Archive for June, 2006

GENERAL CONVENTION

Tuesday, June 20th, 2006

Since last Monday, … Roy came home from Kingston General Hospital and passed away around midnight Friday night/Saturday morning. On Saturday afternoon we celebrated a wedding with Bradley and Janice. Our first regularly scheduled Service back in the Old Church was on Sunday morning. …Busy week.

The Service on Sunday morning was quiet. Several of us were away, resting — having spent long hours in Vigil with Roy. There were only fifty of us in The Old Church. The Old Church seemed empty, in a way. Roy was one of the reasons why St. Thomas’ is still going after all these years. He was an extraordinary person who faced his illness head-on. And, in his very quiet way, he was a resource to every one of us. We were a thoughtful lot.

Also, the Select Vestry is about to close the Old Church semi-permanently. That is, we’ll close it — board it up — until/unless we can find some basis of support for it. It’s an expensive building to operate. We need a million dollars to save it. And we need that soon. Norman preached this morning and spoke to these issues. It was stuff we all knew. We’ve known it for years. Now the time has come for us to act — before we fritter away the rest of our capital assets. We’ve seen this coming for quite some time. Now there’s action. On Sunday morning we were a very thoughtful lot.

I think that one of the reasons for action at this time is that people are thinking ahead about the money — and about our assets — and about the importance of those assets for what we are doing now and what we might be doing in the future. There are so many things that are really great going for St. Thomas’. We don’t want to jeopardize them by spending money on The Old Church — money that we really don’t have for a resource we don’t absolutely need. The primary ‘market’ for The Old Church are people from other churches — or with no really active church affiliation — having their Weddings, Baptisms, or Funerals. People like The Old Church for its quiet dignity, its history, its commodious space. Generally, they have paid little or nothing for that resource. The Select Vestry is trying to change that. Hopefully, closing The Old Church will bring the matter to a head for many, who might not otherwise have thought about the matter. Some people have advocated that we close The Old Church now — before the tourist season, because the ONR (Ontario Northland Railroad) and MFTA (Moose Factory Tourist Association) benefit from The Old Church. It’s a major tourist attraction on The Island — maybe THE major tourist attraction. But none of that tourist traffic has resulted in any significant support of The Old Church. Different people have different concepts about what should be done. Mine is that — one way or another — The Island community take over the ownership and management of The Old Church (and Cemetery) and run it for The whole Island. That already happens in a de facto way for The Cemetery. People generally expect that they can use The Old Church anyway they want — as long as the Anglicans pay for it. Those days are gone — finally.

And St. Thomas’ can go on doing what it has been doing for years: be the space where those doing The Lord’s work can come together for healing, ministry, and celebration — and a lot more. On the basis of my experience I don’t think that the Church is in any trouble. It’s the institution that is in trouble. Or, rather, it’s changing. Whereas The Old Church was the key to the operation of St. Thomas’, it now is a wonderful luxury. Wonderful, but unnecessary. St. Thomas’ has more Bible Study groups than I will ever know about. People are constantly doing things for each other — things that really are ministry in all kinds of ways. If we count those who are into Native Ceremonies and Spirituality, we have five houses of worship on The Island. All of us are trying to do more or less the same thing (though some would disagree with that.) The problem is that we can’t figure out how to do it together, except when there are major crises affecting all of us — bad crises like funerals and good crises like weddings and baptisms. And, even then, collaboration and cooperation don’t come easily.

None of this is new. It’s true all the world over. In this particular part of the world The Church started in the family teepee — not all that many generations ago. Worship happened at home, necessarily, amongst the extended family, out in the bush. Eventually there were buildings, such as The Old Church, in villages, where families gathered, at first, seasonally. The Anglican Church came over from England well after the show had started. For a while, all — or most of — things religious were gathered up in the Anglican/HBC Establishment, located in the village. Native Spirituality was driven underground — or out west. The Roman Catholics moved into some communities as well — Albany, Attawapiskat, Fort George. Sometimes the Anglicans and Roman Catholics got on with each other. Sometimes they did not. Kashechewan, evidently, is what happened, when they did not.

As the patriarchal establishment weakened, the Native Traditions began to surface again. Many are exploring their Spiritual roots — roots that predate contact with any Europeans. This is an exciting time — for them and for people like me who applaud their work. I believe that from the context of Native Spirituality they may understand far better what Christians brought to Europe centuries ago than the local indigenous in the first few centuries of the Christian era.

