Selkirk Bear Clan Patrol will be 'hand up for the community,' says organizer
Selkirk is getting its own Bear Clan Patrol, which hits the streets on Friday.
After 16 months of planning, volunteers will begin to walk in the city of roughly 10,000 at 6 p.m. and stay on the streets until 9 p.m.
Modelled off Winnipeg's Bear Clan Patrol, an organizer said their goal is to discourage theft and the drug trade and to provide help, support and cultural resources for people in the area.
"We're going to be kind of like the hand up for the community," said Wendy Pichor-Chartrand, chair of the Ikwewag Giishibaa women's council organizing patrol efforts.
Selkirk residents have been working on their own iteration of the Bear Clan since October 2016, Pichor-Chartrand said.
She said James Favel, one of the founders of the Winnipeg patrol, was instrumental in creating the Selkirk version.
"Our community was kind of getting frustrated with the such a large amount of drugs that are in our town as well as the theft," she said.
"These things were happening and people were kind of complaining on social media and they weren't happy with what was happening and kind of wanted to take their community back."
'It's going to grow'
In addition to patrolling the streets, the group wants to shed light on Indigenous culture in the community, Pichor-Chartrand said, adding the legacy of residential schools and the '60s Scoop hasn't faded for some residents.
She founded a women's drumming group, Fireheart, and said embracing her own culture helped her cope with troubles she's faced in the past.
"I've lost friends to drug use and then, as well, the hardest thing is to watch your children lose friends to drug use," she said. "That just kind of made it for me like, OK, I can sit here and I can, you know, complain about what's happening or I can actually go out and do something about it."
So far, the group has 23 volunteers ranging from 18 to in their 60s and 10 of them will walk on Friday night, Pichor-Chartrand said. To start, they'll walk Fridays and Saturdays, but she'd like to expand on that and bring in more volunteers.
Pichor-Chartrand is confident that will happen.
"It's just going to grow," she said. "Once they see us out there, I know it's going to grow."
