The widow of a St. Mary's First Nation man who was murdered five years ago says she's been forced to leave the reserve, but the band maintains she wasn't pushed away.
Sabrina Wright's partner, Jacob Brooks, died after being shot while trying to break up a fight in July 2003.
Brooks, 29, was driving home from a Fredericton wading pool with his two small children in the car when he saw an acquaintance in a fight on Jaffrey Street near St. Mary's First Nation and stopped to help.
Zachary Flowers, who was convicted of second-degree murder, shot Brooks in the chest. He later died in the hospital.
Wright said she knew her life would change when Brooks died but she never expected to be asked to leave the small, two-bedroom bungalow that she's called home for 12 years.
Some people in the St. Mary's First Nation community didn't feel she should remain in the band-owned home after Brooks died because she is not a native, Wright said.
Wright said her two native sons, aged 10 and 14, have a right to grow up in the community with their extended family and culture.
"My boys need to be treated the same as everyone else whether I'm white, I'm black, I'm red, it doesn't matter. They're [Wright's sons] here, they're band members," Wright said.
The request for her to leave emerged about six months after Brooks died, Wright said. She's been fighting the community's push for her to move off the reserve since but decided to leave last week.
'Whether I'm white, I'm black, I'm red, it doesn't matter.'— Sabrina Wright, mother
St. Mary's First Nation Chief Candice Paul said the family was never asked to leave but that council did want Wright to pay rent because she was living with a non-aboriginal boyfriend.
"We have a housing waiting list of over 200 people who are struggling off the reserve with children who require housing," Paul said.
Council decided that Wright and her boyfriend should pay $200 a month for rent plus hydro at the band-owned property, Paul said.
"They would've been allowed to stay," Paul said. "They choose not to … They were never forced off this reserve."
Wright said she was also told she would also have to pay more than $4,000 in hydro bills dating back almost to Brooks's death.
In addition to the request for rent and hydro payments, Wright said, members of the community also sent her letters, called her and sent around a petition saying that as a non-native she shouldn't be allowed to stay in the band-owned home.
"They didn't ever think of my sons who are band members," Wright said.
Paul said some members of the community did feel it wasn't fair that non-native people were living rent-free in a native community that has a housing shortage.
A disabled senior will be moving into Wright's old home, Paul said.
Wright said she has bought a new home off the reserve but her boys miss where they grew up and the memories of their dad that were held in the house.
"They want to be in the community but they aren't wanted in the community," Wright said. "My kids have been through enough. My kids have been through more than some have been through in their entire lives."