Kashechewan, Ontario
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Kashechewan First Nation, locally known as Kash, is a
Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...
First Nation located on the northern shore of the
Albany River The Albany River ( ) is a river in Northern Ontario, Canada, which flows northeast from Lake St. Joseph in Northwestern Ontario and empties into James Bay. It is long to the head of the Cat River (a tributary of Lake St. Joseph), tying it wit ...
in
Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, within territory covered by
Treaty 9 ''Treaty No. 9'' (also known as ''The James Bay Treaty'') is a numbered treaty first signed in 1905–1906 between Anishinaabe ( Algonquin and Ojibwe) and Omushkegowuk Cree communities and the Canadian Crown, which includes both the gov ...
. The community is located on the west coast of
James Bay James Bay (, ; ) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. It borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, and is politically part of Nunavut. Its largest island is Akimiski Island. Numerous waterways of the ...
. Kashechewan came into being when most of the Anglican families of Fort Albany on the south shore of the river moved north in 1958–1961. Kashechewan was granted its own
band council In Canada, an Indian band (), First Nation band () or simply band, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subject to the ''Indian Act'' (i.e. status Indians or First Nations). Bands are typically small groups of people: the largest in ...
under the
Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' () is a Canadian Act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still in force with amendments, it is the primary document that defines how t ...
in 1977, though the two still share a
reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US v ...
, Fort Albany 67. The population was estimated to be about 2,000 as of 2024, according to the
CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...
, and as of October 2024, the total population of Kashechewan and Fort Albany, which are reported together by CIRNAC, was 5,597. The First Nation was the subject of international media attention due to the discovery of ''E. coli'' in the community's water in October 2005, which brought popular consciousness to the health, housing, and economic crises facing the community. Kashechewan is prone to flooding during the annual spring break up of ice on the river, and has built dykes to mitigate the damage caused, but these have been repeatedly found to be insufficient. The community has often had to be evacuated during flooding season. Proposals have been made in the 21st century to move the community further inland to a less flood-prone area. The community is connected to other towns along the coast of James Bay by the seasonal
ice road An ice road or ice bridge is a human-made structure that runs on a frozen water surface (a river, a lake or a sea water expanse).Masterson, D. and Løset, S., 2011, ISO 19906: Bearing capacity of ice and ice roads, Proceedings of the 21st Int ...
. Otherwise, it is only accessible by air or boat, having no permanent roads that connect outside the First Nation. Kashechewan is a member of the
Mushkegowuk Council Mushkegowuk Council (pointed: ᐅᒪᐡᑫᑯ ᐅᑭᒫᐎᐎᐣ (''omashkeko okimāwiwin''); unpointed: ᐅᒪᐡᑫᑯ ᐅᑭᒪᐎᐎᐣ), or officially as the Mushkegowuk Tribal Council, is a non-profit regional chiefs' council representing C ...
and the
Nishnawbe Aski Nation Nishnawbe Aski Nation (ᐊᓂᐦᔑᓈᐯ ᐊᔅᑭ ᐃᔥᑯᓂᑲᓇᓐ ᐅᑭᒫᐎᓐ (''Anishinaabe-aski Ishkoniganan Ogimaawin''), unpointed: ᐊᓂᔑᓇᐯ ᐊᔅᑭ ᐃᔥᑯᓂᐊᓇᓐ ᐅᑭᒪᐎᓐ; NAN for short) is a political orga ...
(NAN), which represents 51 First Nations across Northern Ontario. NAN also provides services to its members, such as the
Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service The Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service (NAPS), also occasionally known as the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (without a hyphen) is the police agency for Nishnawbe-Aski Nation (NAN). As of July 2020, NAPS has 34 detachments in NAN communities across the ...
, which polices Kashechewan.


Name

When the community of Kashechewan came into being, the new residents chose the
Swampy Cree The Swampy Cree people, also known by their Exonym and endonym, autonyms ''Néhinaw'', ''Maskiki Wi Iniwak'', ''Mushkekowuk,'' ''Maškékowak, Maskegon'' or ''Maskekon'' (and therefore also ''Muskegon'' and ''Muskegoes'') or by exonyms includin ...
name "Keeshechewan" () meaning "where the water flows fast." However, when the sign for the new post office arrived, it had the misspelling "Kshechewan", and this became the official name of the community. This official name has no real meaning in the Cree language.


History


Before establishment of Kashechewan

The
Mushkegowuk The Swampy Cree people, also known by their autonyms ''Néhinaw'', ''Maskiki Wi Iniwak'', ''Mushkekowuk,'' ''Maškékowak, Maskegon'' or ''Maskekon'' (and therefore also ''Muskegon'' and ''Muskegoes'') or by exonyms including ''West Main Cree, ...
or Swampy Cree had lived on the west coast of James Bay and in the Albany River watershed from time immemorial by the time the first Europeans arrived in the 17th century. They and other
Algonquian peoples The Algonquians are one of the most populous and widespread North American indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous American groups, consisting of the peoples who speak Algonquian languages. They historically were prominent along the East ...
organized themselves in loose
patrilineal Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...
bands based around the extended family, which gathered into larger groups during the winter. In 1679, the
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
established the trading post of Fort Albany on Albany Island at the mouth of the Albany River in order to trade goods with the Indigenous people of the area.
Alan Pope Alan William Pope (August 2, 1945 – July 8, 2022) was a Canadian politician. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1977 to 1990, and served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Bill Davis ...

"Report on the Kashechewan First Nation and its People"
, October 31, 2006.
During the ensuing centuries of the
fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...
era, the Mushkegowuk did not sell or give away any land, but traded furs and goods with the traders at the posts, who numbered no more than a few dozen at a time. As the fur trade declined in the late nineteenth century, the ancestors of the present day Fort Albany and Kashechewan First Nations established their first settlement in the area, near the Hudson's Bay Company trading post, and near the Roman Catholic mission on St. Ann's Lake on Sinclair Island. This site came to be known as Old Post. According to community members interviewed in 2010, by 1900, the Crees of Kashechewan trapped over an area of 640 square kilometres in the James Bay region. On August 3, 1905, a ceremony was held at Fort Albany to sign
Treaty 9 ''Treaty No. 9'' (also known as ''The James Bay Treaty'') is a numbered treaty first signed in 1905–1906 between Anishinaabe ( Algonquin and Ojibwe) and Omushkegowuk Cree communities and the Canadian Crown, which includes both the gov ...
. The treaty set aside reserve lands for the community and established a band government under the
Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' () is a Canadian Act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still in force with amendments, it is the primary document that defines how t ...
, legally creating the modern reserve Fort Albany 67 and the
Fort Albany First Nation Fort Albany First Nation ( , "lagoon Cree") is a Cree First Nations in Canada, First Nation in Cochrane District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, within the territory covered by Treaty 9. Situated on the southern shore of the Albany River on th ...
government. The initial limits of Fort Albany 67 included the occupied area on the south shore of the river, where Fort Albany exists today, as well as 230 square kilometres of hunting land to the north of the river. Cree tradition does not recall an agreement to surrender land, rather that the treaty promised a sharing of land and resources, as well as infrastructure investment and employment for hunters. In 1906, the federal government began funding
St. Anne's Indian Residential School St. Anne’s Indian Residential School was a Canadian Indian residential school in Fort Albany, Ontario that operated from 1902 to 1976. It took Cree students from the Fort Albany First Nation and surrounding area. Many students reported physic ...
, which had opened under the direction of the
Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest later recognized as a Catholic saint. The congregation was ...
and the
Grey Nuns of the Cross The Sisters of Charity of Montreal, formerly called The Sisters of Charity of the Hôpital Général of Montreal and more commonly known as the Grey Nuns of Montreal, is a Canadian religious institute of Roman Catholic religious sisters, found ...
in 1902 at the site of the Fort Albany Mission on Albany Island. The school was part of the
Canadian Indian residential school system The Canadian Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by various Christian churches. The sch ...
, and "was home to some of the most harrowing examples of abuse against Indigenous children in Canada," according to the
Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada The Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada () is an English and French educational resource created by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, published by Canadian Geographic, and funded by the Government of Canada. It was created to address calls ...
.


