A central Alberta First Nation that has been plagued by violence for decades has launched an initiative aiming to protect Indigenous youth from the pressures of gang life, both on and off reserve.
The First Nations that make up Maskwacis, about 80 km south of Edmonton, have launched an advertising campaign called “Change your Colours,” speaking directly to their young people.
“We’re all trying to fight for our kid’s attention and so that’s why this is so important,” said Samson Cree Nation Chief Vern Saddleback, adding gangs don’t have boundaries.
“We have a high population of Maskwacis people that live in the Edmonton area, and we’re always trying to figure out how to bring support to our people in the Edmonton region.”
The group said the initiative is more than a campaign — it’s a call to action, a reclamation of culture, and a message of healing for a generation at a crossroads.
“Let this be a reminder to each one of us that we need to bring our babies home, that they need to be loved,” said Edmonton-Rutherford MLA Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse, who is from Michel First Nation and has spent much of her adult life working to improve the lives of First Nations peoples.
“We need to invest in families, we need to ensure that Nations and communities have the investment, the resources needed so that families thrive — so that our economies thrive, so that there is food in the fridge for these babies.”
“Children are not born gang members. They get into gangs because they don’t know the value of being loved.”
The campaign features stylized Cree syllabics, vibrant artwork, and traditional regalia on Edmonton Transit Service LRT train cars and billboards across Edmonton, Wetaskiwin, and Camrose.
The words “Gang culture is not Cree culture. Stay connected,” appear on the ads.
The Maskwacis Cree Tribal Council (MCTC) represents the collective interests of the First Nations that make up the community: Ermineskin Cree Nation, Louis Bull Tribe, Montana First Nation, Samson Cree Nation and Pigeon Lake Nation.
With support from Pattison Outdoor Advertising, the Edmonton Downtown Business Association, the city and Edmonton transit, the all-Indigenous-led team is highlighting the MCTC’s Young Warriors Program — part of a broader effort to support the well-being and development of Indigenous youth.
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“Gang life is not our culture,” said Louis Bull Tribe Coun. Clyde Roasting. “We have programs in place back home to try and help both with the young people that are on our communities to try and have a different opportunity besides straying into this way of life.”
The Young Warriors program, primarily for boys aged 10 -17, promotes cultural awareness, leadership skills, and personal development among young people through workshops, mentorship, and recreational activities grounded in Cree traditions and values.
“We’re giving options for our youth because there are things that can be done to help them,” said Ermineskin Cree Nation Coun. Craig Makinaw.
He noted unlike large cities that have recreation centres and a variety of things for teens to do, Maskwacis is lacking in activities but efforts are being made to change that.
More supports also need to be provided for families to be successful, he added.
“Because of the history from residential school and all the way back, we need to find ways to help everybody because we all have that intergenerational trauma,” Makinaw said.
“That’s something that’s still there and we have to deal with it. And until we get that dealt with, a lot of these issues that we’re facing right now will still be there.”
There are more Indigenous kids in the child welfare system now than at the height of residential schools, said Edmonton-West Henday MLA Brooks Arcand-Paul, who is a lawyer from Alexander First Nation and the NDP critic for Indigenous relations and reconciliation in Alberta.
“Our young people are battling the intergenerational traumas that our kookums and nimosôms are still working through themselves, all while dealing with racism everywhere they turn,” Arcand-Paul said.
“The future is bleak for our people, and those of us who are responsible for change need to do better.”
In Alberta, 72 per cent of the children in foster care are from First Nations and Metis families, Calahoo Stonehouse added.
“The city, the province, the federal government has to step up and say, ‘We are going to invest and ensure that communities and Nations have what they need to ensure that their children have safe, loving homes to go to. We need to invest in prevention,’” she said.
All of the speakers at Monday’s event noted early intervention to prevent young people from joining gangs is essential.
“To the youth out there, there’s more to life than living that horrible gangster lifestyle,” said Leroy Bull, a councillor from the Louis Bull Tribe who knows firsthand how alcoholism, addictions and intergenerational trauma lead to poor life choices amongst First Nations people.
“I lost my parents at a young age, when I was 14 years old. So I ended up going on the wrong path. I ended up in jail for 15 years of my life. And then coming out, coming back to a toxic environment — the way it is on the reserve, it’s nothing compared to the way it is out here,” he said during the event in Edmonton, adding he struggled with addictions for many years.
Eventually, after some relapses, Bull said he’s been sober for the past decade and is now hoping to prevent other youth and young adults from following the same path he took.
“Instead of joining lifestyle, raise your kids to be a better world out there — there is a better world out there. Sobriety is a really big step.”
The leaders of Maskwacis and their guests at Monday’s event said by engaging in traditional practices, learning about their heritage, and developing life skills, the hope is Indigenous youth will become strong leaders within the community, building a sense of pride in their culture and a commitment to their personal growth and community development.
“We have to do better for the next generations. We must nurture our young ones. We must tell them that we need to smoke dry meat and not meth. We need to set them up for success to be our warriors and our future leaders,” Arcand-Paul said.
The ad campaign is part of Pattison’s Outdoor’s Elevating Voices program launched in 2022.
It aims to help elevate the message of organizations that serve minority and under-represented groups like the LGBTQ2 community, women’s equality, those with disabilities, and any other group focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.