The Calm Before The Storm…

Greetings from Chateh!

            While my time is winding down, my workload is amping up! Today is the last day of data collection, so I wanted to have a chance to update my blog before I’m looking at my Excel spreadsheet for a week straight. So far, over 100 surveys have been filled out. I am really grateful to the residents of Chateh for taking it so seriously and giving me some excellent data, and I can only hope that something good comes of it. I’m particularly looking forward to the many conversations I will have with people here about the results in my final week, as well as implementing the ideas I have for knowledge translation.

            My last blog post didn’t really highlight what I’ve been doing in my spare time. Two weekends ago, I travelled to Yellowknife for the Folk on the Rocks festival! I had never been to Yellowknife or the NWT, so it was an awesome trip. The drive there was unreal; as many of you know, NWT has had more forest fires this year already than in any year prior. Highway 3 (which runs to Yellowknife) was closed for most of the weekend, but we managed to get there and home without any delay, although it was certainly worse on the way home than on the way up as the highway had just opened before we left Yellowknife. Many parts of the highway had one side completely burnt and the other was lush, while in some places the fire had crossed the highway and scorched both sides. It was neat to see the landscape, how they actually manage wildfires – containment lines and pools, for example, –  and pass the wildfire camps on the side of the road.

            The actual festival was awesome! I really enjoyed some of the bands – especially Reuben and the Dark, see below for my fave song by them – and loved catching up with Tyler and Kathleen, who hosted me when I was in Edmonton. Cass and I drove up two days before the festival actually began, so it gave us time to spend a full day in Yellowknife and explore old town, downtown, and a couple of the local restaurants. Overall, it was a really nice mix of relaxing, laughing, dancing, singing, sweating, driving, swimming, and sunburning!

          In other news, you are among the company of a champion. Yes, The Leftovers – the team I was on – were the champions of Chateh’s 1^st Annual Canada Day Baseball Tournament. I suited up in my Import Auto Supply jersey and stayed on first base for the day. I had a couple of good reminisces about playing first base with the Iguanas, and they’ll appreciate that I was chatting it up at first and using the ol’ sayings “check 3, go 1,” “eat it,” “any bag,” and “show him to his seat,” among other favourites. I definitely missed several things about playing Iguanas Softball, like knowing that my teammates knew where the next play was, the understanding that you run on anything when there are two outs, and not to throw the ball around! I was incredibly sore the next day, so if anyone ever says that baseball is a lazy person’s sport – you actually do use muscles! I did receive some chirps from my coworkers along the lines of “you’re fit and exercise every day. Why are you sore? I’m old. I have excuses,” but those claims were silenced when I boasted about our championship and how much harder I played as a result ;). Overall, it was a really, really, really, really fun day, and something I am so excited and glad that it will be continuing in the years to follow.

           Anyways, all for now! See below for pictures and a couple of stories. Happy long weekend 🙂

             
Half burnt, half lush, as seen through a very bug-gutty windshield 🙂 

Trees, about two hours outside of Yellowknife.

 
One of my favourite moments of the trip. Cass and I didn’t even look up directions before we left, so we really had no idea what we would come across. This is the Deh Cho Bridge, which crosses the Mackenzie River. The bridge is brand new, and at one point I think we were both pretty convinced that we were some of the first people to ever travel across it because it was so new and there was still a fair bit of construction – and the old ferry – near by. It actually opened November 30, 2012, but it was a hilarious moment when we first saw it in the distance. “Are we going to go on that!?” “I didn’t know there was a bridge!” “Oh my goodness, WE GET TO GO ON IT.”

Restaurants are few and far between past High Level. We were a bit skeptical of this restaurant in Enterprise, NWT called Sandra’s/Winnie’s, but were super hungry and went for it. So yummy. We even tried to go on the way back, but it was closed!

One of the many groups we saw 🙂 

The skyline of Yellowknife. 

 
Twin Falls, just past the NWT border.

Decided to see the waterfall for myself up close…

 A sunset from our campsite in Yellowknife.

And finally,

Thoughts on Northern Gateway (not to be confused with Northern Getaway, most famous for its line of Catstreet Boys/Spice Mice clothing)

A quick note, first: the opinions expressed below are my own and only my own.