Establishment of Kashechewan

Kashechewan was established as its own community separate from Fort Albany in the 1950s. Reasons offered for why the community split vary. According to members of the community, the move was prompted by an Indian Agent who arrived in the summer of 1957, suggesting the community move closer to the Hudson's Bay store, despite community members pointing out how the location on the north shore of the river was unfit and prone to flooding. After nobody had moved for two months,
RCMP The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...
officers arrived, and many community members moved. Alan Pope's 2006 report of the community offered the characterisation that some community members decided to move from the formerly-occupied Albany Island (the site known as Old Post) due to particularly intense flooding on that island in the mid-1950s. As a result, many decided to leave and go to the current site of Kashechewan on the north shore of the river, while some opted to stay on Sinclair Island, the current site of Fort Albany First Nation. Another version of the history suggests that in 1958,
sectarian violence Sectarian violence or sectarian strife is a form of communal violence which is inspired by sectarianism, that is, discrimination, hatred or prejudice between different sects of a particular mode of an ideology or different sects of a religion wi ...
erupted between Anglican and Roman Catholic families in Fort Albany, which led one Anglican family to leave the main Old Post population centre on the south shore of the river and Sinclair Island, and relocate to the north shore of the river. This site would become known as Kashechewan. In the following three years, most of the Anglican families of Fort Albany moved to the north shore. By 1960, the Department of Indian Affairs recognized the new community as independent, but Fort Albany and Kashechewan continued to share the same chief and council. In 1977, Fort Albany and Kashechewan came to have separate band councils. They are treated as separate bands, and function as separate bands today. The present-day Fort Albany First Nation is mostly a
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
community, while
Kashechewan Kashechewan First Nation, locally known as Kash, is a Cree First Nation located on the northern shore of the Albany River in Northern Ontario, Canada, within territory covered by Treaty 9. The community is located on the west coast of James Bay ...
is mainly
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
.


2005 water-quality crisis


Background

In 2001, the
Ontario Clean Water Agency The Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA) is a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario that provides operation, maintenance and management services for more than 450 water and wastewater treatment facilities in the province. History OCWA was crea ...
conducted a survey, funded by the federal ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs and the Ontario First Nations Technical Services Corporation, of water systems on
Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." ...
s in the province. The survey identified 62 communities in the province, including Kashechewan, where severe problems affected the communities' water systems. These problems included broken treatment plant equipment, malfunctioning safety alarms, funding shortages, water sampling deficiencies and a shortage of trained water treatment plant staff. In 2003, the community was placed on a
boil-water advisory A boil-water advisory (BWA), boil-water notice, boil-water warning, boil-water order, or boil order is a Public health, public-health advisory or directive issued by governmental or other health authorities to consumers when a community's drinkin ...
. A report by OCWA described the situation in Kashechewan as "a Walkerton-in-waiting," referring to the
Walkerton E. coli outbreak The Walkerton ''E. coli'' outbreak was the result of a contamination of the drinking water supply of Walkerton, Ontario, Canada, with ''E. coli'' and ''Campylobacter jejuni'' bacteria. The water supply was contaminated as a result of improper wa ...
in the southern Ontario town of Walkerton in 2000."Concerns over water on reserve ignored for years"
CTV News CTV News is the news division of the CTV Television Network in Canada. The name ''CTV News'' is also applied as the title of local and regional newscasts on the network's owned-and-operated stations (O&Os), which are closely tied to the nationa ...
, October 27, 2005.
While the outbreak in Walkerton led to the passage of the 2002 Safe Drinking Water Act in Ontario, the act did not apply to the standards for water quality on reserves, being are under federal jurisdiction. As the water quality worsened, Indian and Northern Affairs began to fly
bottled water Bottled water is drinking water (e.g., Water well, well water, distilled water, Reverse osmosis, reverse osmosis water, mineral water, or Spring (hydrology), spring water) packaged in Plastic bottle, plastic or Glass bottle, glass water bott ...
in to the First Nation. From April 2005 to mid-October 2005, this cost roughly $250,000
CAD Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...
.


Discovery of ''E. coli''

On October 14, 2005,
Health Canada Health Canada (HC; )Health Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Health (). is the Structure of the Canadian federal government#Departments, with subsidiary units, department of the Gove ...
issued an ''E. coli'' warning to Kashechewan Chief Leo Friday. That same day, Health Canada called the field manager of Northern Waterworks Inc. to investigate the situation. Arriving the following day, he discovered that a chlorine injector in the nine-year-old water plant had broken and that the coagulant chemical
aluminum sulfate Aluminium sulfate is a salt with the formula . It is soluble in water and is mainly used as a coagulating agent (promoting particle collision by neutralizing charge) in the purification of drinking water and wastewater treatment plants, and also ...
(used to remove discolouration) was ineffective in the water's cold temperatures. The Northern Waterworks Inc. field manager fixed the chlorine injector and ordered a different coagulating agent,
polyaluminum chloride Aluminium chlorohydrate is a group of water-soluble, specific aluminium salts having the general formula . It is used in cosmetics as an antiperspirant and as a coagulant in water purification. In water purification, this compound is preferred in ...
, from Fort Albany and Attawapiskat, and it arrived later on October 15. By October 17, the field manager had been able to conduct an ''E. coli'' test, and found the water to be free of harmful bacteria, and the chlorine levels were "below Ontario's standard recommended maximum." Another test on October 19 confirmed the lack of
coliform bacteria Coliform bacteria are defined as either motile or non-motile Gram-negative non- spore forming bacilli that possess β-galactosidase to produce acids and gases under their optimal growth temperature of 35–37 °C. They can be aerobes or ...
.