Evangelical and Pentecostal groups also have started in many communities around James Bay. They are growing. In some communities they are displacing older Anglican and/or Roman Catholic groups. The Anglicans, anyway, are being challenged to re-invent themselves, on the whole, as a non-Establishment Church. This is an exciting time and place to be an Anglican, because everywhere one is confronted with questions like: What is Church? What do we do? What do we stand for? Who are we? And so forth…. This is what’s going on with Moose Factory and St. Thomas’ Church. And everywhere there’s life in the Church the answers come from the story and person of Jesus. We’re being challenged to understand ourselves in a way for us that may be quite new for many of us, challenged as to what we believe and what we are doing about (or in response to) that belief.

St. Thomas’ is a self-supporting Church. We get no subsidies from outside our congregation. Many people around here don’t know that or don’t believe that. And the more distant they are from the active or participating congregation, the more that seems to be true. Structures — whether they be buildings or organizations — are all subject to review and revision: Do we need them? Can we afford them? What do we need in order to do what we are called to do? The Old Church is just one big piece in a big puzzle. The show will go on with whomever, or wherever, or whenever. All I we have to do, is to keep the faith — and act accordingly. The rest will take care of itself.

All of which brings me to general Convention. (And, you ask, how’s that?) The Convention just elected a woman to be the next Presiding Bishop. After all these years of numerous functionaries and judicatories harping on one issue after another, fulminating endless bigotry, and finally threatening The Episcopal Church that if it doesn’t shape up (repent, apologize and mend its ways) they’ll expel it from the Anglican Communion, what do we do? We elect a woman to lead us. Not only a woman, but a rather intelligent woman at that. Finally there is hope.

So what if they DO expel us? It won’t be a good thing, if they do. But in the end, they’ll thank us — or their successors will thank us — for what we did. After all, someone has to lead if we are to go anywhere (forwards). And General Convention stepped to the plate, answered the Call, and did something immensely creative. All of the debate — or most of it, anyway — has been simply an excellent means by which to avoid what we can do, what we ought to do, and what we are called to do. The debate can go on for ever. So can ministry. It’s our choice. It looks to me as though General Convention made a choice for ministry.

Tonight we have the Family Service for Roy. The Funeral will be tomorrow. Both will be at The Community Center. The Old Church would too small for the crowd, although we will read The Commendation in The Old Church for those who can squeeze in for a minute. Trudy will have a training session this week for some of the young people who will soon sit at Vestry Meetings. Bobby will start preparations in a day or so for the Great Chinese Take Out Extravaganza scheduled for this coming Sunday evening.

And the show goes on. Praise be to God!

I’m not sure exactly where or how this one fits in, and I’ve already mentioned it somewhere in these pages — but altogether too long ago, I think. An Elder once told me that the best dog-sled teams had a female in the lead. All the rest, who followed, were males. There were several benefits from this arrangement. One was that a female almost always was smarter than the males, and there are stories and legends about the lead dog finding the way through impossible and unimagineable conditions. Another benefit was that the males spent all their time, energy, muscle, and brains trying to catch up to the female. They never quite made it, of course, but the sled moved. Oh, did it ever move! Now, how does that relate to The Church?

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THE DEATH OF A PADDLER

Monday, June 12th, 2006

Pete Peloquin kept a lodge at Chiniguchi Lake just southwest of Temagami. When I was very young, on our trips involving The Sturgeon, we’d often loop through Chiniguchi. The water there was different: blue green, clear, beautiful. There were a few lakes like that; Sunnywater, Wolf and Chiniguchi were the best. Fishing and hunting lodges often had candy for sale. We liked to visit, anyway. Pete was one of those fellows we’d always look for. Stories about him jumped from one generation of canoers to the next. Even if we’d never met him, we’d heard about him; and then we’d try to get to know him when we finally did meet him. One of my buddies, Pete Woodward, brought his parents up for a week or so to stay at Peloquin’s lodge. They loved it. The quiet, the fishing, the family fellowship, Pete Peloquin himself — with all his lore of the woods — were things that Peter’s father could well appreciate in his own — busy — life. In its way, Peloquin’s Lodge was one of those shrines to which humanity might repair to refresh itself on the things that are basic to the living of life. I don’t know if the Woodwards ever came back. They certainly talked about it years later when I buried their son. Peloquin’s Lodge had helped them appreciate the love of paddling in that young man’s life.

