The Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation (LKDFN) is coming out strongly in its effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus after the community issued a public notice March 26.
In the notice, the chief and council declared that four items are of primary concern as measures necessary to stop the spread of the virus.
Among them include that "effective immediately" anyone suspected of selling illegal drugs or alcohol will receive a notice to stop by a "LKDFN COVID-19 Response team" - a body accountable to the chief and council.
The community is also ordering all members to self-isolate, to practice social distancing and to stop all non-essential travel out of the community until further notice.
"There are no gatherings allowed and this will be enforced by the LKDFN COVID-19 Response Team," reads the release.
"Any community member not complying with this order will have their snow machine seized by the LKDFN COVID-19 Response team and confiscated by LKDFN Chief and Council until such time as they determine."
The notice also states that if a non-member of the LKDFN is caught disobeying these directives, they could be banned from the community "until such time as determined by the LKDFN Chief and council."
The community has more than 300 people according to the 2016 Statistics Canada census.
Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Lutsel K'e is a South Slave community. Yellowknifer apologizes for this error.