I remember a man from my youth, who after being involved in a terrible car accident, was left without the ability to mentally function again in a normal way. A bad fracture of his forehead was doctored by the installation of a steel plate where bone had once protected his brain. ‘Jimmy’ was never the same afterwards! He ended up living on the streets of Ottawa, where on several occasions I chanced to meet him. When Jimmy and I did bump into each other, I would invite him to have a meal with me in one of the many ‘greasy spoons’ found in Ottawa in the 1970’s. He was homeless and fun loving! He was gentle and honourable! Jimmy died of an epileptic seizure when he was only 38. May he rest in peace!
For as far as my ‘city’ memories go, I see that I have always nurtured a warm place in my heart for ‘street people’, no doubt placed there through the friendship I had with Jimmy. Creator knows that back in 1973 I came very close to ending up on the street myself! At that time I and another alcoholic began buying 40 oz. bottles of Club House Golden Sherry and sitting in a park all day, getting drunk. This was something I did for half the summer of 1973. I was able to break free! Many could not! My drinking buddy of that summer never left the street. He died a drunkard less than 10 years after beginning his street life.
Almost 60% of Ottawa’s street people are of Indigenous bloodlines. I wrote a poem dedicated to those people of Indigenous ancestry who die on the streets. The poem is titled ‘Do Not Pity me’. The City of Ottawa recorded it when I served as Ottawa’s English Poet Laureate. I dedicate this poem to the Indigenous people who weren’t able to endure the weight brought down on them by the tremendous force of the Indian Act! Here is the link to it if you have an interest in hearing and watching it: https://youtu.be/pgrm84TOgSE.
It is true that during the years when the tremendous cruelty living in the world of addiction weighted me down and even at times, left me for dead. Emotionally I no longer had a heartbeat! I cared not for the wellbeing of my community or nation. What a terrible waste those years were!
When sobriety began for me, it brought a faint pulse once again into my emotional domain. With the help of ancient ceremonies (for so long outlawed by Canadian law) I was able to stay strong in my vow to forever renounce a life of nonsense and waste. The pulse of my emotional realm grew strong and healthy and remains so to this very day (since 1988). But it was more than ceremonies which lifted me out of the gutter. It was also the beauty, the wonder and the genius of the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation which placed a shield before me, to keep temptation at bay.
To me, there is no greater evidence of Algonquin genius than the birchbark canoe. It truly is a world wonder! Recently I was contracted by the Museum of Science and Technology to write a poem on ‘precision’ as seen through the eyes of our people. I immediately thought of human beings in a birchbark canoe ‘chuting the rapids’. The canoe is medicine! The canoe calms, it sings a song, it is a gift to us from ‘All Our Relations’!
If you are in a world of addictions and want to free yourself of it, I urge you to take up canoeing. The canoe is a powerful healer. Give it a try in your healing.
The following is the poem I wrote for the Museum, enjoy!
Human beings Holding dear, in heart and spirit Trust, in oneself Trust, in the spirit of the river Trust, in a vessel, made of birchbark To gracefully perform its dance Over the waters of swift moving rapids
Oh, aware they are That the white waters, hunger For the touch of the canoe And the melody sung By the skin of a tree, rises In harmony, with the ancient song Being sung by waters and rock
Flesh and brawn, skill and courage Along with spiritual energies, entering human beings Making them one, with the canoe
The structure, wonder and genius Of Creator’s craft Its weight, its length, its width Assures it will survive The force of swift-moving waters
Human beings in harmony with The paddle How deep, how close, how far From the canoe When, where, why Like medicine The canoe defeats the rapids And onwards it travels On the Great River of Life
How does one define what is a spiritually awakening day?
Saturday, August 3, my day began at about 5 AM, when a throaty, short chopping sound awoke me. It was coming from my open bedroom window. I peered out the window and saw a chipmunk sitting on a basketball-size rock, I think it had climbed there to get access to some of the wild blackberries growing near my log home. Some ripe berries were within reach for the chipmunk because of the presence of the rock! I didn’t know chipmunks ate blackberries (?).