There already were roads into that region when I was a kid. But most of us — of my generation — could get to Chiniguchi only by canoe. That was in 1960’s. By the 70’s I was paddling to The Bay. And then the years went by. But Chiniguchi and Pete Peloquin have always remained fresh in my memory.

The Harricanaw River lies on the traditional route taken by various paddling groups from Temagami on their canoe trips to The Bay. In one season a group could set out from Temagami, cross Temiskaming, portage The Indian, paddle Kipawa and the chain of lakes to Grand Lac Victoria. There they would head north. (If they headed south, they soon would be on The Dumoine — and in a few days, back on The Ottawa.) But this time they would head north, cross the divide remarkably easily. And then they would be on waters flowing to The Bay. If they nudged to the east and north they could connect with the rivers and lakes south of The Rupert: Bell, Waswanipi, Broadback, Nottaway. If they got on to The Broadback, they could then cross over to The Rupert. Or, they could head through to Mistassini Lake which is drained BY The Rupert. From The Rupert they could then cross to The Eastmain (which is what I did, with Wabun’s Section A, in 1973.) Or, they could go out of the north end of Mistassini and connect with the Upper Eastmain. AND, they could keep heading north and a little east, and then they would get to Nichicun. That lake could connect them with the La Grande River route to Chisasibi (once upon a time, Fort George). Or, maybe they’d like to head further north for the Great Whale River, as Keewaydin has done more recently. Or they could continue north and east and arrive (eventually) at Ungava Bay. Yes, you can paddle from Granny Bay to Ungava Bay, if you have the mind, the time, and the food. But a (relatively) quick way to James Bay from Temagami was via The Harricanaw. And that was one of the early routes of the Temagami paddlers.

The natives of the Moose Factory area also know The Harricanaw. They have known it for generations. It’s a few days’ paddle from here to Hannah Bay into which The Harricanaw flows. We have records here at Moose Factory of folks born at Hannah Bay or on The Harricanaw. The Hudson’s Bay Company managed a satellite post there for several tears. It was the site of the Hannah Bay Massacre — one of the few instances of open hostilities between the races in the James Bay region. Later George Elson (who guided in BOTH Hubbard expeditions — husband’s and then widow’s) managed his own store or depot there. I was told that he died on the way back from Hannah Bay to Moose Factory. A storm came up on The Bay suddenly. The boat swamped. Everyone got through ok — except for George. He died on The Bay and was buried at Moose Factory in the Cemetery behind Old St. Thomas’ Church.

Families here have maintained goose hunting camps and trap lines for generations in and around Hannah Bay — and between here and Hannah Bay. Patrick, an Elder, tells me that the run from Hannah Bay to Moose Factory by dog sled is two days — “IF you feed the dogs.” With present day freighters and gas engines, the trip over the water is quite manageable. The choppers do the trip in minutes. For the most part the trip to Hannah Bay or to The Harricanaw is quite routine.

But there are tragedies. In September 1999 two freighters headed from Moose to Hannah Bay swamped. Eight people perished — several from the same family. Today, the memory is fresh. Memorials are installed on Big Stone Island — along with a large white wooden cross. Shrubs and firs are planted each year — as memorials and also to keep the soil stable. Each year since the accident, usually over Labor Day Weekend, there have been prayers, remembrances, and a feast on Big Stone Island.

Canoeists from Temagami have perished, as well, on The Harricanaw. There are two accidents that I know about: one years ago and another quite recently. Neither, as far as I know, had anything to do with any fault of the guide. Who knows how these things can happen? Some folks have suggested that the danger of the water was misunderstood or under appreciated. The locals around here, as well as elsewhere around The Bay, usually are very cautious around moving water. Often they just don’t understand — simply cannot fathom — what drives the canoeist’s passion for shooting rapids. Maybe they know something we haven’t yet learned. Maybe we have something they have forgotten. (The only time George Elson really chewed out Mina Hubbard was when she got too near the water.)