Response

In the meantime, both local schools were closed while a team of community members formulated a response to the crisis. This "core committee" included the chief, deputy chief, the elementary school principal, the health director, the community crisis coordinator, and several teachers. Among their goals was to draw Health Canada's attention to the community's crises. They sent a
press release A press release (also known as a media release) is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing new information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public releas ...
to national media outlets, and the news of contaminated water was first published by the ''
Timmins Daily Press The ''Timmins Daily Press'' is a newspaper in Timmins, Ontario, which publishes six days a week. It is notable as the first paper founded by press baron Roy Thomson in the 1930s, who would eventually own more than 200 newspapers including ''The ...
'' on October 18. Much further attention from the media followed, including articles by ''
The Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; , ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Press has been a privately-held company, pr ...
'' and ''
Yahoo! News Yahoo News (stylized as Yahoo! News) is a news website that originated as an internet-based news aggregator by Yahoo. The site was created by Yahoo software engineer Brad Clawsie in August 1996. Articles originally came from news services such ...
'', highlighting the community's history of exposure to contaminated water and the harmful consequences to the population's health. On October 19, Indian Affairs Minister Andy Scott arrived in Kashechewan in response to the growing media coverage. A community meeting was held about the situation with Health Canada and INAC officials in the gym of St. Andrew's Elementary School. By that time, the community's drinking water was clean. In an effort to impress upon the minister and the officials the dire nature of the crises facing Kashechewan, bottles and jars of brown water collected from the river were presented at the meeting as though they were infected tap water, with residents angrily telling the government officials during the meeting, "You drink the water." The meeting became an outlet for members of the community to raise the many issues that had been plaguing Kashechewan for years with no action from the Ministry. Upon hearing the community's concerns, the Minister told them, "I think that this situation has been neglected for too long and it needs to be fixed. And I want to work with your leadership to figure out the plan to do that. No more band-aid solutions." Following the minister's meeting and subsequent departure, media attention began to wane. On October 22, at the request of Kashechewan's health director, Edward Sutherland, a team from Moosonee's Weeneebayko General Hospital, led by Dr. Murray Trusler arrived in town. They were tasked to look for symptoms of ''E. coli'' infection and take photographs. They found no indication of ''E. coli'' infections in the houses they went to, but were shocked to discover the existing health crises present in the community. They took photographs of the dilapidated living conditions they saw, and the diseases they had caused or exacerbated. These reportedly included "toddlers with
pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
and six-month-old babies with
asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...
" as well as "many kids
ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometers, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is i ...
some form of skin disease, such as
ringworm Dermatophytosis, also known as tinea and ringworm, is a mycosis, fungal infection of the skin (a dermatomycosis), that may affect skin, hair, and nails. Typically it results in a red, itchy, scaly, circular rash. Hair loss may occur in the a ...
,
scabies Scabies (; also sometimes known as the seven-year itch) is a contagious human skin infestation by the tiny (0.2–0.45 mm) mite ''Sarcoptes scabiei'', variety ''hominis''. The word is from . The most common symptoms are severe itchiness a ...
, or
impetigo Impetigo is a contagious bacterial infection that involves the superficial skin. The most common presentation is yellowish crusts on the face, arms, or legs. Less commonly there may be large blisters which affect the groin or armpits. The les ...
," and chronic conditions such as untreated
diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...
and
heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...
. They provided treatment to the immediate health problems that they could. The photographs taken by the medical team were sent to media outlets and the infections depicted were blamed on ''E. coli''. These graphic images prompted renewed media interest starting October 25. On October 24, the federal Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada announced that after evaluating the situation, it would not recommend the community be evacuated, the Ministry's efforts instead focusing on bringing fresh water to the community in bottles and by creating it ''in situ''. This was despite some community members returning to drinking their now-clean tap water. Meanwhile, following a meeting with Dr. Trusler on October 25, the
Government of Ontario The Government of Ontario () is the body responsible for the administration of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. The term ''Government of Ontario'' refers specifically to the executive—political Minister ...
led by Premier
Dalton McGuinty Dalton James Patrick McGuinty Jr. (born July 19, 1955) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 24th premier of Ontario from 2003 to 2013. He was the first Liberal leader to win two majority governments since Mitchell Hepburn nea ...
announced that it would evacuate all people of Kashechewan requiring medical attention. 1,100 people ended up being evacuated, beginning on October 26, to places including to
Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 at the 2021 Canadian census and an estimated population of ...
, Cochrane,
Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario ** Sudbury (federal electoral district) ** Sudbury (provincial electoral district) ** Sudbury Airport ** Sudbury Basin, a meteorite impact cra ...
,
Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie may refer to: People * Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, a Native American tribe in Michigan Places * Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada ** Sault Ste. Marie (federal electoral district), a Canadian federal electora ...
,
Capreol Capreol ( ) is a community in the Ontario city of Greater Sudbury. Situated on the Vermilion River (35 mins north of the downtown core), Capreol is the city's northernmost populated area. From 1918 to 2000, Capreol existed as an independent to ...
and other Northern Ontario communities for medical aid. On October 25, the
federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
confirmed that "water samples taken between October 17, 2005, and October 19, 2005, indicated no ''E. coli'' or coliform bacteria present in the community’s water supply." On October 27, several media crews arrived in the town on an
air charter Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flight ...
paid for by the
NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National Dev ...
. Through their investigations and interviews with community members, some came to realise that the health conditions on display were not caused by ''E. coli''. Some began to report that the chlorine levels in the water were now too high, which required the town to evacuate. This was despite the records of the field manager who had seen to the water plant earlier in the month. On October 27, the federal government led by Prime Minister
Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and retired politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. Th ...
confirmed that it would spend an estimated in relocating the community to higher and safer ground in the area, including the creation of jobs during the relocation and the construction of a
water treatment Water treatment is any process that improves the quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses, ...
plant. The federal government announced a plan to create a "First Nations Health Organization" to coordinate the inconsistent and uneven medical services offered to indigenous communities. It also promised to "enhance family violence and suicide prevention services" in the region. On October 30, a temporary portable water filtration system, capable of producing 50,000 litres per day of clean, drinkable water through
reverse osmosis Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification process that uses a partially permeable membrane, semi-permeable membrane to separate water molecules from other substances. RO applies pressure to overcome osmotic pressure that favors even distribu ...
, was transported to the community, along with the
Disaster Assistance Response Team The Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) (French: ''Équipe d'intervention en cas de catastrophe (EICC)'') is a rapidly deployable team of 200 Canadian Forces personnel. It provides assistance to disaster-affected regions for up to 40 days. ...
and military rangers to help produce clean water for the community. On November 5, the federal government published a report that stated, "recent test results of water samples show no ''E. coli'', no total coliform bacteria and maximum chlorine levels that fall within provincial standards. This means the plant is producing safe water." Community members were evacuated, and threatened not to return to the town unless the federal government made good on its promises for infrastructure improvements. However, beginning November 28, INAC began airlifting residents back to the reserve.


