Two weeks since they arrived in Niagara Falls, Ont., a Kashechewan First Nation mother and her teenage daughter say they deeply appreciate the help even as they miss “being on the land” with a “view of the forest.”
They are just two of 2,300 residents of the First Nation, many of whom have been forced out of their homes due to a weeks-long water crisis, sparked by a damaged treatment plant. With 1,700 evacuees expected in the Niagara Region city alone, authorities and local Indigenous groups are doing everything they can to help people feel at home.
On Jan. 4, Kashechewan Chief Hosea Wesley declared a state of emergency at the First Nation in northern Ontario, where pumps at the community’s water treatment plant were clogged, unable to mix the chemicals needed to treat drinking water.
“It was sudden,” said Kerri-Ann Koosees, “I did not prepare for this evacuation.”
Koosees has been working with hotels in Niagara Falls to ensure the community’s needs are being met, but the first few weeks since they’ve arrived have been tiring, she says.
“After a while, it does start getting a bit more easier,” Koosees told CBC News.
As of Friday, 921 people evacuated from Kashechewan First Nation, along the west coast of James Bay, were staying at hotels in Niagara Falls, said Niagara Falls fire chief Jo Zambito.
Some arrived by air in Hamilton before being taken by bus to the city, while others travelled by bus from Kapuskasing, Ont.
Most will be staying in Niagara Falls, with others are set to settle into communities including Kapuskasing, Timmins, Ont., and Kingston, Ont.
Zambito says there are no scheduled flights for the weekend and the city is not anticipating any more people coming, unless plans change.
“We still have significant space,” Zambito told CBC. “We have up to 1,700 that we can accommodate.”
Weeks after evacuation to Niagara Falls, Ont., Kashechewan resident misses her home
Koosees’s daughter, Keisha Paulmartin, is worried about her family, friends and pets back home.
“Before we evacuated, it was very hard on me not being able to take a shower regularly,” Paulmartin said. “It made me feel very dirty and that just affected my mental health.”
Thankfully, essential workers in Kashechewan are looking after her pets and making sure her home is safe, though Koosees worries the pipes might freeze and burst.
And after hearing about how 63 people in Kashechewan tested positive for cryptosporidium, a parasite that causes gastrointestinal illness, they are heartbroken.
“With all the toddlers, the children, … elders, people who need the water, they’re more prone to getting sick,” Paulmartin said.
Chief Wesley says test results also show water from the treatment plant has tested positive for cryptosporidium, but it remains unclear how the parasite got into the plant.
Koosees noticed that those who were unwell would get sick for long periods of time.
But when they’re finally feeling better, “boom,” she says, “they’re knocked down again” with intense symptoms, such as bowel movements, body aches and shivers.
Niagara Falls fire chief Zambito says Niagara Regional Public Health has been assessing and treating those who have shown symptoms since they arrived.
Paulmartin, who is in grade 11, says having to evacuate disrupted her school work and cancelled community events, including Kashechewan’s second hockey tournament.
She worries that missing school will hurt her education. She also worries about schoolmates applying for university soon.
Teachers from Kashechewan have flown to Niagara Falls and are preparing “homework packages,” as well as study rooms with dedicated time slots to support students from different grades, all happening in a hotel’s basement.
Koosees says there are also areas dedicated for children and elders to socialize.
The city arranged power station tours with Niagara Parks and outings to Niagara IceDogs hockey games and public skating at the Gale Centre Arena, said Zambito.
“They’re amongst high rises, or they’re in hotel rooms, traffic on the roads,” said Zambito. “That’s bringing a certain level of anxiety to them, not to mention just the overall ordeal of what’s happening back home.”
He says local Indigenous centres are also on speed dial to help with the people who are homesick and struggling with a new way of life.
“City life is very different from the res.,” Paulmartin said. She misses “being on the land” with a “view of the forest.”
When Koosees came to Niagara Falls, she was excited to see green grass. Not long after, the snow storm hit.
“The winter seemed to have followed us here,” she said. “The city makes it so that we can’t exactly just go out into the woods.”
“We go through a lot as a community,” said Koosees.
Today, she’s grateful for strangers in far away cities and the strength of her community in hard times.
