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A four-day ceremonial gathering of Indigenous peoples on Whitefish Island this week aimed to provide a forum on water protection, treaty rights and the environmental impacts of establishing a ferrochrome processing plant in Sault Ste. Marie.
A number of those in attendance worked to establish a sacred fire and sweat lodge while making a bundle - a collection of items considered sacred by the Anishinabek - for the protection of the water.
Co-organizer Janet Day of Serpent River First Nation told SooToday that her involvement is due in no small part to the work of Josephine Mandamin, who helped solidify the ‘water protectors’ movement by walking more than 25,000 kilometres around the Great Lakes as part of the Mother Earth Water Walks.
“I really want to carry on the work that she’s done for the water and bring the message to the people, because it’s not just a First Nations issue,” said Day, while seated beside a number of sacred ceremonial items laid out on a blanket. “We all drink the water, and this is the heart of the Great Lakes. She walked around all of the Great Lakes, and she always told us we got to put the water first, and the earth first and the Creator first.”
In September 2019, Noront Resources Ltd. entered into an agreement that could lead to a 99-year lease of a 100-hectare brownfield property just west of Algoma Steel for the purpose of establishing a ferrochrome processing plant. The agreement is subject to a five-year period of environmental assessment and public consultation.
Saultite Robyn Eshkibok, who spearheaded the ceremonies on Whitefish Island this week, attended one of the first public information sessions on the ferrochrome facility last year.
Eshkibok told SooToday that she was informed Noront satisfied its duty to consult nearby First Nations - a claim that was refuted by Batchewana First Nation Chief Dean Sayers.
The last person she spoke to at the information session, Eshkibok says, was Noront Resources Ltd. President and CEO Alan Coutts.
“Right to his face I asked him, ‘what do we need to do for you to not come here? Noront is not welcome here,'” she said. “He ignored my question.”
According to Eshkibok, Coutts eventually told her after repeated questioning that she would need to produce “10,000 signatures” opposing the ferrochrome processing facility.
“I looked at him right in the face and said, ‘consider it done, because you’re not coming here,’” she said.
Eshkibok, who has lived in the Brookfield neighbourhood for most of her life, says that cancer has affected both of her parents, claiming her mother’s life when she was young.
“She had cancer three times. My dad, who works in that [steel] plant, is in remission. A lot of people here have cancer,” she said. “We don’t want it anymore.”
Eshkibok - who served an eight-month tour of duty with the United States Marine Corps in Iraq - says that she’s seen the toppling of the Saddam Hussein regime up close and personal, and it’s inspired her to gather like-minded people who oppose Noront’s ferrochrome project that would advance the development of the Ring of Fire.
“I know that with like-minded people, we can accomplish great things and make that change a lot sooner,” she said. “It may seem impossible to some people, but it’s not. It really isn’t.”
While not specifically advertised, the gathering situated along a trail on Whitefish Island also welcomed non-Indigenous people to stop and learn why the group was occupying the portion of land.
“We’re all nations, we’re all colours. We all have different beliefs, and different ways to pray - and this way that we pray is not to be hidden or shamed. This is our church, so to speak, and we’ve always had it,” said Day. “We’ve never lost it.”
“I’m really grateful to my ancestors for keeping this alive for me, for my grandchildren and my future generations. And it’s my responsibility as a grandmother to pray and to make sure that our water is clean for the next seven generations.”