By Nigel Maxwell

Brotherhood members aim for positive change

Apr 15, 2015 | 7:37 AM

The dark tattoos on Steven Fiddler’s neck and arms are symbols of the life that he left behind.

The president of the Prince Albert chapter of the Crazy Indians Brotherhood (CIB) made a decision last year that he wanted something better for himself and his family.

“I’ve got lots of kids, my oldest son is 16 so I don’t want him to see me in jail and in and out of jail all the time. You know I want him seeing me do something positive, so he goes on the right path and does something positive.” said Fiddler.

The turning point for Fiddler came two years ago when he received a sentence of 11 months house arrest.

“I couldn’t even go watch him (the son) play hockey. The hockey rink was two blocks away from my house where I lived in B.C. and I’m not even allowed to watch him play hockey all winter,” said Fiddler.  “My fiancée, too was done with the whole criminal and jail thing too, so making the step towards the Crazy Indians just helped my family.”

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Dallas Gamble did plenty of research before joining the brotherhood, reading about the group’s activities in Winnipeg. Gamble said he liked what the group stood for, collecting food and clothing for the less fortunate.

“Making a positive name instead of a bad name going to jail, or getting into fights,” said Gamble.

Gamble said he was never a gang member, but he had the respect of people who were gang members. The brotherhood is the only group Gamble has ever joined.

One of the initiatives of the CIB is helping deter kids from joining gangs.

Fiddler said the gang lifestyle can become attractive to kids who come from having nothing.

“You know if a kid grew up without an Xbox or a Playstation, and he goes to his friend’s house and he sees all this well as he gets older if he sees selling drugs can get him that Xbox, well where is he going to go right.”

Fiddler said the goal of the group is to show these young kids that they have other options, and one of those options is through sports.

The brotherhood is hoping to host a ball hockey tournament this summer in Prince Albert, inviting kids from local First Nations to take part.  All of the proceeds from the event would go to helping kids play sports, who could not otherwise afford to.

Gamble said he appreciates when strangers approach him and shake his hand.  He said they want the public to know there is no reason to be afraid.

“We’re not out there bugging anyone, we’re just trying to do our own thing and helping out where we can,” he said.

Last week, the Prince Albert members hosted a barbecue outside YWCA’s Our House. Some members of the community criticized the event, saying it was a cover up for other activities.

“Some people were saying that all the food we got at Our House, that it was all donated to us and that we were selling support T-shirts, like support your Crazy Indians,” Fiddler said.

He said all the food and condiments at the barbecue were paid for by members of the brotherhood and the T-shirts, which came from Winnipeg, were handed out for free.

Fiddler said they also received some negative feedback for their choice of location for the barbecue, particularly that the group picked the most public spot possible.

He said they had approached City Hall several times about hosting the barbecue on the cement pad outside of City Hall but were turned down.  Our House was the only entity that agreed to let them host the barbecue.

“I was trying to get funding too from the government to go around and talk to youth, not just in Saskatchewan or P.A., but everywhere,” said Fiddler. “There are ups and down to everything but there are no ups going to jail.”

nmaxwell@panow.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell