Only 48 hours have passed since the brothers had a frenzied stabbing attack, mostly at the James Smith Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, which left 10 dead and 18 injured and both ended their lives as a result. life. But when Amber Bracken, a photographer from Edmonton, took an assignment for The Times, and I went to a horse ranch on the reserve for an arranged meeting with Ivor Wayne Burns and his family, a one of the brothers was still alive – and we were met with unexpected chaos.
Mr. Burns was waving a shotgun in front of his large porch, surrounded by about a dozen family members, all screaming and gesturing wildly. They urged us to quickly get out of our rental car and take shelter in the house.
Finally, the police determined that the perpetrator was not in this area, people flooded the yard. There, a newcomer joined the horses, ponies, ponies, stables, carts, racecars, and trucks in various states of repair: a large white tent was used. Used for large family events.
[Read: In Canada’s Bucolic Prairie Region, a Mass Stabbing Shocks the Country]
It was erected to hold a wake-up ceremony and honor Wayne’s sister, Gloria Burns, 61, one of 10 victims of the killer.
Near the tent, a sacred fire in her memory burned in a fireplace made from old tractor wheels.
While James Smith’s leadership asked journalists to stay away, a request we respect, Mr. Burns invited Amber and me to his home because his family wanted to talk about what they believed was behind this week’s tragedy, as well as previous murders in the nation of about 1,200 people, spans 15,099 hectares of scrubland and savannah along the Saskatchewan River valley.
Darryl Burns, one of Gloria’s six other siblings, is an addiction counselor and emergency responder, just like his sister. But he had quit his job the day before so he could speak freely about the issues surrounding addiction rehabilitation programs and the scourge of addiction, especially meth, in his community.
[Read: Second Suspect in Saskatchewan Killings Dies After Capture]
A man of physical and intellectual majesty, Darryl told me that although alcohol had long been James Smith’s problem – he said he was once an alcoholic – the appearance of ghosts meth about a decade ago added a new level of violence and gang activity.
Decades of dealing with the community’s substance abuse problems, he said, made it clear to him that they stemmed from anger, shame and frustration when James Smith old residential school students take home with them – and then pass it on to their children by setting an example.
“With residential schools, they have set up a system to make you dysfunctional,” he told me as we sat in the tent, the fierce prairie wind hitting the wall. “Growing up, I learned about drinking until you fell to the ground. I learned about domestic violence. I learned how to beat my partner. I learned how to sexually abuse women. I learned how to do all that. “
Meth, he said, just made things so much worse.
Although Mr Burns says many of the programs he and his sister lead appear to be effective, there is often insufficient funding to sustain them, meaning they are exhausted before reaching their full potential. . He added that there is a great need for long-term drug addiction treatment facilities in the community. He was particularly critical of Indigenous leaders across Canada over the construction of casinos – he said gambling was a particularly corrosive force and cannabis shops, rather than spearheading efforts to get rid of drug dealers who run out of stock.
“We needed our leadership to start the campaign well, on a positive note,” he said as family members and friends walked into the tent to give him a hug. “If they join the campaign, let them say we will seek health, happiness and well-being for our community.”
However, Mr. Burns has another message for me and for the wider world: Life at James Smith is no longer a constant despair and turmoil.
“We’re focusing on the negative side of the community right now, and that’s unfortunate,” he said as the brilliant sunset blanketed the trees across the street. “I want everyone to know that there is a lot of good going on here, a lot of families, a lot of care, a lot of sharing. I’m proud of who I am, I’m proud to be part of this family, and I’m proud to be part of this community. “
Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles III
Queen Elizabeth II, the only head of state known to most Canadians, passed away this week, and The Times is continuing to report widely about the global mourning and enthronement of King Charles III. Here are some original highlights for those of you who may have missed them.
Trans-Canada
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My Toronto-based colleague, Vjosa Isai, went to Stratford, Ontario, a town long known to Shakespeare fans around the world. “Then, about a dozen years ago, a new and often much younger type of cultural geek started popping up on the streets of Stratford: Believers, or fans of pop star Justin Bieber, a homegrown talent,” she wrote.
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Fall preview from The Times’s Culture desk includes movies that will appear at Toronto International Film Festivalmusic from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and a graphic memoir about Working life in Alberta’s oil sands by Kate Beaton, a cartoonist from Cape Breton.
A native of Windsor, Ontario, Ian Austen was educated in Toronto, lives in Ottawa and has covered Canada for The New York Times for the past 16 years. Follow him on Twitter at @ianrausten.
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