Reactions

The media attention brought to Kashechewan as a result of the water quality crisis was international, with American media claiming that the poor conditions in the community were a result of Canada failing to uphold "basic human rights." During the crisis, Prime Minister Paul Martin was criticized for "systemic negligence."
Richard Wagamese Richard Wagamese (October 14, 1955 – March 10, 2017) was an Ojibwe Canadian author and journalist from the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations in Northwestern Ontario. He was best known for his novel '' Indian Horse'' (2012), which won the Burt Aw ...
in ''The'' ''Globe and Mail'' called the situation in Kashechewan to be a "national tragedy."


Subsequent outbreaks

During the spring break up and subsequent flood in 2006, the water plant was flooded, causing another ''E. coli'' outbreak. Most of the town had already been evacuated from that year's flood by the time of the outbreak. This outbreak garnered less media attention than the one in October 2005.


Relocation

In 2006, the new
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
government led by
Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...
cancelled the financial commitment to relocation made by Martin. The government hired lawyer and former politician
Alan Pope Alan William Pope (August 2, 1945 – July 8, 2022) was a Canadian politician. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1977 to 1990, and served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Bill Davis ...
to conduct a report on Kashechewan and make suggestions. His report was published on November 9, 2006, with a number of possible solutions to the ongoing Kashechewan crisis, including upgrading the current site, moving the community to a new site, and moving the residents to the existing communities of Fort Albany,
Smooth Rock Falls Smooth Rock Falls is an incorporated town in the Cochrane District in Northeastern Ontario, Northeastern Ontario, Canada, with a population of 1,330 at the Canada 2016 Census, 2016 census. Geography and transportation The town lies on the Mattag ...
or
Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 at the 2021 Canadian census and an estimated population of ...
. A "significant portion" of the majority of respondents indicated Smooth Rock Falls as their preference. Pope, a resident of Timmins, recommended the Timmins option, citing the improved "individual and economic opportunities" and noting that no relocation would be acceptable to the community without maintaining links to the existing traditional land and reserve. In March 2007, a further survey of community members found that the majority rejected INAC's proposed move to the outskirts of Timmins, preferring to relocate within their traditional hunting grounds 30 kilometres up the river. The Ministry rejected this proposal. On July 30, 2007, the Government of Canada signed a memorandum of agreement and understanding with the community, giving Kashechewan First Nation a grant of $200 million to improve and repair infrastructure, housing and flood-control services in the existing community. Further studies have been conducted around possible locations to move the community to, and evaluations of the costs of relocation versus remaining. In September 2016, a referendum found that 89% of residents wanted to relocate the community. On March 31, 2017, the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, and Kashechewan First Nation signed a framework agreement, which would consider relocating the First Nation up river. Against the backdrop of the 2019 Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick floods, community members from Kashechewan held a rally in April 2019 on
Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose ...
to demand a relocation. At the rally, Indigenous Services Minister
Seamus O'Regan Seamus Thomas Harris O'Regan (born January 18, 1971) is a Canadian politician and a former cabinet minister in the government of Justin Trudeau. He resigned from cabinet effective July 19, 2024. A member of the Liberal Party, O'Regan was first ...
promised that Kashechewan would be relocated within 10 years. A framework agreement to that effect was signed on May 9, 2019. An acute outbreak of
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
in June 2021, which led to around 300 infections in a few weeks, reignited calls to relocate the community quickly, in order to alleviate the dangers of overcrowding. Since Fort Albany and Kashechewan share their territory, any relocation of Kashechewan would need to involve Fort Albany in the agreement. As of 2021, Fort Albany had become part of the discussions around relocating Kashechewan.


Geography

Present-day Kashechewan is located on the north bank of the Albany river, within the large northern portion of the Fort Albany 67 reserve, which it shares with Fort Albany First Nation. It is located near the west coast of James Bay. The nearest large urban centre is
Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 at the 2021 Canadian census and an estimated population of ...
, 460 kilometres to the south.


Climate


Flooding

Kashechewan's location is prone to flooding, due to its location on a
floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
, as well as the annual thaw and break-up of ice on the river. The first major recorded flood was on April 26, 1976, and led to major destruction of property while residents waited on ice mounds to be evacuated to Fort Albany by helicopter. A ring dyke built along the north shore of the Albany River in 1997 provides limited flood control, though two reviews of the construction in 1997 and 2001 found deficiencies and advised remedial work, which was not done. An agreement was finally made between Kashechewan and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada in 2006 to carry out specific repairs and remediation work. However, the dyke has continually found to be insufficient. The community has suffered regularly since 2006 from flooding and water contamination when ice melts on the Albany River. As of 2010, such flooding was estimated to take place once every four years. As of 2016, it takes place nearly every year, with residents evacuated seven times between 2012 and 2019. Residents are usually evacuated to Ontario communities including
Kapuskasing Kapuskasing ( ) is a town on the Kapuskasing River in the Cochrane District of Northern Ontario, Canada, approximately east of Hearst, Ontario, Hearst and northwest of Timmins, Ontario, Timmins. The town was known as MacPherson until 1917. ...
,
Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...
, and
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
. The standard procedure of evacuating residents to other communities was complicated in 2020 with the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Most cases over the course o ...
. Former host communities were reluctant to bring in evacuees, as community members were reluctant to board evacuation planes. The
Department of National Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...
worked with the community to build an evacuation camp 37 kilometres upriver, and the federal government provided funding to support community members to go onto the land during flooding season, allowing them to participate in the seasonal goose hunt. As of May 7, 2020, 800 people had gone onto the land, and 400 more planned to do so soon. This local evacuation scheme was repeated in 2021, while in 2022 a few hundred of the more vulnerable members of the community were once again evacuated by air in while others went onto the land. In 2024, most of the community again went out on the land to wait out the floods, while some were evacuated south.


Long-term evacuees in Kapuskasing

In 2014, 560 community members who were evacuated to Kapuskasing had their Kashechewan homes condemned due to the intense flooding. Their homes remained unrepaired as of 2016, and the Kashechewan citizens were still staying in rental apartments and houses in Kapuskasing. A school was established in Kapuskasing for the Kashechewan evacuee children, called the Kash-Kap School for Evacuees. The school was paid for by the federal government, and most of the evacuee children attended it instead of the local public schools. This was due to the fact that the band council would have to pay for their tuition from their own education budget, and the provincial tuition fees were higher than the budget given to the band council. The evacuees were finally able to begin moving back to new homes in Kashechewan in November 2016.


2023 wildfires

During the
2023 Canadian wildfires Beginning in March 2023, and with increased intensity starting in June, Canada was affected by a record-setting series of wildfires. All 13 Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories were affected, with large fires in Alberta ...
, neighbouring Fort Albany was threatened by a fast-growing forest fire. This led to Kashechewan residents boating across the river to rescue their neighbours, and several Fort Albany evacuees being housed in the high school gymnasium in Kashechewan. There were plans for further evacuations by air to locations further south, but when the wind shifted a few days after the fire began, these were cancelled.


