Before I begin, I must say that I only lived in Webequie for 10 months, which is not that long. It being a small place, it is long enough to see the surface problems and to start to see and hear of the underlying issues. I, in no way, believe that I know everything about Webequie. I also don’t write this to rag on a place that has genuinely good, caring people, who face a lot of shitty situations. I do want to point out what I think are some of the major reasons behind the problems, because I feel that the state of First Nations communities is the best kept secret in Ontario. We all know about the drug and suicide problems but I think that people often do not understand how deep the issues run. So, here is my take. I hope not to offend anyone, but merely share my perception of a hurting community. I waited a while to write this post for a few reasons. One, because I was busy and two, so I had time to think and rethink my perceptions from afar.
I have spent most of my blog telling you about the great and fun things about Webequie. Please don’t forget that as you read of the problems. If I had to sum up the problems in Webequie in only a few words, they would be: learned helplessness, lack of accountability, corruption (financial and otherwise), and disorganization, lack of leadership, addiction and resistance.
The first one to tackle is a huge one: learned helplessness. I fully understand and sympathize with the fact that First Nations people have faced a terrible history in Canada. The experiences at residential schools are still a huge issue with FN people, even for those who did not attend but have felt a trickle down affect. However, many of the people in Web. attached themselves to the idea of this struggle and learned a systematic pattern of helplessness. Any issue that comes up in the community is blamed on the provincial government (see: the whites). This applies even with local issues such as funding for a hockey arena for the kids or FN access to college programs in the south. It is generally expected that the government or someone other than the residents should step up and take care of any issue that crops up. There is no organizing toward a common goal in terms of new housing or better infrastructure because it is just expected, and demanded to fall out of the sky-ready for people to use. People do not buy their homes in Webequie, they are provided for them through tax dollars. As such, you see that many homes are not taken care of or repaired, and yet people complain about the housing shortage. It makes one want to tear their hair out, and yell about how we live in the damn wilderness! Go cut down some trees and make a community project to build log cabins. Surely if people did this the band would support it and “find” money to provide necessities for it. But, that will never happen. People do not organize in Webequie, except when there is a crisis situation or to fight against an “injustice” brought upon them by someone else.
That brings me to my next point, lack of accountability. You can literally do anything in Webequie and get away with it-and I mean that. One great example is the youth breaking windows and vandalising the school on a regular basis. Towards the end of the time there they did it pretty much daily, even going as far as to go into the school and break windows inside. The police service knew who did it, but no charges were laid because the culprits were youth under 18 and because they had the right last name. By this, I mean that, the town is run through nepotism (giving favour and privilege to those one is related to, whether or not they deserve it). So, because the culprit was this important person’s son, nothing would be done and the vandalism would continue. It’s sad that they had to board up the school for the summer, in fear of the vandalism that would take place. The point that really fries my chicken on this one is that it is my tax dollars that pay for the repairs. Perhaps there is something to be said about FN people not having to pay tax and what that means for appreciation of tax supported property? They have also tried to burn down the school, students have physically attacked teachers, threatened to come to their house at night and hurt them-and still, nothing happens.
Another example is when an individual held a bingo for community fundraising, and then took off with a large sum of money meant for the fundraising, to buy drugs. She moved out of the community shortly after, but was allowed back for her child’s graduation and for the summer festival. She did not have to pay the money back, or go to jail and people just pretended like nothing had happened. To me, that kind of lack of accountability is laughable and ridiculous. Another time someone stole the cash register out of the store and ran away with it. They were caught and perhaps had to give the money back, but they were certainly not imprisoned by any means.
I really could go on forever about this but I will leave off with one point in terms of work. Some of the local people are very hard working individuals that care about their jobs. Most are not. Many of the locals who worked in the school as Educational assistants would come to work sometimes an hour late with “I slept in” as an excuse, and then walk away laughing about it. They would skip work to go cash their unemployment cheques (oh yes, you read that right...school employees cashing UNEMPLOYMENT cheques-more on that later) and no one would say a word. That is fine, except that in contrast, teachers from the south are watched, tracked, expected to come in after working hours, help on weekends and house guests in their homes with no notice- all with a smile on their faces.
Stay tuned for more...
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