Community denies drug problem after teen found dead

ROBERT MATAS

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

August 26, 2008 at 5:54 AM EDT

VANCOUVER — A girl who turned 16 years old a few weeks ago was found dead last weekend in a home on a Vancouver Island reserve that has problems related to illegal drugs and alcohol.

However, community leader Michelle Corfield yesterday played down reports of trouble at the Tsaxana Reserve, about an hour's drive west of Campbell River and three kilometres from Gold River.

Ms. Corfield, vice-president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, dismissed the suggestion that the teenager's death was linked to a drug problem on the reserve. "This is an isolated incident," she said in an interview. Investigators who went to the scene subsequently charged Todd Amos, a 19-year-old man from the reserve, with "sexual assault in relation to a 16-year-old girl."

"The community is in shock," Ms. Corfield said. "They are trying to understand what has happened and they are grieving this tragic loss."

Reflecting the unity in the community, Ms. Corfield said she had been asked to speak to the media by both the family of the teenage girl who died and Mr. Amos. "The community is working co-operatively with police to gain full understanding of the events that led up to this tragedy," she said.

RCMP Sergeant Tim Shields, of E Division strategic communications, said the girl and Mr. Amos were both members of the Tsaxana reserve. "They grew up together and were neighbours," he said in an interview. "This has been devastating for the entire community. It is a really close-knit community."

The B.C. ambulance service had received a call for help just before noon on Saturday. The teenager was dead when officers from the Nootka Sound RCMP detachment, accompanied by paramedics, found her at a home on the reserve.

Sgt. Shields said he could not release any information about what happened on the night that the teenager died. So far, no one has been charged with the girl's death.

Sgt. Shields also declined to release the name of the victim. However, three members of the aboriginal community said she was Beatrice Jack, the granddaughter of hereditary chief Jerry Jack of the Mowachaht- Muchalaht First Nations.

Mr. Jack played a prominent role in the successful campaign to prevent the capture of Luna, the killer whale that took up residence in the Gold River area in 2004. Mr. Jack died two years ago when his canoe overturned in the Juan de Fuca Strait while on his way to an annual gathering to promote native traditions and alcohol-free and drug-free lifestyles among tribal youth. Luna had died months earlier, after colliding with a tugboat.

The cause of Ms. Jack's death has not yet been determined. The body was sent to Vancouver for an autopsy that was to be conducted today. Sgt. Shields said police may recommend charges once the autopsy results are known. A date for the funeral has not yet been set.

The Tsaxana reserve has 52 buildings and about 160 people. On many evenings when parents are at the bingo hall or out shopping, teenagers outnumber adults on the reserve, said Bill Williams of the United Native Nations, a native activist organization involved with social-justice issues.

Mr. Williams, 47, said in an interview that he moved to Gold River three years ago to try to help Tsaxana band members "to quit partying ... and get off alcohol and drugs."

Although his family comes from the reserve and his brother is one of its five chiefs, Mr. Williams said he has been ostracized by the band. "I do not drink or do drugs, neither does my wife. We were like foreigners here," he said. Three years after his move to Gold River, some members are just beginning to socialize with him and his wife, he said.

Drug problems on the reserve are no worse than those confronting Vancouver, Mr. Williams added. However, he said, the band members are not dealing with them. He anticipates a community meeting slated for Sept. 9 will attempt to grapple with the issues of drugs, alcohol and parental supervision of the children on the reserve.