Demographics


Population

There is no precise reporting of the population of Kashechewan. Official reporting by Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada counts Kashechewan and Fort Albany's populations together, for a total of 5,597 band members as of October 2024, of which 3,309 lived on reserve Fort Albany 67, which is shared by both Nations. According to the ''Toronto Star'''s coverage of the 1976 flood, the population at the time was between 600 and 800. ''The Globe and Mail'' reported a population of 1,900 in October 2005, as part of its coverage of the water quality crisis. Alan Pope's 2006 report found that, while the Government of Canada recognised a population for budget purposes of 1,100, Pope himself estimated the population of the community to be between 1,550 and 1,700.
Alexandra Shimo Alexandra Shimo is a Canadian writer. Early life and education Born in Toronto, Canada, Shimo grew up in London, United Kingdom. She graduated Oxford University with an BA in Philosophy, politics and economics followed by a Masters from Columbia ...
's 2016 book ''Invisible North: The Search for Answers on a Troubled Reserve'' about her time living in Kashechewan in 2010 provides a population estimate of 1,800. Coverage of the community by
APTN National News ''APTN National News'' is a Canadian television national news program broadcast by the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The program produces a single half hour of news each day, broadcasts at 6 and 11:30&nbs ...
in March 2017 estimated the population to be 2,300. Further APTN coverage in April 2019 estimated the population to be more than 2,500. Coverage by the
CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...
in June 2021 provided conflicting estimates of 1,500, 1,800, 1,900, and 2,000. Further CBC coverage in September 2024 estimated the population to be about 2,000.


Birth rate

As of 2016, Kashechewan's annual birth rate was 37 births per 1,000 people, over three times higher than the rest of Canada.


Religion

The predominant
Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...
in Kashechewan is
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
. The community is part of the James Bay
Deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...
of the
Anglican Diocese of Moosonee The Diocese of Moosonee is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario of the Anglican Church of Canada. History It was created in 1872 from part of the Diocese of Rupert's Land, in what is now the Province of the Northern Lights, and ...
. A new church was opened in 2019. Before then, the congregation met in a construction trailer. As of 2010, the community had a minister who comes from outside of Kashechewan. In 2019, then chief Leo Friday became ordained as an Anglican priest, which he felt was in line with his role as leader of the community. Friday also felt that traditional Cree beliefs mixed well with Christianity. The local cemetery contains the remains of people of several religions, including "Anglicans,
Pentecostals Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term ''Pentecostal'' is derived ...
, and traditional Cree elders."


Economy

According to reporter Alexandra Shimo's 2016 book based on her time in Kashechewan in 2010, the average annual earnings of a Kashechewan resident were $9,741, and 86% of the population survived on
welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...
. She notes that, while this figure would compare to the state of low-income countries like
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
,
Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
, and
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
, the situation in Kashechewan was made more acute than those countries by the exorbitant cost of fresh produce, four times as high as the rest of Canada. In terms of
purchasing power parity Purchasing power parity (PPP) is a measure of the price of specific goods in different countries and is used to compare the absolute purchasing power of the countries' currency, currencies. PPP is effectively the ratio of the price of a market bask ...
, Shimo compared the relative income in Kashechewan to
South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...
,
Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...
, and
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
, which she calls "economies that have been ravaged by conflict and war." Reserve communities like Kashechewan with such deep economic crises have been referred to as the " Fourth World." Alan Pope, in his 2006 report on the community, found that the First Nation received between 18 and 22 million dollars each year in public funds. He identified that the community was five million dollars in debt, due to the council's attempt to provide adequate housing for its members. This indebtedness, in addition to the disarray of the band's accounting, had resulted in Kashechewan no longer being eligible for CMHC funding, as well as resulting in INAC and
Health Canada Health Canada (HC; )Health Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Health (). is the Structure of the Canadian federal government#Departments, with subsidiary units, department of the Gove ...
holding back a percentage of funding as a penalty, thus worsening the financial situation of the band. Pope advised the suspension and eventual cancellation of the holdback penalty, an increase in funding to account for the actual population being higher than reported, and an audit of that year's finances, among other recommendations in his report. Under the Stephen Harper government, the band council was placed under third-party management, allowing an outside company, Crupi Consulting Group to completely control the Nation's finances from 2007 to 2014. Crupi Consulting Group was also made co-manager of the community's Health Services from 2010 to March 2015. One of the band's co-managers, Joe Crupi, was later found to have misappropriated money from a federal program intended to provide breakfasts to schoolchildren between 2007 and 2012. In 2018, he was sentenced to three years in prison, as well as being required to pay the First Nation
restitution Restitution and unjust enrichment is the field of law relating to gains-based recovery. In contrast with damages (the law of compensation), restitution is a claim or remedy requiring a defendant to give up benefits wrongfully obtained. Liability ...
of , the amount it lost from the breakfast program during his co-management. As of 2019, the Nation had issued lawsuits against several companies to recover millions of dollars alleged to have gone missing under third-party management.


Proposals for economic development

In 1978, an
oil shale Oil shale is an organic-rich Granularity, fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of Organic compound, organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general compos ...
was discovered in the
Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...
rocks on the northern end of Kashechewan, and the Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) announced its intention to develop it. Chief Willie Wesley, in consultation with his band council, considered the recent decades of history around First Nations being relocated to allow for the development of natural resources, as with the
Oujé-Bougoumou Cree Nation Oujé-Bougoumou Cree Nation is a Cree First Nations in Canada, First Nation of Canada. It is headquartered in the Cree village of Oujé-Bougoumou, located on the shores of Opémisca Lake, in the Eeyou Istchee (territory), Eeyou Istchee territory e ...
, who had been relocated upon the discovery of gold on their land. Emboldened by the previous year's publication of the groundbreaking Berger Inquiry, Chief Wesley asked INAC for assurances that his people would receive employment from the resource development, that the band council would have some say in its development and profits, as well as requesting further environmental protections. After no response for five years, the band council dropped the matter, and put forward a proposal for wind farming. However, when the INAC representative arrived, rather than take a reading of the wind by the shore, he measured the
Beaufort scale The Beaufort scale ( ) is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale. It was devised in 1805 by Francis Beaufort a hydrographer in the Royal Navy. It ...
next to the band office, in the centre of town. INAC determined that a wind farm would not be viable. In 1985, the Indian Act was reformed to allow First Nations control of their own economic development, which had previously been under the control of
Indian agents In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the U.S. government. Agents established in Nonintercourse Act of 1793 The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the Un ...
. At that time, the reserve's unemployment rate was 90%. A proposal for a $6,000
fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish far ...
pilot project A pilot experiment, pilot study, pilot test or pilot project is a small-scale preliminary study conducted to evaluate feasibility, duration, cost, adverse events, and improve upon the study design prior to performance of a full-scale research pr ...
was sent by the Kashechewan band council to INAC. No response was returned. Another proposal, this time costing $2,000, was submitted in 1986 to build
salt evaporation ponds A salt evaporation pond is a shallow artificial salt pan designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The salt pans are shallow and expansive, allowing sunlight to penetrate and reach the seawater. Natural salt pans are formed throu ...
on the southern James Bay coast. After receiving no response and submitting the proposal a second time, the Ministry responded that they would have to test any salt produced by this project, and that INAC lacked the resources to do so. In 1990, as part of an effort to create sustainable food options for the community, the band council issued a $17,000 proposal to the Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada to raise fifty chickens in a wooden barn. This scheme was partially inspired by the memory of a successful farm and greenhouse that fed the staff at St. Anne's. The proposal was rejected by the Ministry, which claimed it did not "meet feasibility requirements." Other economic development projects proposed by the band council have been denied by INAC, including a tree nursery proposed in 1987, a clay-mining project in 1995, a pig farm and lumber yard in 1993, a greenhouse in 1995, and a dairy farm in 2000. Alan Pope's 2006 report on the community called the economic development prospects of the Nation's traditional lands "bleak," stating that he had seen no articulation of an economic development strategy by the band council. He noted that some community members were hopeful regarding the development of the
De Beers The De Beers Group is a South African–British corporation that specializes in the diamond industry, including mining, exploitation, retail, inscription, grading, trading and industrial diamond manufacturing. The company is active in open-pi ...
Victor Diamond Mine The Victor Mine was the first Canadian diamond mine located in Ontario, and De Beers' second diamond mine in Canada (after the Snap Lake Diamond Mine). It is located in the Northern Ontario Ring of Fire, in the James Bay Lowlands west of Attaw ...
near Attawapiskat and the potential for hydroelectric generation in the lower Albany River. In 2009, the Nation signed an Impact Benefit Agreement with De Beers. As of 2010, $19 million had been received by Kashechewan from De Beers. However, the mine had not provided the employment opportunities that many in the community had hoped for.


