The dawn of COVID-19 vaccines to combat the pandemic opened up new challenges. Countries around the world had to decide about equitable distribution among all populations. The need to recruit more skilled healthcare workers became more relevant than ever, as they were needed to administer vaccines. Canada was swift in prioritizing the vulnerable populations-the elderly and health care workers. There was also a push to prioritize the First Nations communities living in the country.
I have always been inquisitive about and the diverse communities of places where I have lived and visited, and their histories. As a healthcare professional who has been blessed to provide direct clinical care, I was able to quench my curiosity of learning about various communities and cultures from my clients and patients. During the summer of 2022, I got an opportunity to work with Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA) as a member of their COVID-19 Vaccine Resource Team. WAHA provides health care services to remote communities in Northern Ontario, living along the eastern James Bay and Hudson Bay coasts. The majority of people living in these regions are from the Indigenous communities of the Cree lineage.
The First Nations, a preferred term over the word “Indian” in Canada, however terms such as Aboriginal, Indigenous and Native are used interchangeably, were the community of first inhabitants of this land we call Canada. Prior to contact with Europeans, estimates suggest the total population of First Nations in Canada and the United States was in the range of 1.2 to 2.6 million people. The Europeans not only reaped riches from these lands by establishing trading posts like the Hudson Bay Company, but with use of deceptive treaties the colonizers stole their lands. They also tried to erase the indigenous traditions and culture by coercing the Indigenous children to Catholic religious beliefs using brutal school systems like the residential schools. Regardless of this dark history, I was excited for my firsthand experience with the First Nations.
My first stop from Toronto Airport is in Timmins, a city which meets nature. Timmins is like any other small city in Ontario with proper infrastructure, roads and other amenities. There are multiple Indigenous reserves around Timmins and hence some boards have Cree letters. Cree is the language spoken by Indigenous communities in this region. From Timmins, the first stop made by aircraft is Moosonee. The small airports in these remote towns just have essentials like a runway, a check-in counter and a toilet. There are no security checks to board flights and sometimes no boarding passes are given to passengers. Adjacent to the town of Moosonee, across the Moose River is a tiny island called Moose Factory. Moosonee and Moose Factory are the last towns where one can still connect via mobile networks available to us in Southern Ontario. In order to access networks in remote Northern towns, one has to purchase a SIM card from the local operators, which are usually hard to find and expensive. From Moosonee Airport, there are daily weekday flights to further Northern remote towns along the James Bay coast: Fort Albany First Nation, Kashechewan First Nation, Attawapiskat First Nation and Peawanuck First Nation. One flight usually takes passengers to all these locations and returns the same day.
The Indigenous reserves in these remote parts of Northern Ontario do not have roads and only heavy vehicles, like trucks, vans or SUVs, can be found in these areas. Some residents in the town use buggies. Most of the people speak English, but there are elders who only understand Cree. The Northern College has branches in each town. I happened to visit and spend some time at Northern College in Moosonee. I came across their college magazine; it was titled “The Feather”. The feather is a prominent symbol in Indigenous culture; it represents power, wisdom, high honor, trust, strength and freedom. They are often seen in administrative logos of this region, people’s houses, bracelets and other art forms.
For Indigenous communities, land and animals are very important. There are land-based healing programs like walking together—a symbol of the holistic approach to healing in Cree culture. The Walking Together program, otherwise known as “Pimi Pici Wak,” is aimed at helping clients with substance abuse and other mental health challenges. The 10-day program encourages the clients to find power in the sense of community and connect with nature’s resources.
There is one main grocery store called Northern, which serves as the main market for these towns. Prices are at least two or three times higher than what it is in the GTA. One can also see how less healthy options like chips and cookies are priced lower than natural produce. Surprisingly, an LCBO in Moosonee sells alcoholic beverages at a more affordable price than fresh produce. An elder living in a senior living home told me how before the colonizers came, it was the indigenous tradition to help those in need. “One has to share what they have with others and that’s how you keep yourself mentally sane. When the settlers came to this land, they not only stole our resources, but took away more priced traditions like these,” he said. There are stories of continuing drug abuse and addictions, and parents of children who complain of the individuals who supply illegal drugs, but no respite has been provided. The Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (NAPS) which serves the First Nation communities of this region are unable to take action against such drug offenders, due to the politics in bureaucracy and lack of strong evidence.
Attawapiskat First Nation has recently been in the news for their mountain of troubles. In the year 2016, a state of emergency was declared due to increase in suicides attempts. Attawapiskat is also known for its housing crisis, water crisis and neglect of government to establish safe educational facilities for school going students. A house has up to 10 family members living, and after COVID hit, it has become extremely difficult for the public health team to ask residents to self-isolate when an individual amongst them shows symptoms of or is tested positive for COVID. When my team visited Attawapiskat in July 2022, we were given instructions not to drink tap water (even after boiling), and not to bathe or have shower in the water for more than 10 minutes. The water was contaminated with harmful chemicals like trihalomethanes (THMs). There were two water plants in the whole town with a population size of roughly 2000, from where we were expected to collect water for drinking and cooking. In 2007, a young local activist Shannen Koostachin launched a campaign “Education is a Human Right '' to lobby the government for better educational facilities for First Nation youth. Shannen was killed in a car accident in 2010, but her dream lived and continues to live: a new elementary school opened in 2014 for the youth in Attawapiskat.
To the North of Attawapiskat, close to Polar Bear Provincial Park is the Peawanuck First Nation; the northernmost town served by WAHA. With a population close to 300, it doesn’t have a hospital, but a nursing station/health center run by two community nurses who can arrange teleconferencing with doctors or air lifting if needed. This community had to relocate due to a flood. There is a sense of pride and determination among the residents here—which I felt was missing in the other communities. Also, relative to other remote communities, addictions and substance abuse are significantly low. The distant northern location and the sense of determination among people might have contributed to this.
While flying between Indigenous reserves, usually at a lower altitude than commercial planes, I ponder between these skies and clouds, about these small communities living amongst the wildlife and wilderness, about the river meeting the sea or the lake meeting the river. I think about how these communities once thrived and are still thriving with their attachment to the nature and animals of these lands. Every time my flight prepares to land in Toronto, and I see how blessed we are with the well-developed roads, tall structures and other amenities, I am reminded of these remote indigenous communities weighed down with a lot of public health crises and other challenges. There is a heightened need to take time and teach our younger generations to learn and connect with the First Nations of this land. Mere recognition of the Indigenous communities and land acknowledgments before an official program is nothing but a meager effort.
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