DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE
Community members are divided on how to deal with break-ins in Fort Providence, but staff at Deh Gah School are focusing on healing.

Staff at Deh Gah School in Fort Providence took part in on-the-land activities on Feb. 10 after discovering a break-in to the school. Veronica Bonnetrouge, left, converses with Trinette Farcy, Danita Minoza, Aislyn Farcy and Tyrell Nadli over a meal at T'elemia camp. - photo courtesy of Thorsten Gohl

Staff discovered a break-in to the school around 7 a.m. on Feb. 10, which included two broken interior windows and a fire extinguisher being discharged. RCMP reported two iPad tablets and two iPhone 5s were missing from the school. This was the fourth time since September the school was broken into.

The school joins a list of other break-ins throughout the community in recent months. As community members work to find proactive solutions to cut crime, some feel retribution is the answer while others want to focus on rehabilitation.

The break-in was the last straw for community member Linda Croft, who started an online petition asking Deh Gah Got'ie Chief Joachim Bonnetrouge and Mayor Sam Gargan to banish a group of youth suspected to be responsible for the break-ins from the community.

In December, Croft was responsible for launching a Citizens on Patrol group, which spends Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights patrolling the community.

"Citizens on Patrol is making a big difference, I think. Instead of hearing about break-ins here, there and everywhere over the weekend, they seem to have stopped. Unfortunately, we don't have enough members to patrol every night of the week," she said.

"We're doing everything we can and it's not stopping - so why not just remove (these youth)?"

So far, Croft's petition has received 42 supporters.

Staff at the school, however, have other ideas. Following a morning spent cleaning up the break-in, staff members took the afternoon off and trekked out to T'elemia camp, where they spent time doing on-the-land activities.

According to vice-principal Jeremy Kielstra, that wellness camp gave them an opportunity to let out their emotions and express how they felt about the break-in.

In the spirit of healing, Deh Gah School Principal Lois Philipp said the community also needs to offer a helping hand and emotional release to its youth. Additionally, Philipp said the discussion around the community's youth needs to focus on the positive.

"Let's focus on the great things our youth are doing with the support of the amazing people at Deh Gah, and never lose sight that we are not defined by our break-ins but come together in strength as we deal with the effects of another break-in," she said, adding that young people from the school are attending an Indspire career fair and award ceremony in Vancouver, Dehcho First Nations strategy meetings, and that seven young people and staff will be representing the territory at the Arctic Winter Games in Greenland.

"And we had our first Grade 12 student ever who received an acceptance letter into the University of Alberta yesterday."

She said she posted a similar statement on social media to remind friends and community members that focusing on the damage caused by the break-ins can detract from the school's successes as well as underlying issues that fuel the behaviour of those doing the break-ins.

"Our greatest assets in the North are our young people. No young person wants to break in and steal things, so what's going on in their lives that this is their only (option)?" she said.

"The break-ins are a result of some of the challenges with residential school. How do we support our communities that are hurting? By acknowledging that residential schools played such an incredible role in our chaos."

Philipp said she understands the perspective of community members who want to pursue retributive measures. However, she said that energy could be better spent helping families in crisis.

"First Nations communities are about being supportive of one another. If you're in crisis, how can we help you through this dark time in your life?" she said.

The work, she said, involves giving a voice back to residential school survivors as well as youth who are still feeling the effects of residential schooling today. Negative behaviour from youth often develops from negative emotions which are kept bottled up inside.

Once they feel they have a voice, youth - and adults - can begin to break down their emotional boundaries, Philipp said.

In December, Joachim Bonnetrouge told Deh Cho Drum part of the solution lies in on-the-land programs, which the band was hoping to start up by January. Those programs could involve three camps where youth would cut and then sell firewood.

On Feb. 14, Bonnetrouge confirmed the band had submitted a proposal for the camps but is still waiting on funding.