A relative of the two children who froze to death on a Saskatchewan reserve says the community is plagued with social problems.

Margaret Roper says the Yellow Quill First Nation community needs to come together to deal with the situation.

Three-year-old Kaydance Pauchay and her one-year-old sister, Santana, froze to death in a field near their home earlier this week.

Investigators believe the girls' father, who was found suffering from the cold himself, left the house with the children but got separated from them at some point.

Both family members and police say they think alcohol was a factor in the tragedy.