Nishnawbe Aski Nation Deputy Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler is looking to create fundamental change in Ontario’s justice system through the recently announced Juries Review Implementation Committee.
Newly elected Sandy Lake Chief Bart Meekis is looking to improve education and housing in his community.
“We want to become leaders in education, past the provincial level,” said Meekis, who won the election with 579 votes, 408 votes more than the next candidate. “We need to do something about our housing. Every year the demand is growing and growing and our allocation for houses seems to be getting smaller and smaller. We need our young people to have adequate housing.”
Kingfisher Lake Coun. William Mekanak and youth Bryan Sainnawap raised $78,000 for a new Suboxone treatment building during their 500-kilometre walk to Sioux Lookout.
“The weather wasn’t cooperating, it was freezing rain, so it made the walk delayed,” said Mekanak, who came up with the idea for the walk in Sept. 2011 after the community lost two band members due to prescription drug abuse. “(The winter road) melted in less than three days. It was pretty hard (walking).”
Mekanak wore out his first pair of shoes on the first section of the winter road.
Slate Falls is looking for a central water system to replace 11 small water pump stations located around the road-access community.
“We have a lot of concerns about the water system in our community,” said Slate Falls Chief Lorraine Crane. “We are at a standstill with housing — we can no longer add on to any of the (water) pump houses. They’re all maxed out.”
Crane said there is a shortage of homes in the community, as the First Nation has been unable to build new homes because of the water pump shortage.
Attawapiskat’s new cell phone service is a hit in the community, with some families purchasing two or three cell phones.
“We’re selling them to people of all ages,” said Sally Braun, project support for Attawapiskat Resources Inc., which is owned by the community. “There may be one or two or three cell phones per household. When we did our community launch at the end of March, people were coming in and buying phones for several household members or family members.”
Thunder Bay’s Quality Market now offers an online grocery service to First Nation communities throughout northwestern Ontario.
“We’ve been working with Quality Market for about two years now and what we’re trying to do is provide a way for our remote communities to access fresh produce, fresh vegetables and fruit,” said Grand Chief Stan Beardy. “The reason we are doing that is we have a high rate of diabetes and they need fresh vegetables on a daily basis.”
Beardy said most communities only receive fresh groceries once a week.
Mushrooms keep popping up in Weagamow’s School.
“If you look under here there are mushrooms growing,” said education director Saul Williams in a boy’s washroom. “We clean it at least once a week and they still grow again. Mushrooms.”
Although the community does a major cleanup every five years in the elementary school, including of mould growing under the floors, Williams said it is an ongoing problem in the school.
“Once a month or every two months they will clean it up,” Williams said of the mould.
Cat Lake’s youth may be the key to a healthier, prescription drug-free future.
“I’ve got to think about tomorrow for my kids,” said Samuel Wesley, a 37-year-old Cat Lake resident who began abusing prescription drugs about a year ago. “I just remember when I was crying (as a child) for my parents to take me home.”
Wesley was placed into care when he was a child and now his two-year-old daughter and six-month-old son have also been placed into care.
The Anishinabek Nation is moving towards self-governance by preparing to adopt their Anishinaabe Chi-Naaknigewin constitution this coming June.
“We have many historic moments approaching and we will not fail our people,” said Grand Council Chief Patrick Madahbee, who described the Anishinaabe Chi-Naaknigewin as a stepping stone that will guide the Nation’s path to self-governance.
When I was a boy growing up in my home community of Attawapiskat on the James Bay coast, I was deathly afraid of looking at the full moon.
I grew up...
I’m happy to see the ongoing support and assistance in our northern remote communities to help our people cope with so many lifelong and generational issues...