As Neskantaga First Nation’s youngest band councillor, Lashaunda Waswa says she wants to inspire the next generation to protect the community’s land, water and wildlife.
That’s why she joined seven others from the remote Ojibway community on Tuesday for a snowmobile trip to a mining exploration camp on their traditional territory — located in the heart of the Ring of Fire region.
There, they served the workers a cease-and-desist letter, with the goal of halting all exploration activities in the area.
“My grandmother’s trapline is actually not too far from where the mining camp is, which is very concerning,” said 21-year-old Waswa. “It actually broke me a little inside to know that.”
The Ring of Fire is a crescent-shaped mineral deposit in the James Bay lowlands that’s been eyed by Ontario Premier Doug Ford as a critical asset in the trade war between Canada and the U.S.
While mining has yet to be approved there, efforts to connect the remote area to the provincial highway network have escalated in recent months, with the province signing $40-million deals with both Marten Falls and Webequie First Nations to support road construction through their territories to reach the Ring of Fire, and a $62-million deal with the Municipality of Greenstone.
Meanwhile, several other First Nations, including Neskantaga, have pushed back against development projects, citing concerns about recent legislation which aims to fast-track approvals, such as Bill 5 and the One Project, One Process Framework.
Waswa says her family taught her about the land’s significance, where they would hunt, fish and carry out traditional teachings and practices.
Once she became more involved in discussions about the Ring of Fire, “it really opened my eyes to how much I really want to protect those lands,” she said.
The exploration camp is run by PTX Metals Inc. for the company’s proposed W2 Project, which is targeting copper-nickel, platinum group elements, gold and cobalt.
According to Neskantaga’s Chief Gary Quisses, his First Nation never consented to the exploration activities taking place, which he says have escalated in recent weeks.
“We never gave you permission to come and take our resources, test our resources, what we have,” he told CBC News, recalling his message to the workers at the camp. “That’s our harvesting area, our home and ancestral lands.”
Neskantaga’s action comes ahead of two major developments anticipated on Thursday:
A spokesperson for PTX Metals Inc. provided an emailed statement to CBC News on Wednesday, saying exploration is in the early stages and that it’s received all the required permits.
As well, they say the company respects and values its relationships with First Nations and “has worked productively and collaboratively with local communities over the past four years, involving them in the early stage exploration activities, community engagement initiatives, and permitting processes in a respectful and transparent manner.”
“PTX has reached out to the chief [Quisses] again and looks forward to meeting face-to-face with community leadership in the near future,” it continues.
CBC News also reached out to the province about Neskantaga’s concerns that they haven’t been consulted on the mining exploration that’s underway.
Ontario’s Ministry of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation provided an emailed statement on Wednesday, saying “our government has been clear: no legislation eliminates our duty to consult.”
“We remain committed to this duty and we look forward to continuing to work, on a government-to-government basis, to address community priorities and build consensus on shared opportunities,” it said.
Fewer than 400 people live in Neskantaga. The community, located roughly 440 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, has been living under a boil water advisory for 30 years, the longest in effect in Canada’s history.
Quisses said the First Nation is contending with multiple crises, including a high cost of living — giving the example that a box of burgers in Neskantaga costs $55 — mental health and addictions issues, and inadequate infrastructure.
“My community, we live in third-world conditions,” Quisses said.
These are challenges Waswa knows all too well, sharing that she’s in recovery from alcoholism and drug use, which started in her teen years.
“It caused a big impact. I lost motivation to help my community, lost motivation to even care about certain things like powwow and my traditional teachings,” she said.
Now, she’s working closely with the youth in her community, encouraging them to practice their culture.
That includes the chief’s 14-year-old granddaughter, Katrina Sakanee, who wrote about the challenges her community is facing in a piece she titled “Don’t Touch My Resources, Fix Our Community First.”
“We will continue to defend our land, I will continue fighting for my land, even when I get old I will still continue fighting for my land until I die,” Sakanee wrote.
“You can’t just come to our land and start mining, you need our permission. You can’t just say ‘I have permission to mine here’ just because the government told you — [that] doesn’t mean you have our permission.”