I returned to my bed and expressed gratitude to spirit for the sound and sight offered by my little buddy, the chipmunk (I call him Uncle Chippy). Maybe 15 minutes later, I heard coming from somewhere in the sky, the excited call given by a loon in flight. “Oh,” I thought, “the loon is telling all things who hear it to expect rain before the daylight hours of this summer Saturday come to an end!”
Later, as my coffee was brewing, I went into the yard, as I always do, to let the skin of my feet absorb the dew moisturizing the skin of Mother Earth. I go out into a dawning day as well, to fill my lungs with the cool morning air, taking in the wind, untouched by the pollution of a city and instead, full of forest energy! While there, I heard crickets happily singing somewhere on the forest floor. I heard the chirps and tweets of birds playing somewhere in the forest. I heard the gentle rattle of the poplar leaves, responding to the soft breeze heading east.
How delightful it was for me to be spiritually mesmerized by the wonder given this day by the different colours of ‘green’, perfectly spread out among the trees, the grasses, the shrubs, flowers and so on! A great gift of beauty presented for the eyes of human beings from the waters contained in the body of Mother Earth. It is water that creates colour on the land! A young artist from Slovenia, here in the territory a few weeks ago made a profound statement about water when she visited my home. “We are all children of water,” said Radharani Pernarcic. “Water is an entity that loves all her children equally!” Her words will not be forgotten.
In the grass near where I stood, a little toad no longer in length than a 10 cent piece is wide, hopped three or four times and then sat still. A large blue jay alit on a lower branch of the nearby spruce tree, then climbed up to the top, jumping from one branch to the other like a worker making their way up a ladder. A hummingbird suddenly appeared only 4 ft. from my face. Its wings swiftly fanning the air, it lingered for a few seconds, then in a flash it was gone. A beautiful monarch butterfly fluttered about in the yard, stopping on a plant here and there and then bouncing away again on the breeze.
My morning passed. Then at about 3 PM the heavy rain, as foretold by the loon in flight, began its descent. It was accompanied by streaks of lightning which I marvelled at and welcomed as they were the first I had seen this year! Thunder so loud, it vibrated in my ears for a second or two when it cracked, seemingly right over my head! In the evening, a red sun, a perfect circle, rested on the branches of the tall trees on the western horizon for a while, before closing the day. As I lay in my bed, ready for sleep, I held the events of the day in spiritual ponderance. I wondered, after I die, “will I no more experience such days?” It wouldn’t be right if we, the people who love and honour the earth to be denied these joys forevermore.
I believe that when we do not feel the need to condemn the atrocities occurring on the planet, we lessen our chances of being rewarded in the afterlife. It is said ‘Every Child Matters’. And it is true! Every creature of such innocence should be defended by human beings everywhere! There are genocides occurring in different corners of the planet. Children are being blown to smithereens by bombs made in the USA and supported by Canada and other western leaders. Ethnic cleansing is a crime against humanity and a great wrong against the love bestowed on us by Creator.
It is my spiritual duty as a human being to condemn it. If I do not, then the day I saw on Saturday will never be seen by me again in the Great Spirit Land after I leave this physical world. Let us all speak out against genocide!
I go often to my forest healing circle, where the breath of purity and the vibrating energies present there always bring peace to my heart. And it will do so for all who go to such a place for the purpose of spiritual discovery. The forest circle offers much, willing to cleanse me of negative energies. I embrace it all, fully!
