Sherman Labelle has been in the news lately. The 17-year old youth from Alberta's Stoney Reserve has become infamous. Tragically, he killed himself last year. This is the grim reality for native youth. They have a teenage suicide rate that is estimated at 10 times the national average for non-natives.

Headlines such as "Reserve headed toward trusteeship", "Another death on reserve," "Band demands federal audit", "Tribal council's spending raises ire", and "Answers elude Crees" are becoming all too commonplace when it comes to media reporting of events in First Nations communities. If these headlines seem familiar, it's because I wrote the exact same paragraph in a commentary two years ago (September 18, 1997).

However a recent report by Alberta Judge John Reilly - an outspoken critic of conditions on Indian reserves - that was submitted to Alberta's Attorney General provides a glimmer of hope. This report deals with conditions on the Stoney Reserve but its implications are national in their scope.

In my 1997 piece I noted that "the reserve had buried six of its young adults in the past two months: one was murdered, one committed suicide, one died in hospital and three others died in car accidents. Alcohol was a contributing factor in each instance - moreover, the reserve is mired in allegations of mismanagement and political corruption."

In 1997 I also noted that "the Edmonton Journal reports that the band is battling a $5.2 million deficit despite having received $19 million in federal transfer payments and $13 million from gas revenue royalties. In total, the reserve has a total annual budget of $50 million."

Despite generous transfers and resource revenues, problems remain. Judge Reilly's report specifically deals with the suicide of Mr. Labelle but his conclusions have far reaching implications.

Here are some excerpts:

"Prior to my study of the Indian question it was my naïve view that the purpose of the Department of Indian Affairs was to support and help the Indian people. I am now inclined to believe the opposite is the case."

"I now believe that not only do vested interests divert money that should be going to help the poor members of this reserve, but I also believe that they deliberately sabotage education, health and welfare programs, and economic development in order to keep the people uneducated, unwell and unemployed so that they can be dominated and controlled."

"I cannot believe that the abuses of power that have occurred in this tribal government have happened without the knowledge and even the complicity of the Department of Indian Affairs."

According to one Stoney Band council member, there have been 48 suicides on the reserve since 1990. If this epidemic of despair and financial mismanagement were to happen in any non-native community, it would be front-page news for weeks and taxpayers would probably riot in the streets. So the question remains: how many Indians must die and how many more billions must be squandered before things change

We spent over $50 million on a Royal Commission on Aboriginal peoples and it produced a document entitled Gathering Strength. Until we make radical changes such as the abolition of Indian Affairs and directing entitlement payments directly to reserve Indians instead of Band councils, the only thing we'll be gathering are obituaries.