Arts and culture

The town holds Thanksgiving feasts, where the chief wears traditional garb including a
headdress Headgear, headwear, or headdress is any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, decoration, or fo ...
, and traditional music is played, in an effort to revitalize Cree traditions after the long history of suppression by residential schools and laws like the
potlatch ban The potlatch ban was legislation forbidding the practice of the potlatch passed by the Government of Canada, begun in 1885 and lasting until 1951. Some first Nations saw the law as an instrument of intolerance and injustice. "Second only to the ...
. Children in Kashechewan take part in various ceremonies upon reaching certain development milestones. Some of these are described in Alexandra Shimo's book:


Sports

The town has a sportsplex, Kashechewan Community Arena, that serves as the recreation centre for residents. It includes an arena, community hall, and gymnasium and is managed by the Kashechewan Recreation Department. Outside the sportsplex is a field for sports such as
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
,
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
, and
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
. The Recreation Department organizes
ball hockey Ball hockey is a team sport and an off-ice variant of the sport of ice hockey. The sport is also a variant of one of several floor hockey game codes; more specifically, it is a variant of street hockey. Ball hockey is patterned after and clos ...
,
badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...
, and
volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
in the community. The Kashechewan Minor Hockey tournament is an annual
minor hockey Minor ice hockey or minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body c ...
tournament organized by the Recreation Department that held its 22nd annual edition in January 2019. The Keesheechewan Siibii Challenge Cup is an annual
senior hockey Senior hockey refers to amateur or semi-professional ice hockey competition. There are no age restrictions for Senior players, who typically consist of those whose Junior eligibility has expired. Senior hockey leagues operate under the jurisdicti ...
and
broomball Broomball is a both a recreational and organized competitive winter sport, winter and ball sport played on ice or snow. It is played either indoors or outdoors, depending on the climate and location. It is most popularly played in Canada and the ...
tournament held in the First Nation. Hockey Indigenous is a Timmins-based non-profit organization founded by Kashechewan citizen Stephane Friday to support Indigenous youth playing hockey, including in Kashechewan. Before incorporating Hockey Indigenous in 2020, Friday was general manager of the Kashechewan Minor Hockey tournament, as well as the high school's boys and girls hockey teams.


Government


Band council

Kashechewan is governed by a band council, which is elected under a custom election code, rather than the
Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' () is a Canadian Act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still in force with amendments, it is the primary document that defines how t ...
. The community's leadership consists of a chief, a deputy chief and 9 councillors. Local elections are held every three years. As of September 2024, the current chief was Hosea Wesley, who had previously served as deputy chief for six years. The community also has a youth council consisting of 11 members with 5 key positions (youth chief, youth deputy chief, youth head councillor, treasurer and secretary).


Tribal council

Kashechewan First Nation is a member community of the
Mushkegowuk Council Mushkegowuk Council (pointed: ᐅᒪᐡᑫᑯ ᐅᑭᒫᐎᐎᐣ (''omashkeko okimāwiwin''); unpointed: ᐅᒪᐡᑫᑯ ᐅᑭᒪᐎᐎᐣ), or officially as the Mushkegowuk Tribal Council, is a non-profit regional chiefs' council representing C ...
, along with seven other First Nations in Northern Ontario.


Other representation

The community and Mushkegowuk Council are represented by the
Nishnawbe Aski Nation Nishnawbe Aski Nation (ᐊᓂᐦᔑᓈᐯ ᐊᔅᑭ ᐃᔥᑯᓂᑲᓇᓐ ᐅᑭᒫᐎᓐ (''Anishinaabe-aski Ishkoniganan Ogimaawin''), unpointed: ᐊᓂᔑᓇᐯ ᐊᔅᑭ ᐃᔥᑯᓂᐊᓇᓐ ᐅᑭᒪᐎᓐ; NAN for short) is a political orga ...
(NAN). NAN is a political territorial organization that represents the 49 First Nations that are part of the Treaty No. 9 area in Northern Ontario. At the provincial level, the community, tribal council and political territorial organization participate in a province-wide coordinating body, the Chiefs of Ontario. The
Assembly of First Nations The Assembly of First Nations (, AFN) is an assembly of Canadian First Nations ( Indian bands) represented by their chiefs. Established in 1982 and modelled on the United Nations General Assembly, it emerged from the National Indian Brotherhood ...
represents the community along with other First Nations organizations and councils, as well as over 600 First Nations across Canada.


Provincial

Kashechwan is represented provincially by the Member of Provincial Parliament for the
electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
Mushkegowuk—James Bay Mushkegowuk—James Bay () is a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada. It elects one member to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. This riding was created from the northern portion of Timmins—James Bay by the Far North Electoral B ...
.


Federal

At the federal level, Fort Albany is part of the
Kapuskasing—Timmins—Mushkegowuk Kapuskasing—Timmins—Mushkegowuk (formerly Timmins—James Bay) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. Its population in 2011 was 83,104. Under the 2022 Ca ...
riding.