As a Southern Ontarian and adopted Northern Albertan, it seems fitting to blog about the oil and gas industry while I am here. On one of my first days, I asked if many Dene Tha’ community members worked in Fort McMurray. I was laughed at. With my face a shade of red, I was told that there is enough oil and gas surrounding the community – why would they go all the way to Fort Mac? Since that day, I have been interested in the oil and gas industry and its relationship with this community. The purpose of this post is not to harp on Canada’s oil and gas path, but portray a super small part of the history and relationship between government, oil and gas corporations, and First Nations people in Canada.

The approval of the Northern Gateway pipeline is just the most recent in a slew of the National Energy Board’s decisions. In March 2014, they approved the reversal of Line 9 – a pipeline that is much closer to home for me, and one that I wrote extensively about in my graduate studies this past year. If it seems like more and more pipelines are getting approved each year, you are correct. Bill C-38 – now referred to as the Jobs, Growth, and Long-term Prosperity Act – passed in June 2012. To many people, it was simply an omnibus budget bill. To me, it not only was a flashpoint of the Idle No More movement (Bill C-45 was the follow-up to C-38), but also repealed over 70 existing pieces of legislation. Bill C-38 squandered the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, undercut the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, weakened the Fisheries Act, repealed the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act, exempted pipelines from the Navigational Waters Act, cut water quality programs, and limited the National Energy Board’s reviews to two years (May, 2012). Two years later, we now are seeing the impact of the National Energy Board’s accelerated decision-making model.

 It has been widely documented in the media that there are 209 conditions that must be met for the Northern Gateway official approval; “Aboriginal” appears 125 times within these conditions, including seeking adequate consultation, maintaining a 15% hiring quota, and the inclusion of Traditional Knowledge throughout the process. While I can appreciate the extensiveness of the 209 conditions (and would much rather see something pass with 209 conditions than none), I am very skeptical. If true consultation has occurred anywhere up to this point, I am doubtful that the Northern Gateway would have gotten this far.

Something not often considered in the debate about pipelines and the environment is that treaties never end. The Numbered Treaties were formal agreements made between First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples and the Crown to share the land. These occurred across Canada over a period of 50 years from 1871 to 1921. The treaties have been criticized extensively on- and off-reserve, including arguments made that they should not be valid, given that they have been continuously breached and were signed under false pretenses. Breached and invalid or not, treaties will not end this year, next year, or in fifty years. Coupled with the fact that the desire for oil and gas will only continue to increase, ultimately pressures from oil and gas developers will rise accordingly. It is the reality that we can consider today the least demanding of oil and gas resources: tomorrow the pressure will increase, and in a year from now we will think back to today and even before Fort McMurray and wonder what happened.

Chateh is not on the proposed pipeline route. However, the oil and gas industry is much bigger than the Northern Gateway or Line 9. The traditional Dene Tha’ territory has been compromised several times before; most recently, there was a produced water spill in Zama. Produced water – as per the Zama press release – is water that may or may not contain oil residue. It is one of a number of spills that this pipeline has experienced, and only one of hundreds that have occurred since Canada’s oil and gas boom (see here for some investigative journalism done by the CBC). I think from here on out, I can only provide a photo to describe and detail what Zama looks like and the oil and gas presence around us. I can also add one comment that there was a two week delay between the spill and it being reported to the Dene Tha’ First Nation. Unfortunately, there have been no official “progress updates” since October/November 2013. What I do know is that I’ve heard narratives from community members about its impact: from wildlife covered in oily residue to dogs and other animals no longer eating the ducks, there are a variety of impacts that can be felt through the community. In an industry that relies so much on undermining and controlling First Nations land, this is only a small reason why I am skeptical of the number two hundred and nine.

 
The locations of wells around us.
Zama

On a note of finality, one of the companies that operates around here – Apache, headquartered in Texas – shares its name with a word to refer to Native American groups (mostly in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico) that speak a Southern Athabaskan language. Here in Treaty 8 territory, the Dene Tha’ speak an Athabaskan dialect, too! In the brief history lesson I received a few days ago, I was told that the Navajos and other Apaches used to live with the Dene people in this territory before migrating down south, and if they ever had a conversation with each other today they would still understand each other. However, Apache – the company – is actually just a combination of the owners’ initials and –che. 

