In the aftermath of a violent attack in his community, Chief Ken Chalmers is nursing two broken ribs and a banged-up head.
"Breathing and coughing is a killer. Coughing is agony, but you have to keep coughing to get the fluids out," Chalmers said, adding that at 62 he is no spring chicken, and pneumonia is a possibility in such a situation.
The Birdtail Sioux First Nation chief agreed to speak with The Brandon Sun about what transpired but held back from speaking about the actual physical attack as the matter is now before the court.
Manitoba First Nations Police Service issued a news release Tuesday, stating officers answered a call about an assault complaint at noon. A band member was charged with assault and assault causing bodily harm following the altercation with the chief. The band member allegedly attacked, punched and kicked Chalmers several times and fled the scene, according to that release.
First responders took Chalmers to the Hamiota Health Centre, which has an ambulance station. Chalmers will have to sleep in a recliner for the next two weeks. He nevertheless planned on going back to work today.
Chalmers said he has known the 39-year-old man who allegedly assaulted him for 20 years or longer, adding he’s a very frustrated individual with a range of grievances.
"Each time I’ve met him, he’s yelling at me. Yelling and threatening," Chalmers said.
"I’ve always had to bring witnesses with me. He’s just very upset all the time."
Chalmers said he met the man and his mother outside the band office, which is closed to the public due to COVID-19.
In the past, when the man came around, Chalmers managed to handle the situation and get himself out of it. While he has had other band members "mad as hell" at him, Chalmers said he always tries to deescalate — usually successfully — but the man was having none of it on Monday.
"No, not this time, man," Chalmers said. "And I just had two little secretaries with me, to witness, in case he said I did something. I couldn’t get away from him. I could tell from the look in his eye I wasn’t walking out of there."
The scene became a blur and Chalmers was down.
"It was overwhelming," he said. "It was about housing — he hasn’t had a house for 27 years."
Over the years, the band has offered the man houses three times, Chalmers said, adding the man always turned them down. Recently, the band has been building additions to houses as an alternate solution to overcrowding. The man currently lives with his grandmother, who is 95, along with other adult male relatives.
"So I said I’ll put three extra bedrooms and a bathroom on there."
The family agreed. But when the contractors showed up to start the work, the man came out and told them to get the (expletive) out, Chalmers said. That was approximately five months ago.
"When he does that, he goes back to the end of the line. There’s other people waiting, too," Chalmers said.
The matter goes deeper, the chief added, involving past wrongs, a community that has been on lockdown for many weeks due to COVID-19, along with loss of work also due to the pandemic.
Chalmers has previously told The Sun that many Birdtail economic development plans, including developing its urban reserve at Foxwarren, had been put on hold because of COVID-19.
For now, the community has taken down their check stops, meant to protect the community from coronavirus infection, but they will go back up in the event of a second wave.
"Maybe it just blew him over," Chalmers said of the man. "Mental health is a huge issue out here. I’m frustrated with this situation, too. My job is to try and solve things. I don’t want any of this happening to us."
According to Chalmers, the man who assaulted him is also racist.
"Oh God, he hates white people. He called me a f---ing white man. It’s skin colour. He’s an angry man. Very angry. He blames all problems of his on white people. I look white, I get it," Chalmers said, adding the man directed some of his insults toward his family, including his Sioux mother and white father. The man also has mixed blood.
Police, with the help of a K-9 unit, found the suspect in the bush after two hours of searching. The man was released on conditions and is to attend court at a later date, but is not allowed near Chalmers. The police told Chalmers the man is staying in a Manitoba city approximately three hours away from Birdtail.
