James Smith Cree Nation deploys new Indigenous-led emergency alert system

A community-driven solution designed by and for Indigenous communities is now available in app stores.

Nearly a year and a half after the mass stabbings in James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon, on Wednesday Chief Wally Burns announced a new emergency alert system.

First Alerts is a newly launched feature on Talking Stick, a chat app developed by Try Cycle Data Systems (TCDS) and the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations.

“The key is to get information the first time and get it out correctly,” said TCDS CEO John MacBeth.

“It's very important we do it in a very timely manner.”

MacBeth said this new system will empower First Nations leaders to issue all kinds of emergency alerts.

“Is it a missing person? Is it public safety? There will be different ways to categorize that,” he said.

Herbert Burns who lost his sister in the 2022 mass stabbings recalled the horrific day.

“Everyone was scared, scared to death because they didn't want to die either,” Burns said.

He said it all could have been prevented if there had been an alert system in place at the time of the massacre.

MacBeth said more than half of TCDS employees are Indigenous and living in Saskatchewan, so they had to do something.

“Hopefully in a very small way a silver lining and to find something good from something so bad,” MacBeth said. “That’s why we’re here and are honoured to be here today.”

The September 2022 stabbings left 11 dead and 17 injured in the James Smith Cree Nation and nearby village of Weldon, Saskatchewan.