Until next time!

Two Months Go Too Fast, Not Too Much To Go

Yesterday officially marked my “two months in Alberta” anniversary, and means that I’m more than halfway done my time out West. While I can’t help but get more and more excited to see my loved ones and cats again, I’m also daunted by the amount of work I still have left to do! On this week’s agenda: figuring out a way to effectively organize and input survey responses, continuing to work with Chief and Council on a Community Recreation Strategy (CRS), and getting together some quotes for all that the CRS requires.

Since the last blog, I’ve finalized my survey and started to get some results back. I plan to spend time in the three Dene Tha’ communities over the next couple of weeks to help with survey distribution, including this past weekend where I visited Meander River for their Assembly Days. Assembly Days feature handgames, drum dances, various performances (including a hypnotist show and powwow dancers), and other events and booths. Meander River is beautiful and really piqued the geographer in me. For one, the reserve is situated where the Meander and Hay rivers meet, which makes part of the reserve situated on the river bank and another part propped up on a hill. Second, I was interested in how Meander River was laid out spatially; the homes are closer together than here in Chateh (although there are some parts of Chateh with a higher concentration of houses, like where I live). Meander reminded me a little bit of Ontario’s Big Grassy River First Nation between the spatial layout and the beautiful river and bridge. Sadly – unlike Big Grassy – it is too shallow to jump off the bridge into the water. I think I will add jumping off the bridge again in Big Grassy to my bucket list; BG fam, if you’re reading this – I’ll see you again soon.

While I was in Meander, I also got a chance to visit what the community calls the grotto. From my understanding, it is an unused former spiritual place complete with a chapel, some sleeping quarters, a rusted merry-go-round play structure, and perhaps even an old schoolhouse. I don’t want to say too much about it because I have neither the full knowledge nor understanding of the history, but from the stories I was told it was not the happiest of places. I didn’t take any photos, so I think I’ll limit my description to that it is one of those places where you can feel the history and sadness, and even if you are like me and not religious, you want to say a quick prayer and hope there is a higher power to help in the healing process. Unfortunately, it is at that point where you realize that the very thing you hoped for was one of the biggest contributors to the hurting and haunting. It was a potent reminder of the many initiatives that government and society had for the assimilation and elimination of Indigenous people in Canada, and how much further the reconciliation process still has to go – and rightfully so.

On that note, I’m very grateful to be here and a part of the Dene Tha’ community. I think it goes without saying that I’ve learned so much here so far, and I look forward to the other half of my journey out this way. See below for some photos, a video, and a couple of anecdotes from the past couple of weeks! Until next time…

A church in Meander. I think Nisha’s quote was “hipsters would have a field day here.”

A storm’s a-brewin’!

A mural that visiting artist Jesse Gouchey and some kids were working on as part of the Alberta Future Leaders program. I did one of the brown parts on the right of it :). The mural is on the band office wall and you can see it when you drive across the bridge (prime spot!).

Kenzie, our favourite child, and I 🙂

I stayed over in High Level this weekend with Kenzie. We asked the hotel manager for a cot, but instead she just gave me this entire room! It was nice having a 12 hour mini vacation – cable and wifi, oh my!

June 24 and so much more….

To my sister and her husband, I hope you appreciate the reference in the title of this post 🙂 For the rest of y’all, greetings from Chateh, Alberta! I can’t believe it has been two weeks since the last update. I still have another one coming about the oil business here in Alberta, but too many things have happened over the past couple of weeks. I’ll save that one for a rainy day.

My past two weeks have been quite busy! Work wise, I’m finalizing the survey that will be distributed to community members as part of the Health Needs Assessment. I managed to construct a survey that will take people less than 10 minutes but still gives us information on their personal and familial health, community health initiatives, housing, and suggestions for service improvement. I’m very thankful to have taken a course in Research Design and Methodologies last term as it made drafting this survey much easier. Thanks Kathi! I will also be doing informal interviews with staff members here and semi-selective focus groups with health staff, council members/band staff, and community members. So far, so good!

