Lucien Lazarus to BASICS – 3 December 2011
Editorial Note: In early November 2011, the Attawapiskat Cree First Nation reserve declared a state of emergency due to a desperate housing situation, with some families of multiple generations living in tents for as long as two years. These aren’t the heavy tents such as those used by many of the Occupy movements, but uninsulated tents unable to handle the -20 degree weather in the very isolated Northern Ontario community. The existing houses are overflowing and falling apart; the plumbing and running water situation is terrible. After making national headlines, questions are being asked about how many other issues the community is dealing with, and how many other indigenous communities face the same neglect by the Canadian government. BASICS received this message from Lucien Lazarus, an Attawapiskat community member, activist, and author of the blog Smoke Signals From Cree Yellow Legs (creeyellowlegs.myknet.org).
Hello everyone! I am a member of the Attawapiskat First Nation in Northern Ontario. The community I live in has about 2,000 people. We can only go down south by aircrafts in the summer time and some by vehicles only on the winter road in the winter time. Believe me when I say travelling by air is very expensive and the transportation costs are very ridiculous up here.
Seeing the great amount of news about Attawapiskat having housing problems is compelling me to write this small article. I will write about two things which I know is most important. Of course, everyone knows what one of them is already: it’s plastered all over the news stations and sites online, and that is the lack of housing.
Yes, Attawapiskat does have housing problems but it is impossible for someone to fix their homes instantaneously. Just by trying to figure out where to get the housing materials is a problem. Where are the places that have the most reasonable prices? We do not have these businesses that sell housing materials like down South. That is why Attawapiskat continues to have these problems in housing today.
There are a lot of homes that are decaying in Attawapiskat. Even if people are employed, it does no good to try and keep them in good shape. The problem is, it is the way they were or are still been constructed. Attawapiskat receive grants from the government to build cheap housing. Take my home for example, it was only constructed by two-by-fours, five inch thick of insulation on the sides, above and below, aspenite plywood
for flooring. No wonder our homes are falling apart.
The other problem we have up here is with our healthcare system. The people in care up here are suffering and dying. Like I have said previously, Attawapiskat First Nation is an isolated community and even the health organization that looks after the sick is inadequate, which is the result of both levels of government. They have made tremendous cutbacks on our travels and care.
What I mean by that is, we now have some sick people that are being dropped off in Moosonee, Ontario and shoved into trains and when they reach their destination in Cochrane, Ontario, they then are shoved into buses for that long journey to the hospitals in Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa, etc.
In conclusion, I want to say that the Cree people from the isolated James Bay communities are swollen with pride people. Just by telling them to move to a better life down South is not going to do any good as they already have been living here for thousands of years. Wachiiyay!
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