An Urgent Request for Assistance for Manitoba Wildfire Evacuees

The Truth and Reconciliation process  asks of us to learn about Indigenous Peoples History.  I  became interested when I have been down in Niagara Falls in the people from Wabaseemoong Independent Nations.  I have attached a history of their people beginning when there land was colonized.  Its been an amazing experience  being able to help them.  Its doing alot of different things,  just like we do in our job here,  from Crisis Counselling to giving someone directions to the Sketchers outlet.  Below you will find a brief outline of the social economic issues of the bands around Kenora that include Wabaseemoong Independent Nations.  Please consider going down for a day or two.  Its hard living with your family in a room and everybody in every bodies business.  They are getting weary and tired.  Teenagers are rubbing against the rules and their parents.  Children used to playing outside in the woods are surrounded by pavement. There are a lot of complicated family situations .  Which may become more complicated with the arrival of there fellow band members that are coming in from Manitoba.  Most of them have been split up because of no contact orders.  To top it off Niagara Falls may be the most expensive city in Canada right now I paid $5 for a regular sized bottle of water.  

This document has been cut and pasted directly from the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations website.  So it is their history in their words.  Band History

Thank you to Laura Wickson, Case Manager for sharing this information.

View video https://www.ctvnews.ca/video/2025/06/02/weve-never-experienced-anything-like-this-before-manitoba-wildfire-evacuee/ Source CTV News

The stats below were generated from the Grand Council of Treaty 

Many community members are residential school survivors. Ripped from their families, punished for speaking their language, sexually abused by their so-called caretakers and left feeling utterly worthless, some survivors turned to alcohol and drugs to dull the memories, rage and depression – or self-harm and suicide when they could not. Others struggled to raise families after growing up without love or traditional teachings to guide them, perpetuating a cycle of abuse and dysfunction over generations

Children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren still feel their relatives’ pain. Every day, between one and three youth from these communities arrive at Kenora’s Lake of the Woods District Hospital in crisis. There are many reasons why – damaged family members, a loss of identity, and pervasive inequalities in living standards, services and opportunities. Their lack of hope for the future is a perfect breeding ground for serious mental health issues – as well as the high rates of school failure, addictions, crime, self-harm and suicide that can follow. At certain times of year, mental health workers can’t get to kids in some communities, and those who seek professional help off-reserve face average wait-times of more than six months before seeing

Because First Nation schools typically receive 20-30% less per student than provinciallyfunded schools, the education gap between kids living on reserve and the general population keeps widening. Some youth go to school in Kenora, spending up to three hours on a bus each day; others must leave home and board with strangers because they’re too far away. Of the almost 2,400 people in these communities aged 15+, only 17% have finished Grade 12.

Five communities have been under boil-water advisories for decades as a result of the mercury, radioactive atoms, lead and tannins dumped in the water by outside industry, and old water plants that can’t deal with high levels of contamination. Some of what’s in the water has posed serious health risks to three generations – from a disproportionately high rate of cancer to the seizures, cognitive delays, impaired balance, hearing/vision loss, and tremors caused by mercury poisoning. Band Councils spend between $100,000 and $240,000 per year on bottled water to drink, but people still bathe and wash their clothes in dirty water

Unemployment levels are high. Unemployment rates range from 13.3% to 33.3% (vs 7.4% for all Ontario), and many residents are forced to depend on social assistance. Those close enough to larger centres to find work earn an average of $18,721 across all nine communities – well below Canada’s Poverty Line of $20,676. In Kenora-Rainy River, it costs $982/ month to feed a family of four. On a monthly income of $1,560, that leaves just $578 for electricity, clothes and transportation. To stretch it, people either do with less food or buy unhealthy, cheap food

Article submitted courtesy of Laura Wickson, Case Manager