In my after work hours, I have been just as busy. Just after my last blog, we held the first baseball game! Since then, there have been non-stop inquiries about where the baseball equipment is and when the next game will be. Easily 100 people came out to play and watch, and since then we’ve had several other games that attracted just as many people. On Canada Day, we are having a tournament with cash prizes! As the kids have started noticing, “Rachel catches the most balls in the field.” As a result, I’m picking my team very selectively! I wish I could import the Import Auto Supply Iguanas up here to compete as I think we’d have it in the bag 😉 Kenzie, another Engage North fellow (blog here), told me that she just wants to follow me around and watch me be athletic. Whatever that means…….

Last week, there was a commemoration for Residential School thrivers. This featured Bingo, feasts, a Tea Dance, and a Mad Jigging Contest. Note: mad jigging contests are when teams of two dress up as a member of the opposite gender and jig. This was hilarious (video below). There was also a Tea Dance on Thursday evening, and while I couldn’t dance it was beautiful to see the community come together under a gorgeous night sky. All in all, a very successful week! Unfortunately, I was sick all weekend with a very aggressive head cold. I’m not 100% yet, but am improving each day.

Since I arrived five weeks ago, I’ve seen the community truly come together at least a half dozen times. At every event – without fail – someone says to me, “this is how it used to be.” Most people refer back to the 80s and mention the quantity of baseball games and community events at that time, before talking about the present time and how things have changed. I think Chateh is undergoing another period of change right now. I’m happy to say that I work alongside some of the hardest working people I’ve ever worked with, many of them whom are “do-ers” and put in 50 or 60 hours a week for the benefit of the community. I find that there is an infectious enthusiasm in the Health Centre for community events and wellbeing. With that in mind, my portfolio has expanded a little bit beyond doing a Health Needs Assessment. I’m also applying to several grants for the Health Centre regarding recreation. Right now, the ballpark only has a ball diamond, but the dream is the whole nine yards: horseshoes, playground equipment, beach volleyball, soccer posts, and a basketball court. With luck, someone evaluating grants will see the spirit that this community has and the power that a few events have had over these past few weeks. With a little more luck, hopefully this will come sooner rather than later.

All for now folks, see photos and videos below (I’m getting really hip here) 🙂

The beautiful night sky at the Tea Dance ring.

The baseball game! This picture doesn’t do it justice how many people were out and playing! I was on BBQ duty, except for sneaking away for a moment here 🙂

Kenzie and her bunny.

Not impressed with my paparazzi, aka Kenzie.

 

Until next time!

Absentee Until Week Three: Sorry and Stories

Since arriving to Chateh three weeks ago, I’ve heard many stories: stories from my partner about her day at work or our two wonderful cats, stories from my family about their exciting plans and other news, and stories from many Dene Tha’ community members and kids about everything and (sometimes) not much at all. One of my favourite TEDTalks captures so much of the tenets that I try to uphold as a researcher. In this talk, Brené Brown says, “I’m a qualitative researcher. I collect stories; that’s what I do. And maybe stories are just data with a soul. And maybe I’m just a storyteller.”
           Since arriving to Chateh, I’ve struggled with trying to tell these stories that are not my own – somehow putting pen to paper about what I have seen, heard, learned, and thought, but not taking another story and penning it as my own. One of my biggest challenges that I have encountered is that I am, in fact, a “researcher,” trying to understand health issues in a First Nations community. What I have learned most since arriving here is that I myself will never come to know these challenges. The truth of the matter is that everyone already knows them, and I just need to listen.
           With that being said, I’m very excited that the Health Centre I’m working with has given me a project where I can put pen to paper without reservation, and I can put what I’ve heard into words. For the next month or two, I will be working on a Needs Assessment for the Health Centre. As it stands, there is uncertainty about the definitive role of the HC in the community  – is it for primary care? Emergencies only? Continuing care? Should the pharmacy get up and running again? What programs should be run out of it? How does transportation complicate these issues? Overall, I have a lot of questions, few answers, and a tremendous amount of excitement going forward at a chance to develop something that can and will be used in communication with Health Canada and other stakeholders. While I might not be able to tell a story with this Needs Assessment, perhaps instead I can paint a picture. As they say, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.
          I’m a little behind on my blog, and cannot believe it has been two weeks since the last update. There are so many things I still want to touch on – oil and gas development, water updates, and more – but I’ll save that for another day. See below for some photos of my past couple of weeks, too! 