The purity of the trees, standing tall around me and the saplings just at the beginning of their life cycle. The purity of the things I see in my circle, growing and living on the skin of Mother Earth. The moss carpeting the black earth and the decaying remnants of trees fallen by storms long ago. The purity still alive in the leaves scattered on the forest floor (yes, I believe that the leaves from past autumns are ‘alive’ in their contribution to health and wellness of our beloved forests), offering safety through camouflage to the noble partridge. The purity of the ants, worms, caterpillars and slugs which live in all places of the forest welcoming them a life on the skin of Mother Earth (the soil would not be rich if not for them). The purity of the moths who seldom fail to visit when I sit in the centre of my circle, colourful and delightful, my spirit dances in harmony with them. The purity of the songs, birds sing from the branches of nearby trees. These things! All, are by my side, when I speak for any cause in the community, I put my energies towards. All these things mentioned here are the purest of what is pure, and what we honour, when we say the words “All my Relations”.
The placenta I took from CHEO after Carter, my great grandson was born is only a short distance from where I sit. I buried it there in ceremony over a year ago when Carter was born. Carter passed away on this day, July 9th, one year ago! I meditate on the purity of a human being. It is only real for the babies, the toddlers and the youngsters of all the peoples of the world! Carter in his innocence was as pure in spirit as all things sacred around me in the forest! Carter was stronger than any man who ever lived. He had more courage than any warrior who ever received honours for his brave deeds on any battlefield in the history of the world. Yet, he was what defines ‘love’ and would have been an honourable man had he lived into adulthood!
I go to this place of purity and I present myself to all life found there, as their impure relative. Not always, but often, I reflect on the wrongs of my past when I sit in the centre of my circle. The ugliness of my actions when I roamed the city streets and bars, in a state of intoxication. I renounce those days as wasted times. The many years of being fooled by an unjust society into believing that I needed alcohol in my life, came to end in the spring of 1988. Purity, at least to a degree came into the life of this Anishinabe Algonquin man’s after I flung the bottle from my troubled life!
I saw a soaring hawk today after leaving my healing place. It went from one end of the open sky to the other in 3 seconds. Oh the wind and the hawk, what a wonder they are when they work together. I thought, “How does the hawk put the brakes on?” But then, why would it need to? The hawk is free! Never should it ‘stop’ in its duties as a sacred messenger!
When I walk to my circle, it’s a downhill exercise, which means, when I return to my home, I have no choice but to walk uphill. The trail is narrow and steep. I rely on the young trees to assist me as I take steps forward and onward back to my house. I take hold of a poplar stem. “Please,” I say, “be kind and help an old man.” They always oblige me and I get home without falling on my face!
To be pure of heart, like that of the birds, fish and animals is something that human beings will never fully realize. All we can do is go to a place of purity and there, humbly make a request from them who are pure in spirit, to help us in any way they can.
Something I never even dared to dream, has happened. Many, if not all who knew me “back in the day” as the saying goes, would have ever believed that an Honorary Doctorate from Ottawa University might one day be presented to me at a grand ceremony honouring over 700 graduates in its ‘Education’ sector.
It is with a humble heart indeed that I write to heap a universe of gratitude on all who felt I was deserving of it. Imagine, a man with a Grade 7 education (received an official high school diploma from Hillcrest High School in December 2022) getting such an honour! A rare occurrence to be sure!
At the Honouring Ceremony, after I had read the speech I prepared (see attached to this blog) I spoke words on the topic of oppression. I pointed to the fact that most settlers who immigrated to Canada in the 1800’s didn’t bring kindness in their hearts with them for the Indigenous Peoples living here. It was these settlers who created the ‘Indian Act’. The Indian Act signalled in a time of great misery and untold sorrow for the First Nations, Inuit and Métis people living on their traditional lands. I mentioned how a human being living under oppression, feels like they have suffered some kind of amputation, not a physical one, but one that impacts you spiritually, mentally and emotionally. I told the graduates about how the oppression of human beings by other human beings is something foreign to the human heart.
I implored the over 700 graduates present to renounce oppression wherever it is taking place on our dear planet. When I mentioned this request, someone in the audience shouted “Free Palestine”! It seems to me at this time that the only thing with the ability of “freeing Palestine” is the love and energy of Creator. We need to be reminded sometimes that all of us have a bit of Creator’s energy in our hearts. In my circle of friends I see it in abundance.
