At two counseling centers set up on the reservation, a handful of the counselors who had been brought in from around the area sat, one afternoon, sipping donated sodas and waiting for someone to counsel. Some parents said that their teenagers had gone for counseling the first few days after the shooting, but that they would like to see the roughly 30 counselors come to their houses, because they are nervous and afraid.
Many tribal members said they felt more comfortable talking about their grief in private, with friends and family. Some people said they were on edge as FBI agents showed up at residents' houses, and teenagers were being taken to the detention center for hours of questioning.
Roland Lussier, left, comforted son Roland Jr. after a wake for his older brother, Chase, last week in Red Lake, Minn. The last funeral for the 10 who died in the March 21 shootings is scheduled for today, and observers said many young people on the Red Lake Band of Chippewa reservation are still on edge.
(Richard Tsong-taatarii -- Star Tribune Via AP)
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"It's hard to see your kids go through this," said the father of two teenagers at the Red Lake high school, who asked that his name not be used because he is afraid that if other students were involved, they would go after his children. "They don't listen to as much music anymore" he said. "They don't seem to like to watch as much TV. They're not on the Internet as much."
At the high school grounds, a few miles from the man's house, police cars and yellow tape blocked the entrance. Teddy bears, flowers, candles and signs offering condolences hung along a metal fence in the schoolyard. Inside the school, the sounds of drills could be heard as workers repaired the damage.
School officials said they plan to reopen the nearby elementary school April 11, but are unsure when the middle school and high school would reopen. Some students say they are ready to go back and move on; others are trying to transfer to other school districts.
"I don't want to go back," said Amanda Lussier, 16, whose boyfriend, Steven Cobenais, was wounded in the shooting. Cobenais, 15, was listed in critical condition at MeritCare Hospital in Fargo, N.D.
"It will be too hard, knowing all that happened there," Lussier said.
Tribal chairman Floyd "Buck" Jourdain Jr. appeared at Friday's school board meeting and defended his son. "I sincerely feel my son is a victim, just like everybody else's," Jourdain said. "He's equally traumatized as anybody. He's been more traumatized, because he was a friend of Jeff Wiese's. The only thing he's being guilty of is being a friend."
Eggen reported from Washington. Special correspondent Dalton Walker contributed to this report from Red Lake.