Beautiful sky out here last night – the Health Centre is the building on the right. 

One of the bull riders at the Mosquito Creek Rodeo!

The sky gets quite scary out here sometimes!

The cats are being good* at home. * = they do not normally share the window this well.

My bedroom here in Chateh! I just got a bed early last week and do not think I have ever slept better these past few nights.

A good one to end on – the coffee cup that I get stuck with sometimes. 

Until next time!

May-be I should update before June…

At some point, my creative titling spree will end. Today is not that day.

Just a quick and not-very-related-to-work update to say that I’ve been here for over a week and almost have not blogged since! Over the past week, I’ve been following up with water issues, attempting to acquire some information on the water table/hydrogeology of the area (hello, science part of my brain. I’m sorry I have forgotten about you for the past seven years), and met with more community members, kids, and local health professionals. Slowly but surely I’m starting to remember names, occupations, and hobbies, and have also started compiling a list of curiosities: what does jackfish taste like? Where can I find said jackfish? Does Boston Pizza actually have good pizza, or does everyone just go there all of the time? Why is the bannock always gone when I go into the kitchen? Who should I befriend in order to receive rapid bannock-in-kitchen notification? Is there a technology for that?  

Hopefully I will have some answers for you over the next couple of weeks! I’m looking forward to this weekend, as Saturday is devoted to a Aboriginal Youth and Communities Empowerment Strategy (AYCES) event. For the event, the AFLs, Health Centre staff, kids, and community members are reclaiming Chateh’s baseball diamond – cutting the grass, arranging bases, etc. – and then having a BBQ and baseball game when all of the work is done! I’m super pumped because a) baseball, b) food, and most importantly, c) establishing another community/recreational space through a sweet and fun event. I’m excited to get dirty and hopefully contribute some RBIs. I have an Import Auto Supply jersey with me, and may even sport it for the occasion. I think the AFLs and I may go into town on Sunday which means groceries and answering one of my questions re: Boston Pizza. I’m also excited for Kenzie (whose blog I will link soon once she gets here and starts blogging) and Janelle to be part of Dene Tha’ First Nation early next week.

Aside from these curiosities and excitements, there is not much else to report. It looks like I’m moving in with the AFLs for the summer which is equally as exciting as it is worrying. Before you get apprehensive, I’m only worried because they keep me up past my bedtime more often than not, and might also make me laugh a little too much! I’ll post some photos of our digs (be patient, Em…) once my room gets sorted out a bit. Currently I’m sleeping on a small mattress on the floor, which would be fine except for the fact that I woke up a couple of nights ago with a spider crawling on my face! I’m hoping some sort of bed frame will help to mitigate this issue. More to follow.

Here are some photos from the past couple of days, and I promise to post some of the baseball game, Gym night, and house soon:

My office. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get an office again in any of my future careers so I’ve been enjoying it!

Wild horses right outside of my home, complete with birds perched on top like a Disney movie! You can see the future baseball diamond in the back. Just to the right of the photo is where the Health Centre is (hence the giant fence).

Haven’t been starving, that’s for sure! BLT and loaded baked potatoes 🙂 

Photo taken from the bridge! The water is Sousa Creek, which is the source water for the WTP. 

All for now! Have a great end of week and weekend 🙂

 

Happy Friday! or Dryday, to make a relevant-to-my-post pun…

             Today, I took a tour of the Water Treatment Plant (WTP) here in Chateh. You can watch a little somethin’ about it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBOqPHNae24 or read a little more about it at http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=602889 or http://www.canadianconsultingengineer.com/awards/pdfs/G-2_ChatehWaterTreatmentPlant.pdf, which is the full project report. Water is one of the issues I have been looking at in relation to health, so I was happy to be able to tour the facility almost as soon as I got here.