‘Oppression’: If ever it were to disappear from our world in my lifetime, I would be the happiest human being on the planet.
A friend, Lisa Howell, who works at Ottawa University and who was also part of the group who put my nomination forth, said to me, “Thank you for all you do.” My response was, “If my actions have done anything in bringing peace to anyone’s heart, then it was because I was inspired and motivated to do so by people like you.” The list is long!
If I am brave, it is because I remember the heartbeat of my mother. If I take a stance against tyranny and oppression, it is because I do not want anyone else to experience what I and other people of Indigenous bloodlines have endured in the past and even today, continue to live through oppression! Whenever human beings oppress the ‘rights’ of other human beings, rebellion and bloodshed will surely follow. It is impossible to count the millions upon millions of people who have died, either at the hands of oppressors, or been killed fighting to end oppression of their fellow countrymen. I condemn oppression, whether it is taking place in Canada, the Congo, Ireland, the Middle East or anywhere else on this planet. We all should. The love and energy of Creator instructs us to do so.
I want to extend a special migwech to Sylvia Smith (also supported my nomination), founder of ‘Project of Heart’ and Lindsey Barr, founder of ‘World Changing Kids’. I admire these brave women because they stand against racism and oppression! The world needs more human beings like them in it. In my heart of hearts, I know that it is women, like my beautiful granddaughter Kyrstin Dumont, who will lead the change in ending oppression in the world. Let us do all we can to help them make it happen.
I am attaching below the speech I wrote and delivered at the Honouring Ceremony. I hope you connect with its message.
Speech
I am at peace and I wish everyone well.
I began my life on worksites with only a Grade 7 education to assist me on the road to success. Success though, is something rarely achieved when the tremendous weight of racism and oppression is constantly present in mind, body and spirit. It leads you, oftentimes into a reckless lifestyle. I fell victim to severe addictions, mostly alcohol at the age of 15. I live every second of every day with back pain, so great that there are times, I can barely rise from a chair. Crushed and cracked vertebrae are not fun things to experience.
The lessons given me by ‘All My Relations’ have taught me that if I shun thoughts of self pity from my life’s trail, I will in the end, enjoy a good life! I prefer to soar on the blessings one receives through a hard work ethic rather than crawl day after day, in the slime of self pity.
The forest is the greatest teacher! The common garden snake as an example, has taught me to shed all negativity from my life. In the shedding of the old skin, it instructs me.”Get rid of it”. The snake teaches me to be gentle in my interactions with Mother Earth. In soft caress of the soil under it, the snake moves forward. What amazing teachers snakes are!
I am the father of daughters. When my daughters were teens, I would advise that they do all possible to find someone who is honourable to make their life with. “If you are living under the same roof as someone who is honourable,” I would tell them, “then this old dad of yours won’t worry too much about how you are being treated in your household.” The lessons I learned through the traditional teaching stories of my bloodline have always guided my councils with them.
I learned long ago through stories, many thousands of years old that things will go from bad to worse in the fast lane when one over-reacts to other people’s shortcomings or one’s own dysfunction. I learned through the spiritual force of the sharing circle, that if you hold by your side, anger, jealousy and vindictiveness, you greatly weaken the Nation you claim to love.
I learned over many years that trees are the wisest of all gifts Creator gave to humankind. I know a place where at the top of a high gravel hill, there stands today, a great maple tree. Because of storms washing away the gravel under the tree, its roots are exposed. Only the roots on its side and those at the back of the tree hold it in place. One day in the future, the tree will no longer have the ability to stay where it has stood for several hundred years. It will topple over and its life will end. Not so for us. We as human beings possess the ability to bring into our lives what will assure we do not fall.
To bring my spiritual bundle into the forest and place it on the skin of Mother Earth in ceremony assures that for me, I will find peace and wellness more and more in all the remaining days of my life.