As best as I can get the gist of the present story, Derek and Zanna met in their teens, had been married about four years, and started this year in their mid-twenties. They loved to canoe together. They were experienced trippers. Derek listed out some rivers they had traversed — rivers that I had never heard of and which flow way to the north and west of here. I believe these folks to have been technically adept, young, strong, full of adventure, and smart. They had decided to take a canoe trip on The Harricanaw. I don’t know yet exactly how they approached The River or accessed it. They could have come in from the west, from Cochrane, on something like The Turgeon River. Or they could have taken one of the roads into northwestern Quebec and accessed The Harricanaw that way. The papers stated that the accident happened on The Kattawagami. The Kattawagami joins The Harricanaw at the very end. And it can be approached from the west — from Cochrane. However or wherever it happened, the accident occurred just before Hannah Bay.

I understood from Derek that they were on the second to last rapids before the final falls when the accident occurred. That was about eight days ago, as best as I can tell from Derek’s story. They swamped. Then the two of them got caught in an eddy. He thought he had pushed her out of the eddy — to safety. That’s the last he saw of her. He went unconscious. By his estimate he was out for 20 minutes. When he came to, he was on a rock. The current had stripped off his shoes and clothing. He could not find his wife — and love of his life — Zanna — anywhere. For a while he staggered along the shore looking for her. Nowhere to be found. Nothing. He did find the canoe. It had a paddle in it. He paddled and searched the shore. Bits of gear presented themselves — floating on the surface of The River. They had had a little dog with them on this trip. That, also, floated, lifeless, on The River. Still, no Zanna.

So, he went for help. Finished The River and entered Hannah Bay. From there he paddled along the shore about halfway to Moose Factory Island — as far as Big Stone Island. There he was discovered by a Moose Factory resident heading out to Hannah Bay. Of course, immediately that boat turned around and headed straight for The Hospital. The alarm was sounded, the OPP notified. This was six days after the accident and this last Friday afternoon (9 JUNE 2006).

On Saturday the search commenced: first by chopper; and then, if necessary, by ground search party. I don’t know if the guys on the ground ever got there. By afternoon Zanna had been discovered, and she was brought to the morgue at The Hospital. Derek identified the body and headed straight to Cochrane to meet up with his and her families. Those folks had headed to Cochrane as soon as they had heard the news.

As someone noted, “He will never be able to come back to Moose Factory.” Maybe that’s true. I hope not. Folks here know what happened — instinctively. It’s in their blood and in their history. And as I told him, “There but for the grace of God go I” — and countless others, who — filled with the spirit of adventure and curiosity — set out with only what they can carry on their backs. And it’s in that frame of reference — and only within that frame of reference — that you can SEE and know what’s real — about yourself and about each other and about the world in which you live.

And the paddlers understand that about themselves and about each other — although they can’t explain it very well. And it seems like shear madness to everyone else. And maybe it is.

But I’d do it all over again, if I could. And I hope Derek will, too. Meanwhile, Zanna rests with her grand daddy, Pete Peloquin, and the paddlers and others of adventurous spirit who have gone before her and him. May her spirit, as it sleeps in The Lord, remain fresh — and be there for the rest of us — when the time comes — that, again, we all may be one.

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There still are some details of the story to be worked out or verified. But these are my thoughts this Monday after Derek arrived last Friday at Moose Factory. This is a Journal. I want to get things written while they’re still fresh. My apologies for any errors or mis-statements.

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PEAWANUCK

Thursday, June 8th, 2006

Peawanuck is the name of the community at the mouth of The Winisk River. In the old days it was called ‘Winisk’. Also, in the old days, the community was much closer to The Bay. Now the village has been moved to higher ground in order to avoid the spring floods. Hopefully, in the next few years, Kashechewan also will be moved to higher ground.

Life is expensive in these Northern communities — and especially so in the more remote villages. (At least we have train service from Moosonee.) Electricity is really expensive, even though it seems to be the primary means of heat in the winter. In Peawanuck the HYDRO company is threatening to cut power on some of the families who haven’t paid their bills. The following letter is written from that context……

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Subject: an open letter to canadian citizens
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2006 14:57:18 -0400

An open letter to Canadian citizens,

I am number 14600***01 and I live in Peawanuck, a Cree community of 250 located on the Winisk River that flows into the Hudson Bay (northern Ontario). It is one of the most beautiful places in the country filled with all the abundance that nature can offer. It is also a First Nations reserve and its citizens are classified as a number, under the Indian Act.

