The Royal Canadian Army Cadets has launched a corps in Cross Lake, the first ever established on a First Nation in the province.

The response to the new cadet corps in the northern Manitoba community of 1,500 has been overwhelming.

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"We advertised locally on the local TV station, and after two days, we were begging them to take it off because we were simply overwhelmed with the amount of youth that wanted to join," said band Coun. Bob Smith.

The corps has only five instructors, so about half the youth who wanted to join were turned away.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't take everyone, so we had to have a cap of 50," said Smith, adding he hopes more instructors can be found.

Previously, the only organized activity for youth in Cross Lake previously was winter hockey.

Smith, who was a cadet himself as a youth, said the program teaches important life skills to boys and girls between 12 and 18.

"We're getting positive feedback from the teachers in the schools. They have some problem youth and they say that there's a complete turnaround in some of them," he said.

"It's working, so that's what we want to hear."