A couple of days now have passed since an extraordinary event occurred. April 8, 2024, Mishòmis (grandfather) Sun and Kòkomis (grandmother) Moon had a date. They got together, not to idly pass the time of day over tea but to dedicate themselves to a conversation of extreme importance to them, to us and to All Our Relations. Mishòmis and Kòkomis had a lot to talk about with each other. Questions, such as “What have you been up to since our last meeting took place that helps to bring peace and wellness to Mother Earth?” Questions were posed and they were answered. Mishòmis and Kòkomis do their part to keep Mother Earth healthy and well. We too, are expected to help out as best we can!
The conversation Mishòmis and Kòkomis had was deep and profound. They did not want it interfered with nor interrupted by anyone or anything. Their’s was a sacred time. They do not get together very often. Let us leave them in peace when they gather for a visit.
On the day of the eclipse, I was awakened at 6 AM by the sound of Papichì (robin) singing outside my window. What spiritual joy filled my heart when I heard it! I had been anxiously awaiting the robins to make their way north, to finally grace my sanctuary with their presence. Papichì is one of my major spirit helpers/messengers! When I heard the song, I raced down the stairs (from my loft, where I had slept that night) and scooped sacred tobacco from my bundle and exited the house, tobacco in hand. The robin was sitting on the branch of Shingwàk, the pine. He flew from there towards a place spiritually special to me and again alighted onto the branch of a tree. As I laid my gift of tobacco down, Papichì sang the song given to him by Creator so long ago when the robin first drew his breath as a bird. I have adopted Papichì as a spiritual ally and even as a role model. The robin is independent, you won’t see him at a bird feeder!
What came to me after returning into the warmth (provided by a woodstove) of my home, I pondered the power of song. We, the Anishinabe, have songs for all occasions. My first elder, Walter Linklater, taught me an encouragement song way back in the early 1990’s. “The song is many thousands of years old,” said Walter back then. I fasted for 4 days and nights in a forest circle in recognition of the song and for those times I would sing it for family, friends, community and nations when I felt the spiritual nudge to do so. Another ‘elder’ for whom I had great respect for and who also came into my life in the early 1990’s was Bobby Woods. Lame Buffalo (Bobby) shared a traditional teaching story with me about never claiming anyone else’s song as your own without first getting permission. The story goes that a heron wanted to feast his creation story but had yet to be given a song to honour it by Creator. The heron had been invited to the bear lodge to be part of a celebration. There he heard the bear’s song which he immensely enjoyed. “Hey,” he thought, “I’ll sing the bear’s creation song and all will be well.” Not so fast. When he began to sing it, his feet caught on fire and he had to run to the lake to quench them. And there he is to this very day. There is a price to pay and it’s not pretty!
The sun had yet to brighten the sky when I stood by the side of glorious trees. The energy of their caress, warm and reassuring, defeated that of a cold breeze making its way southward. I am confident that my prayer, though spoken in whispers, was heard clearly by All My Relations. Tobacco left my hand, an offering of gratitude to spirit for the goodness it promotes in our troubled world.
My daily ceremony begins with the skin of my feet touching the earth. It ends as the sacred tobacco from my bundle does likewise. When we stand near the trees and ponder the years they live and then reflect on the length of time the heart of a human being will last, we begin to understand why ceremony is necessary.
A great thing occurs when the physical communicates with the spiritual. A greater occurrence comes to pass however, when the spiritual communicates with the physical. Water spirit and that of a loving and supportive ancestor brought their healing gifts to my side after my accident (April 1991) and restored movement in my left arm. A nerve specialist had declared that my arm would never move again. The power of ceremony objected! My arm began to slowly return to the health it had known before life left it for a while.”Never give up, my friend, never give up.” Hear the words of an encouragement song, thousands of years old.
