Barriere Lake Multipurpose Healing Centre

The Algonquins of Barriere Lake are undergoing a crisis in our community. But we know what needs to be done to address it. Many of our members urgently need a safe place to heal.

 

This summer, a lodge we built on the territory burned to the ground. We do not have the funds to replace it. We require a multipurpose healing centre on our traditional territory to support community members who are being released from prison while awaiting spots in treatment centres. We also need a place for youth and families to heal who are reeling from a suicide epidemic in the community.

We have 4 trailers we can retrofit for immediate use to get people onto the land, while providing them with supervision, food and warm shelter, bedding and other necessities, as well as opportunities to heal through traditional land-based activities. These trailers will be cited off-reserve at the Cabonga reservoir. We are also trying to raise money for lumber to rebuild our centre. We will require equipment like used skidoos and boats, as well as food, gas, and bedding supplies for our residents and elders.

The bureaucracy moves too slow and is too limited in the kind of support we require. We are turning to the public now for help.

Barriere Lake has been struggling with a dozen suicide attempts in the last six months. Chief Tony Wawatie told APTN: “I don’t want to give the connotation that we are a very dangerous, ferocious community. We’re just a community that’s suffering from the impacts of residential schools, the intergenerational impacts of Canada’s policies, and Canadian settler state policies.”

 

In addition, we have a colliding crisis in our community. Some of our members are being released from jails and prisoners who need addictions counselling and support. But these spots are not yet available. Some members cannot live on the reserve, due to their release conditions, while they wait for these spots to open.

Our group is led by members of our community. Our constitution is the Mitchikanibikok Anishinaabe Onakinakewin: it is our sacred laws that govern our relationship to each other and to the land. We take direction from our elders and answer to them, and we work for the youth. One of our elders has already taken two recently de-carcerated men onto his land to provide shelter for them and a space to heal through teachings and land-based practices. He covered all of those expenses by himself. We want to support his vision, and the vision of our elders to keep the Onakinakewin honoured, and the knowledge intact by sharing it with others. This knowledge of our culture can help to build back the self-esteem of our families who are experiencing pain and addiction, who need to be reminded of who they are.

 

We are a strong, but small community located about 3 hours north of Ottawa in the province of Quebec. We occupy 17,000 square kilometres of our traditional territory but live on a 59-acre reserve with a severe housing shortage and mounting distress in our community. There are few employment opportunities at our reserve of Rapid Lake, but millions are extracted from our lands on an annual basis through hydroelectricity and recreational activities. We are also facing down a decades-long struggle to have our jurisdiction recognized over our lands.