But their issues are our issues. Something needs to be done. For native boys and girls from broken homes, the attraction of gang life is understandable. She joined an affiliate of the Manitoba Warriors several years ago at age 13. She then spent years luring other native girls into prostitution, and while under the influence of LSD, once attacked her sister and younger brother with a knife.
Social workers note that gang members often recruit their siblings, cousins and their own children.
Once in, however, leaving is not so easy. Despite their names and occasional assertions to the contrary, the gangs have only faint ties to traditional native culture. Instead, members seem to base their rituals on those of U.S. black and Hispanic gangs like the Crips and the Bloods. The police response to the gangsters has largely been tougher law enforcement. In 1995, Winnipeg police created a 15-member antigang unit.