There has recently been more talk of the soaring prices throughout the country. In Peawanuck, this has been a harsh reality for many years. Our current price of gas is $2.75 a litre. Our current price for hydro is 16 cents per kilowatt. We pay over $1600 for a return plane ticket to the closest city, which is Timmins.

Can we afford to live with these costs? No we can’t. We are a typical remote First Nation community dictated to and living under the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs (INAC), and this is not by choice.

Historically, treaties of “good faith” have brought us rights and the Indian Act maintains our status. In truth, treaties were signed under the premise that they would be nation to nation agreements, not the servant and master agreements as they now seem to be.

In my community there are many issues that need to be addressed and resolved. I would like to bring your attention to our latest, it is one of hydro that directly relates to our economy. We pay an excessive 16 cents per kilowatt in comparison to the regulated 5-5.8 cents of our southern neighbors.

In a discriminating act, INAC lowered our funding to the point where we couldn’t afford to run our diesel generator and then gave a company based out of Manitoba, Pritchard Industrial, more money to run it. This act is now generating more than our electricity. It is generating an increased state of poverty for our people and an economic leakage to the province of Manitoba. Pritchard is making a profit at the expense of our poverty.

The funding we receive is based on per capita and in addition to our small population, we are the second most northern community in Ontario. Why isn’t geographic location taken into consideration for these so-called funding formulas? It is certainly taken into consideration by the companies who charge us.

It needs to be understood that we rely on funding agreements. In accordance to the ‘Indian Act of Canada’, it is unlawful to carryout the same economic investment activities that other citizens of Ontario and Canada have and enjoy. Living on Reserve, we cannot secure loans at the banks. Our community cannot get a credit rating so we cannot borrow money similar to municipalities. There is no chance for economic opportunity because of the law, not because of our communities inabilities or lack of know how.

Next week on June 8th, Pritchard Industrial will be paying a visit to Peawanuck to disconnect the electricity for some households. This comes under the direction of Indian and Northern Affairs. They came last year for the same reason and at the time and among the disconnected was a disabled single mother with three small children. Is this how Indian Affairs treats the people whose rights they are meant to protect?

You now may be saying, reduce your consumption, pay your bills. This is not always possible with the combination of the high cost of living and no economy. It is a continuing struggle. So what are the options?

INAC Minister Jim Prentice, MP Charlie Angus and MPP Gilles Bisson, you are invited to be here when households are being disconnected. To watch as the rights you are obligated to protect are being crushed again.
So lets scratch ‘genocide and assimilation’ and pencil in ‘establish meaningful relationships and a more certain dialogue’.

We deserve more than band-aid solutions.

The only downside to seemingly beneficial decisions is this, when the government does decide to help one First Nation, another First Nation suffers. The end result? Divide and conquer. This is a tactic that has gone on long enough.

I dare anyone in this country to bring up the issue of moving the First Nation’s population to mainstream society to relieve them of their hardships on Reserve. This act would be one of assimilation and genocide.

Assimilation is the stated purpose of the Indian Act and yet we are still not assimilated. We do not want to be assimilated. We want to be allowed to live in our own traditional way and lands without being penalized by mainstream society for being First Nation people.

We are not a minority. This is a misconception. We are a distinct society, one filled with a history so vast and steeped in tradition, yet this fact is conveniently absent in the history books. The next time you wish to speak ignorantly about your Native neighbors, look up the word ‘ethnocentric’ in the dictionary and think twice.

We need to be educated, both native and non.

There are a lot of Reserves who are forced to live in third world conditions, it is an every day reality for many. Is this Canada? No, it can’t be, can it?

As citizens of this country there are basic human and distinct rights that must be protected despite our differences. How much aid has gone to other countries when the problems they deal with are also right here in Canada? Poverty, genocide, death, discrimination and natural disasters.

As our history is slowly revealed, it will tell of our situation, one of uniqueness and accountability. In fact it is not us who need to be accountable to the Federal Government and Indian Affairs, it is they, who need to be accountable to us.

On an end note, my heart goes out to our neighbors from Kashechewan. They are facing one of the hardest times they will have to face as a community. They deserve our support and they deserve their integrity for the immeasurable amount of strength they have maintained. Do not give up.

WE DESERVE BETTER.

Sincerely,
Catherine Gull, #14600***01, under the Indian Act

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