I bought a jacket a few months ago (see photo on FB). Never wore it anywhere but somehow it disappeared. I searched for it high and low but to no avail! I was sure that it was gone forever. One day, after weeks had passed since the mystery of the jacket began, I opened a closet in my home to retrieve a coat on the rack. As I pulled it free of the bar, something on the floor of the closet caught my eye. It was the arm of the missing jacket. Wow! The jacket had fallen from its hanger after I placed it there weeks ago. I had searched the bar of the closet (very crowded) but not the floor. The jacket was found! And I was happy as a lark!
In my view, too many people of this world have lost the natural connection they have with ceremony. They wonder about it. They search for it. They want it! “Where is it?” they ask themselves. It’s there, it’s waiting, look a little deeper, you’ll find it! I did and if I can find again my connection to ceremony after it had left me during all the years I lived in the grips of severe addiction, then cousin, so can you.
The forest is alive at this time of year with energy and the extraordinary blessings sent to us by Creator. A wondrous passage of moon orbits occurs for those of us who regard spring as the starting whistle for new adventures and as an open door leading us to exploring new horizons. What spiritually fills the winds around us now, takes time to get used to, such is its power. As a great variety of bird nests are being constructed outdoors and as the sap of maples flows, our sleep can be broken, telling that our dreams will be strong in their spiritual messages. Please never doubt it!
Spring is when bricklayers (my trade, over 40 years) feel an itch in their fingers. They are eager once again, to skillfully temper mortar before scooping it up and rolling it off the steel of the trowel, forming the perfect mortar beds onto which a row of bricks will lay. Spring was always a happy time for me on the jobsite.
A few nights ago, during hours of sleeplessness I wrote these words:
The love for humanity Living now in my heart Is neither old nor young It is not male Nor is it female It is aware that life for it Will live only till The last human heart Of this world Sends forth the warmth Of its final heartbeat
Love, it is always present in the human heart. Its vibration is especially strong in spring. Some of us embrace its warmth and its love for humanity, while others shun it. So it will be until the end for humankind comes, some dark day in the fast approaching future. The words of the poem above were brought to me from somewhere far from Algonquin territory (Ottawa River watershed), this I know! From where? The places on this world now, are numerous! There are countries on Mother Earth, as these words are written, where unspeakable horrors are being heaped on innocent human beings. The innocent who perish now under the weight of oppression do not deserve what is happening to them. We as human beings must care about it and make a stand against it. Spring, the generous season, the one of rejuvenation and spiritual wonder demands it of us. Our definition (people of kind hearts) of what is humanity, is at stake.
Spring, it is a time of reflection and new beginnings. It is a time where expressions of love should be made daily for the emotional and spiritual benefit of our loved ones. Words of gratitude for the good things the kindness of others brings to us should be prominent when we pray in the days of spring season. It is a time when I, as a man, wash the feet of the woman I respect honour with cedar water. I do so as an act, demonstrating how humble I feel in her presence. Men should never forget that it is women who taught us about the sacredness of the heartbeat. It is women who are the true leaders. When men take the power of women away from them, then we can expect untold catastrophes to occur. Spring season teaches us these things.
I write to let you know that I wish all of you emotional rejuvenation and much spiritual enrichment during the time of the Sugar Moon (coming soon to a sky near you).
Also, I will be hosting a poetry and short story writing workshop on Sunday, March 17, 2024 from 5 pm to 7 pm at Westboro Books at 314 Richmond Road. See poster below.
“The Kichi Zibi (Ottawa River) is as much part of my identity as is the blood travelling through the vessels of my heart. The many places on the Kichi Zibi where spirits are active, reach deep into my soul with their healing energy when I go to its shore and make a request through a tobacco offering, for it do so.
When my physical life ends, my spirit will continue to live on in a sacred land where the waters of Kichi Zibi flow eternal, strong, pure and free and be ever present for me.”