           Safe drinking water is an issue in many Northern communities in Canada. Right now, about 1 in 5 of the reserves in Canada are currently under a Boil Water Advisory (approximately 90 communities). The severity of these BWAs range – some are because of equipment issues while others are due to a much larger problem related to source water. Some of the documents provided above acknowledge that the source water available in Chateh prior to 2011 (when the new WTP was completed) was unusable because of the limited technology that Chateh had at the time. As a result, the WTP uses a highly innovative system that is the first of its kind in a First Nations community in Canada. After looking at the plant, I realize how much I take for granted water (especially water quality) in my life. It is a very complicated process that relies on everything being perfectly aligned and measured. Chateh’s plant was designed with ease of use, energy conservation, and durability in mind. While most of it is automated, working at the WTP in Chateh is still not a job I would want; there are many things to check and test every day and the workers are highly accountable to the community. The job is made harder by the fact that I think some of the community still feels uneasy about drinking the water because of years of poor quality.

           While at the WTP, I was fortunate to acquire one of my new favourite maps: a map that shows Chateh’s water distribution system. When the WTP was built, they accounted for new demand in the process since only about a quarter of the homes in Chateh are on the pumped/piped water system. The remaining homes have water from the WTP delivered by truck into tanks. While this is a somewhat effective system, some of these homes have issues with their water tanks – cracks, proximity to sewage, corroded pipes, etc. – which means that when their water is tested at point of use it tests back to the days before the new WTP. Chateh is only one of three Dene Tha’ communities, and government data on the other communities’ water infrastructure suggests an imperfect scenario: Bushe is currently under a BWA, while Meander’s infrastructure is labeled anywhere from medium to high risk. Despite the fact that Chateh has a beautiful and functional WTP, many people in Dene Tha’ are still without access to safe and clean running water. For my family that is feeling uneasy, my home is on the piped water line. Nevertheless, I’m still puzzled by the fact that an additional 10% in funding wasn’t allocated in order to give the whole community piped water.

            Aside from what I’ve been learning at work, I spent a few hours last night playing volleyball with some of the youth. Even though I haven’t played since high school, I think some of the kids would say that I’ve still got it 😉 One of my favourite things about volleyball is how easy it is to teach the mechanics. When bumping the ball, kids usually feel like the ball should hit their wrists or that they have to propel their arms upwards upon contact, which either makes the ball hurt your wrists or hit the ceiling. With a couple of quick instructions, we were playing much better volleyball by the end of the night, and I’m looking forward to teaching them some more of the game’s intricacies. I don’t have any photos for today but I will take some over the weekend and post them on Monday or Tuesday. Happy Friday and chat soon! 🙂

           

Greetings from Chateh! … and an apology.

After a 12 to 14 hour road trip from Edmonton, I arrived in Chateh, Assumption, or Hay Lake yesterday evening. As my Dad would say, the trip was “uneventful” – no incidents to report – however we did see several bears (including one with cubs!), Chateh has wild horses (what?!), and there were some really beautiful photos taken. I don’t think I will take many photos today; it seems as though I will see Alberta cloudy and rainy for the second time since arriving here two weeks ago. Overall, I really like the sunshine and how big the sky is in Alberta.

On my agenda for this week are a few basic things: conversations with the Health Director and IC-Impacts, bonding with my current housemates (from the Alberta Future Leaders program), and hopefully attending some of the Open Gyms that the AFL put on for the community every night. By hopefully I mean “I will attend, because sports and gym time is my jam.” I’m really thankful that the Alberta Future Leaders have let me into their home while mine is undergoing some renovations. Not only have they helped me get to know the community and some of its incredibly kind members, but also it is nice having an evening event to go to and meet people, especially in an environment that I am so comfortable with from my Frontier College days.

Now, onto an apology: I forgot my handy dandy cord that connects my camera into my computer. Once I figure out the post office, I’m hoping that I can ship it up, find one in High Level, or purchase a card reader. Nevertheless, I have yet to turn on my camera (cellphone = handy picture taker) so photos will still be had. Here are a couple of photos of my adventures so far:

Fort Vermillion en route. This gas bar/convenience store was for sale! Beautiful view, too.

Viewing Dene territory. The decline is about 10km. This hill was used as an indicator for how to get to Chateh 🙂 You can also catch a glimpse of how many bugs our windshield killed!

Kilometers of tall, white birch trees most of the way there. Really beautiful and different.

Halfway, perhaps? It was neat watching the vegetation change as we went further north.

Momma and her cubs.

Throwback to training: hiking in the Kootenay Plains

Anyways, more to follow when there is more to report :). I hope everyone at home is well, happy, and enjoying some warmer weather!