NESKANTAGA — The resistance to the Ring of Fire is now making camp.
Members of Neskantaga and Attawapiskat First Nations have begun clearing brush where proposed highways would cross the Attawapiskat River, headed north toward the mineral deposit that’s suspected to hold more than $60-billion worth of critical minerals.
The planned bridge sites are 60 and 70 kilometres east of Neskantaga and another 100 kilometres southwest from the Eagle’s Nest mine site, where developers expect to begin production first.
Neskantaga Chief Gary Quisess says the action is in response to this month’s passage of Bill 5 and Bill C-5. The provincial and federal laws, respectively, aim to expedite development by overriding existing laws, including environmental guardrails and regulatory frameworks for First Nations consultation and accommodation.
“Things are not going to move until First Nations are consulted,” says Quisess. “Bill 5, Bill C-5, we weren’t consulted. There wasn’t even time for us to review it. Now they want to come in with their ‘special economic zones’ and their ‘projects in the national interest.’ First Nations are suffering. The way it’s going, this is not going to benefit us.”
The Attawapiskat River is the northernmost of three river crossings planned between the current northern end of the provincial highway grid and the 5,000-square-kilometre Ring of Fire.
The camps will be permanent but those rotating through their upkeep won’t be actively blocking construction anytime soon. Environmental assessments for the approved roads are still underway and it’s expected they will take between 10 and 15 years to complete.
This comes less than a week after Ontario Premier Doug Ford apologized for racist comments he made, accusing First Nations leaders of coming to the province “hat in hand” despite being treated “like gold” by Indigenous affairs minister Greg Rickford.
Quisess leads a community that was evacuated this spring when the health station was condemned over fuel and mould contamination and whose members are 30 years deep into the longest boil-water advisory in Canada, with no end in sight.
“We live in the third world. I’m hearing I’m being treated like gold. I don’t accept that. I’ve never seen a premier come to my community. The past 30 years, no one ever comes. Our water treatment plant is 30 years old and we’ve never had clean drinking water. Here, people want to take minerals out of our backyard. We’re not opposing that development but since development started, First Nations never get a penny.”
Quisess worked in the Victor Diamond Mine near Attawapiskat First Nation. The open-pit mine down the river from Neskantaga produced over 8 million carats of diamonds over its lifespan between 2006 and 2019, but he pointed out that the population still lacks basic infrastructure.
According to Neskantaga’s project coordinator Roy Moonias, meetings with Indigenous Services Canada this week on the various crises were “productive” but action is slow and ISC is stubborn on commitments. He says the nursing station, which flooded this spring and where tests have shown fuel in the groundwater, may need to be fully replaced. Soil tests to determine the extent of fuel damage are expected any day.
Housing is overcrowded and no service lots are available to build. The 30-year-old failed drinking water plant needs to be planned from scratch. He’s hoping new ISC Minister Mandy Gull-Masty will make the project a priority. In the meantime, water distribution challenges are putting some hydrants out of order while wastewater strain periodically overloads the system.
“It’s so frustrating,” Moonias explains. “Every time something happens with the water or wastewater, they get re-victimized and it’s trauma. People are so frustrated, they get so sick and tired. We’re in the middle of nowhere. It’s an isolated community. It’s as if nobody cares.”
As the youngest member of Neskantaga council, Lashaunda Waswa is looking forward to joining those building the camp. The 21-year-old says her peers have only recently become aware of nearly 300 square kilometres of upriver mining claims that span an area as large as the nearby Attawapiskat Lake. Neskantaga’s young people are now returning home from school (Canada doesn’t fund secondary school in their community) and Waswa says concerns over ecological damage and ecosystem disruption have ignited the spirit of resistance in a whole generation.
“What Doug Ford needs to realize – I hate to use this language – but I hear a lot of youth say, ‘they treat us like shit.’ He’s not treating us like gold,” Waswa says. “Our land has gold in it but it’s not gold to us, it’s a home – and home is worth more than any gold, more than any diamond, more than any human’s life, even.”
She calls on Ford to visit Neskantaga, to see the land and experience the culture. She says she has seen many non-Indigenous people on canoeing and dogsledding trips open their eyes, ears and hearts. She foresees the alternative being confrontation.
“A lot of youth are saying they want to fight this, physically. But I’m worried somebody is going to get hurt. I want to be in the front. I don’t want anything to pass our lands without our consent,” she says.
“A lot of them signed up to go up the river because they know stories from elders. Elders have dreamt about these things coming true. They’ve seen our people fight back, and in those dreams and visions, there’s this risk that lives will be taken as well during those fights. That’s one thing I’m worried about but at the same time, I’m happy they have that passion to keep fighting for the land.”
Ricochet / Local Journalism Initiative