Muskoday First Nation striving to eliminate violence

Since that decision, a lot of behind the scenes work has taken place with Muskoday First Nation’s health director Ava Bear playing a major role in raising awareness in the community. While she already has many of her own responsibilities to deal with as health director, she found a way to put time into violence elimination efforts.

“There hasn’t been a huge change… It is not a change that takes place over night, but it is change we are working towards,” Bear said. “We are taking a baby step’s approach to try and change the levels of violence that happen within our community.”

Members in the health clinic on Muskoday have received level two Violence Threat Risk Assessment (VTRA) training, meaning they are able to recognize and assess threat levels.

From firearms and explosives, to cyber bullying and gang violence, Muskoday First Nation has many ways for people to reach out for help. The 60 members who have received the training have made themselves totally open to the community should situations arise.

The VTRA training has also given members the ability to recognize what may or may not be a cry for help, should people in violent situations not feel comfortable talking about what is happening to them. According to Bear, one struggle a victim of violence must first overcome is getting the courage to talk about what has happened to them. When they do come forward, the support network around victims on Muskoday is large, and often unknown to them.

“We’ve had people who come to us to talk and feel uncomfortable at first. When given a few days to think about it, they’ll come back to us and ask about the resources available to them,” Bear said.

The availability is huge for members of the community who may need help any time of day. Violence can happen any time, not just between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. A total open door policy means that even though the band offices may be closed, someone is still available to talk to.

Bear said violence is not something that happens at any one specific time, and the term violence itself is fairly open ended.

“We deal with bullying and cyber bullying at (Muskoday First Nation Community School), domestic, and abuse situations. Violence takes many forms,” Bear said.

The community has approached this issue head on, taking on other safety initiatives to make Muskoday as safe as possible. Many in the community support the idea of a curfew to help keep things quieter at night. Chief and council are doing what they can to look into a law, although it may not be easy to enforce a curfew according to Bear.

What has been implemented in the community in place of a curfew are security patrols. Not only looking for violence, the patrols are in the community to alert the appropriate authorities of suspicious vehicles, potential crime and other problems that may arise between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. in the morning.

“The elders love the security patrols, they have voiced that it makes them feel safer at night,” Bear said.

While Violence Elimination Day this year will not feature the typical community events at Muskoday, Bear said awareness is still spread around the community. This year will not feature a celebration, but Bear said she is using it to reflect on the past and future of the community initiatives in place around violence prevention.

From chief and council, band office and health center employees, to individual community members, everyone has a role to play in reducing violence on Muskoday, and a large portion of those frontline workers have received the appropriate training and preparation they need when situations arise.

Bryan.eneas@jpbg.ca

On Twitter, @BryanEneas

by Bryan Eneas

Muskoday First Nation striving to eliminate violence

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