Churches need to know issues to help Attawapiskat

By Robert White | December 20, 2011

ATTAWAPISKAT, ON—Churches and churchgoers need to understand the systemic issues facing the First Nations community of Attawapiskat if they want to help.

"The housing [crisis] is a symptom of systemic issues that linger on," says Lyndsay Mollins Koene, Mennonite Central Committee Ontario (MCCO) Regional Program coordinator and Aboriginal Neighbours coordinator. She also cites high unemployment and a high cost of living (e.g. bananas at $7/pound or gasoline at $10/litre) as other causes.

The northern Ontario community of 2,000 members came to national prominence after Chief Theresa Spence declared a state of emergency in October 2011, citing inadequate housing and infrastructure. At that time five families were living in non-insulated tents, 19 families in makeshift sheds without water or electricity, 35 families in houses needing serious repair and 87 buildings, fit to be condemned, were being used as homes for 128 families.

Attawapiskat, located about 500 kilometres north of Timmins, became the focal point of an escalating war of words in the House of Commons and the media fought between Spence (supporting First Nations chiefs and Timmins-James Bay NDP MP Charlie Angus) on one side and the governing Conservative party on the other side.

The MCCO has a nearly 30-year history in the area, which began with a request for gardeners to help with a project dubbed "Potato Island." Mollins Koene, who is based in Timmins, has been working in the area for close to 20 years.

To address some the immediate housing crisis needs, in December 2011, the MCCO sent the community 1,000 winter blankets, 500 hygiene kits and 25 relief kits for those most vulnerable. In a media release, the MCCO pledged to keep working with partner organizations Mushkegowuk Council and Attawapiskat First Nation to better listen, understand and support the long-term sustainable planning that needs to be put in place.

"I wouldn't call Attawapiskat a community in crisis," she says. "There are strong people, wise people there who amidst discomforts, inconveniences and injustices are standing strong."

Mollins Koene cites Chief Spence when describing the help Attawapiskat needs:

"Write us letters of support and, beyond all the media and politicking going on 'don't forget our people.'

"There is a fear," she says, "that once the story dies (in the media) so will the cause and people will be left in substandard housing."

She also suggests keeping up with the news through the "Aboriginal Neighbours" pages on the MCCO website.

"The North and the South are really different places. In the [northern] geographic area there are 49 First Nations [communities] and 36 of those are fly-in and isolated," says Mollins Koene. "Most seek help around issues like housing, water and adequate income.

"As (national chief of the Assembly of First Nations) Shawn Atleo says, 'there are hundreds of Attawapiskats.'"

For more information check http://ontario.mcc.org/aboriginal.