauma and will be a part of a response that includes other entities," MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee said in a statement.

"We are also going to assist our member First Nation with their call for more housing by advocating on their behalf federally and asking the province to limit the hours of their ferry to control the flow of alcohol into their community."

Ducharmealso wants a healing centre built in her community, so people can get helpcloser to home

"There is not enough supports and resources available in our community for our community membersto heal," she said.

Theytravel to larger centres for care, but the wait can be anywhere from six months to a year to get in and"when they come back from the treatment centre, they fall back into the cycle again, because there is nothing here for them as supports to continuewith the ongoing healing that they need," Ducharme said.

She has reached out to the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs to request its help in designing, developing and implementing a community action plan to address the immediate and long-term needs of the community.

"It's going to be a longtime journey that we all need for this whole community," Ducharme said.