Police and crime

Kashechewan is
police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
d by the
Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service The Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service (NAPS), also occasionally known as the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (without a hyphen) is the police agency for Nishnawbe-Aski Nation (NAN). As of July 2020, NAPS has 34 detachments in NAN communities across the ...
, an Aboriginal-based service. On January 9, 2006, a fire at the police detachment severely injured an officer and killed two inmates.Ontario Regional Chief challenges federal and provincial governments to respond to the First Nation policing funding crisis
,
CNW Group CNW Group Ltd., also called Canada Newswire and CNW, is a commercial press release service owned by Cision. Cision Distribution services in Canada are powered by Canada Newswire. The service is offered stand-alone or as part of its flagshiCision ...
(February 4, 2008) Retrieved February 18, 2008.
On July 28, 2006, the police service suspended its activities in the community, "to protest the slow pace of construction of police facilities," according to Alan Pope's 2006 report on the community. A 2009 inquest into the disaster concluded that major issues that contributed to it were the lack of an adequate fire department in the community, the disrepair of the jail facilities, and low morale of the staff. As of 2016, there had been no action on the findings of the inquest. Since February 1995, Kashechewan has been a " dry" community. It is illegal to bring alcohol into town, under a by-law passed at that time under the Indian Act, meant to curb the "overflow of alcohol" allegedly entering into the community in the 1990s. In 2006, Pope identified significant problems with vandalism, reckless driving, and "out-of-control conduct" in Kashechewan, noting the apparent absence of any attempt by the band council to intervene to provide law and order, though he expressed hope that then recently elected chief Jonathon Solomon could improve things. He also identified domestic violence as a major issue in the community. As described in Alexandra Shimo's book, since there are no permanent courthouses or judges in Kashechewan, criminal trials are carried out at the skating rink on days that a judge flies into town from a city further south. In 2020, the band council adopted a bylaw that allows it to banish drug dealers from the community. This bylaw was adopted in response to the rise in use of illegal drugs, including by children.


Infrastructure


Transportation

A helipad next to the store is used by
Ornge Ornge (pronounced ''Orange''), formerly Ontario Air Ambulance Corporation and Ontario Air Ambulance Service, is a Canadian not-for-profit corporation and registered charity that provides air ambulance and associated ground transportation serv ...
for medical transfers out of Kashechewan from the Kashechewan Nursing Station is operated by Health Canada but is assisted by the provincially run Weeneebayko Area Health Authority. Roads in town do not connect beyond Kashechewan. Besides cars, skidoos provide means to travel in town. The town is serviced by taxis. Kashechewan Airport and boat travel are the only means to travel outside of Kashechewan. Seasonal winter roads are created to provide contractor access to town, and to connect Kashechewan to neighbouring communities. In 2021, a 311-kilometre winter road was built that could accept loads of up to 50,000 kilograms in weight. The road was operated by Kimesskanemenow LP, "a limited partnership between the four communities it connects". Feasibility studies were undertaken in 2017 as to the construction of a permanent all-season road between the communities of Kashechewan, Fort Albany, Moosonee and Attawapiskat."Ontario's far north one step closer to building all-season road"
CBC Sudbury, September 17, 2017.
The project, if undertaken, would entail a "coastal road" connecting the four communities with each other, as well as a road to link the coastal road to the provincial highway system at
Fraserdale The ''Polar Bear Express'' is a Canadian passenger train operated by the Ontario Northland Railway in Northern Ontario. Service was introduced in 1964. While designated as a passenger train, the Polar Bear Express also carries freight and is eq ...
,
Kapuskasing Kapuskasing ( ) is a town on the Kapuskasing River in the Cochrane District of Northern Ontario, Canada, approximately east of Hearst, Ontario, Hearst and northwest of Timmins, Ontario, Timmins. The town was known as MacPherson until 1917. ...
or Hearst.


Healthcare

Kashechewan Health Services provides services that promote physical and mental health for community members. They provide health education regarding diabetes, cancer, and other serious ailments. They also offer programs that help with addiction, pregnancy, parenting, drug awareness, and crisis intervention. Kashechewan Nursing Station provides basic health care needs in the community. It is federally run by
Health Canada Health Canada (HC; )Health Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Health (). is the Structure of the Canadian federal government#Departments, with subsidiary units, department of the Gove ...
's First Nation and Inuit Branch and partnered with Weeneebayko Area Health Authority. As of August 2022, the nursing station, which should normally have had a staff of seven to nine, was operating with only three nurses, which meant that the station was not able to offer all of its necessary services. Earlier, Alan Pope's 2006 report on the community found that the under-resourced nursing staff could only provide acute and emergency care, with the situation "deteriorating and unacceptable." The Mushkegowuk Council declared a state of emergency in response to the August 2022 nursing shortages in Kashechewan and other communities, which was lifted in October. As of 2010, the community was serviced by a doctor who flew in once a month. Alan Pope's 2006 report also found inadequacies in primary care services, nurse practitioners, dental care, pre-natal and post-natal care, among others, despite these issues having been identified by a health care needs study in the 1990s. Alexandra Shimo's book about her time in the community in 2010 identified malnutrition, lung problems, and
skin diseases A skin condition, also known as cutaneous condition, is any medical condition that affects the integumentary system—the organ system that encloses the body and includes skin, nails, and related muscle and glands. The major function of this sys ...
to be common problems. Pope found that community members were often denied medical services if they did not possess an
OHIP The Ontario Health Insurance Plan (Canadian French, French: ''Assurance-Santé de l'Ontario''), commonly known by the acronym OHIP (pronounced ), is the Government of Ontario, government-Government-owned corporation, run health insurance, health ...
or status Indian card.


Suicide crisis

Northern Ontario reserves are reported to be among the world's highest suicide rates. According to the community's fly-in coroner,
suicide rates The following are lists of countries by estimated suicide rates as published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other sources. In many countries, suicide rates are underreported due to social stigma, cultural or legal concerns. Thus, th ...
were estimated to be 2.5 people per year, equivalent to 138.9 per 100,000 for an estimated population of 1,800. In 2019, Canada's suicide rate was 10.9 per 100,000, according to the
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
. In the wake of the 2005 water crisis, the federal government promised to provide support to help with the community's record-high suicide rate. However, the crisis persists despite the band council implementing its own community-based
suicide prevention Suicide prevention is a collection of efforts to reduce the risk of suicide. Suicide is often preventable, and the efforts to prevent it may occur at the individual, relationship, community, and society level. Suicide is a serious public healt ...
initiatives. In January 2007, 21 young people in Kashechewan — including one nine-year-old — attempted to commit
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
by
overdosing A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended. Retrieved on September 20, 2014.
on pills. The group was discovered before any died. On February 7, MP
Charlie Angus Charles Joseph Angus (born November 14, 1962) is a Canadian author, journalist, broadcaster, musician and politician. A member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Angus served as the federal Member of Parliament for the riding of Timmins—Jame ...
(NDP—Timmins-James Bay) spoke in the Canadian House of Commons about the crisis, calling on the government to deal with the crisis and to increase education funding to help improve special education and crisis counselling services in First Nations' schools. The January 2007 pact was followed that month by another suicide pact of young people, and followed an earlier pact in the summer of 2006. Members of the community believe that the lack of employment and high cost of living on the reserve are driving the suicide crisis. Historically, the epidemic across First Nations communities has been blamed on the federal government's
sedentarization In anthropology, sedentism (sometimes called sedentariness; compare sedentarism) is the practice of living in one place for a long time. As of , the large majority of people belong to sedentary cultures. In evolutionary anthropology and arch ...
programs, including the introduction of welfare programs which made communities less self-reliant. These analyses have been supported by several reports, including sociologist Ronet Bachman's 1992 ''Death and Violence on the Reservation'' and the 1996 report produced by the
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) was a Canadian royal commission established in 1991 with the aim of investigating the relationship between Indigenous peoples in Canada, the Government of Canada, and Canadian society as a whole. ...
. Choose Life Kashechewan is a program run by Kashechewan Health Services since 2017 to offer suicide prevention and other mental health resources to youth in the community.


