By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SNnewswatch.com GINOOGAMING — Since Monday, anyone driving into this First Nation neighbouring Longlac must get clearance from security personnel. Guards are stationed at the bridge to Ginoonaming, and a vigilant sniffer dog is at the ready to detect drugs. There’s also a checkpoint at the reserve’s south-end road entrance. The checkpoints are a response to growing problems of drugs, violence and organized crime in recent years, Gigoonaming Chief Sheri Taylor told Newswatch. The First Nation “has been in a state of emergency since 2024,” she said in an interview at her office. She was referring to a May 2024 band council resolution to declare a state of emergency after a spate of drug- and alcohol-related crime that imperilled Ginoogaming youth. “We had a…