The above words are for me, a spiritual reality as an Anishinabe Algonquin man. All Algonquins should feel the same way. Actually, if it was up to me, all good people living within the perimeters of the Ottawa River watershed (Algonquin Territory) today, would feel as I do about the Kichi Zibi. No matter the colour of their skin, no matter where the beginnings of their bloodlines are, they have much to lose as a community and as a society, if some kind of catastrophe ever befalls the Kichi Zibi.
A nuclear waste dump in Anishinabe Algonquin Territory? I’ll tell you what I know about it.
18 years ago an ‘elder’ from Manitoba (I knew only slightly at the time) contacted me via a phone call and let me know that representatives of a nuclear waste organization were hoping to have a meeting with me. When I asked what it was about, the elder replied that he wasn’t sure but urged me to oblige the nuclear waste people with their meeting request. I did!
The meeting was in a suite of an Ottawa hotel. As I recall, there were three representatives of the nuclear waste group present in the room, two men and one woman. All of them unknown to me. They let me know it was their hope that I would endorse their plan of building a nuclear waste dump in Algonquin Territory.
Keep in mind that this was 18 years ago, shortly after I was first asked to attend the Kumik Lodge as a visiting elder. Also, at the time, I was already established in the territory as a human being who dedicated many hours of his life to activism. I suspect that these are likely the reasons why the nuclear waste people thought it important to have my support.
I let them know right away that not I, nor any other Algonquin, male or female, young or old, would ever endorse any plan to have a nuclear waste dump to be constructed on our traditional lands. They asked about gifts. “What gift,” they wanted to know, “might be given to leaders of the Algonquin Nation to persuade them to sign up with their plan?” – “No Chief will ever agree to nuclear waste being brought into our lands,” is what I told them.
To be truthful, I really don’t know much about nuclear energy. However, I do know what the word ‘waste’ is connected to. ‘Excrement’ is ‘waste’. It is poison! I don’t want excrement ending up in the Kichi Zibi. And I do not want nuclear waste in it either.
Fast forward 18 years and lo and behold, a nuclear waste dump is at this time, been given to go-ahead in Chalk River, Ontario, Algonquin Territory. The Algonquins of Ontario (AOO) are supporting it. A ceremony was held at the site not long ago. A man, (wearing a ribbon shirt) Dan Ross who identifies as an Algonquin elder, was there with representatives of the AOO (see photo). The AOO have even given the nuclear waste site a name: ‘Minwamon Building’.
The leadership at Pikwàkanagàn is supporting the plan for a major nuclear waste disposal site to be built in Anishinabe territory (Chalk River, ON). All other Bands who make up the Nation are against it. It makes my blood boil that one Algonquin community can decide to stand in support of a deal which can potentially, at some point in the future, kill the waters of Kichi Zibi. Did the Algonquin Nation give the Chief and Band Council of Pikwàkanagàn that kind of power? No, it did not! So where the hell do they get off doing it? The leadership at Pikwàkanagàn does not speak for me nor for all other Algonquins of our Nation. I wonder how the citizens of Pikwàkanagàn feel about what their Chief and Band Council are getting them into?
Chalk River is in an earthquake zone! It is very likely that there will come a time in the future when the earth will tremble violently around where the nuclear waste dump is, causing the walls of the storage place to crack. The waste will then surely make its way to the Kichi Zibi (only a kilometre away). Such a catastrophe might happen! If I’m wrong, tell me where I am!
Do they (nuclear waste people) know with all certainty that it will never happen? Fifty years from now? A hundred years from now? When it does and I believe it surely will, the people of our bloodlines living at that time in the future, will condemn us, their ancestors, for not stopping this project to be built.
I object to this project taking place. I condemn it! My spirit instructs me to do so as well. Can we even continue to call ourselves Anishinabe Algonquin if we do not at least vigorously protest the bringing of nuclear waste into our territory? The setter community needs to fight this, too.
Only our people who respect the notion that ‘water is life’ will not be OK with the nuclear waste dump being built on Algonquin Territory.
We should file a class action lawsuit against the Province of Ontario and the nuclear waste company for bringing poison near the Kichi Zibi.