Skin conditions

The reserve's water has been blamed by community members for chronic skin conditions, which gained public prominence in 2016 after MP
Charlie Angus Charles Joseph Angus (born November 14, 1962) is a Canadian author, journalist, broadcaster, musician and politician. A member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Angus served as the federal Member of Parliament for the riding of Timmins—Jame ...
shared pictures of children with skin lesions on his Twitter account. Doctors flown into the community by Health Canada found 26 people, mostly children, with skin conditions; the patients were diagnosed variously with
scabies Scabies (; also sometimes known as the seven-year itch) is a contagious human skin infestation by the tiny (0.2–0.45 mm) mite ''Sarcoptes scabiei'', variety ''hominis''. The word is from . The most common symptoms are severe itchiness a ...
, mild
impetigo Impetigo is a contagious bacterial infection that involves the superficial skin. The most common presentation is yellowish crusts on the face, arms, or legs. Less commonly there may be large blisters which affect the groin or armpits. The les ...
and, most commonly,
eczema Dermatitis is a term used for different types of skin inflammation, typically characterized by itchiness, redness and a rash. In cases of short duration, there may be small blisters, while in long-term cases the skin may become thickened ...
. Health Canada described the skin conditions as "not a medical emergency."


Housing

Homes in Kashechewan are mainly single-floor
prefabricated houses Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located. Some research ...
or trailer homes. There is a long-standing
overcrowding Overcrowding or crowding is the condition where more people are located within a given space than is considered tolerable from a safety and health perspective. Safety and health perspectives depend on current environments and on local cultural ...
problem in the community. Alan Pope's 2006 report on the community found most of the homes in Kashechewan to be inadequate, including two bedroom homes being equipped with three or four additional bedrooms in the basement to accommodate nine or ten adults. Alexandra Shimo's book ''Invisible North: The Search for Answers on a Troubled Reserve'' claimed that, as of 2010, there were 274 "one- to three-bed bungalows" in the community of 1,800, which led to people sleeping "in garden sheds, on floors, or anywhere there's a spare nook." Pope also reported on the structural integrity of buildings in town, noting that central areas of houses being dilapidated, and inability to meet federal or provincial fire, building, electrical, or environmental codes. One cause given for this was the indebtedness of the community and the resultant lack of CMHC funding. Pope's report noted positively that the Mushkegowuk Tribal Council was undertaking a renovation project funded by INAC in 2006 and 2007 to repair 60 homes damaged by flooding, and to purchase mobile homes. According to Pope, there was no private home ownership in Kashechewan in 2006. He advised that INAC and the First Nation collaborate on a private home ownership program, noting that such programs had been successful in other First Nations. As part of an agreement with the federal government in 2007, the community received for house building and training in construction for community members. In August 2016, a project began to build 104 new houses for the long-term evacuees whose homes were condemned following the 2014 flood. The first units were ready by November 2016.


Retail

Northern Store The North West Company Inc. is a multinational Canadian grocery and retail company which operates stores in Canada's western provinces and northern territories; the US states of Alaska and Hawaii; and several other countries and US territo ...
is the largest building in town, offering groceries and other goods such as ATVs. Having been historically founded by the
North West Company The North West Company was a Fur trade in Canada, Canadian fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada a ...
, the store accepted furs as a means of payment until 2009. The high price of fresh produce, typical of remote northern communities, is a problem at the Northern Store; as of 2010, a bunch of grapes cost . The store includes a Tim Hortons and a
Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (, trading as Canada Post (), is a Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Can ...
postal office. Besides "the Northern," as of 2010 there were a few stores selling food, coffee, and goods run by locals. Due to Indian Act restrictions on on-reserve businesses, these stores operated unofficially.


Utilities

A water treatment plant is found along the Mekopaymuko Channel near the Albany River. There is significant mistrust in the community about the water plant, with community members believing that infected water is the cause for the chronic skin conditions present in the community. This link has been regularly disproved by medical professionals. There is a dump, which as of Alan Pope's 2006 report, was not properly maintained and was situated next to the floodplain of the Albany River, posing a threat of contamination to the water supply. Kashechewan Power Corporation is the local hydroelectric distribution company.


Education

The Hishkoonikun Education Authority provides educational services to the children of the community, administering two schools: St. Andrew's Elementary School and Francine J. Wesley Secondary School. Hishkoonikun means "that which is left over" in Cree. As of June 2024, the student population at St. Andrew's Elementary School was approximately 310, while that of Francine J. Wesley Secondary School was approximately 214. The schools have a council system, which had 14 members as of January 2016. Every year, St. Andrew's Elementary School raises money to send the grade 8 class on a trip to Toronto.


Infrastructure

In 2005, mould was discovered in the old St. Andrew's Elementary School, which led to it being evacuated. This led elementary and secondary school students to share one facility. The elementary school sat empty for two years before burning down in 2007. The school was replaced with eleven blue
portables A portable, demountable or transportable building is a building designed and built to be movable rather than permanently located. Smaller version of portable buildings are also known as portable cabins. Portable cabins are prefabricated struct ...
, meant as a temporary solution but still being used as of 2018. A newly constructed school finally opened in 2019, with a
modular Module, modular and modularity may refer to the concept of modularity. They may also refer to: Computer science and engineering * Modular design, the engineering discipline of designing complex devices using separately designed sub-components ...
design to allow for the building to be moved easily during the planned community relocation. Alan Pope's 2006 report on Kashechewan noted that attendance had dropped, computer equipment was antiquated, math and science was not offered due to inadequate class sizes, and the quality of education did not meet provincial standards. He noted that none of this could be blamed on the staff or teachers at the school. According to Alexandra Shimo, most of the teaching staff consists of a transient population of outsiders to the community. In 2009, a
Parliamentary Budget Office The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) is an agency of the Australian Parliament whose purpose is to "inform the parliament by providing independent and non-partisan analysis of the budget cycle, fiscal policy and the financial implications of ...
report found the
Department of Aboriginal Affairs The Department of Aboriginal Affairs was an Australian government department that existed between December 1972 and March 1990. History The department had its origins in the Office of Aboriginal Affairs (OAA), which was established b ...
was mismanaging its capital spending for school projects, meaning money that had been allocated to schools in the federal budget was not making its way to communities like Kashechewan.


Notes


References


External links


Kashechewan First Nation
{{authority control First Nations governments in Ontario Health disasters in Canada Cree reserves in Ontario Communities in Kenora District Nishnawbe Aski Nation Swampy Cree Road-inaccessible communities of Ontario Environmental racism in Canada