Наскантага: История и современность отдалённой общины Онтарио

the community in eastern Ontario

Neskantaga First Nation (formerly known as Lansdowne House Indian Band) is a remote Oji Cree First Nation band government in the northern reaches of the Canadian province of Ontario, situated along the shore of Attawapiskat Lake in the District of Kenora. The First Nation is a signatory to Treaty 9 (originally as part of the Fort Hope Band) and has reserved for itself the Neskantaga Indian reserve, containing the main community of Lansdowne House Indian Settlement on Attawapiskat Lake, on the west side of the lake, which is currently the community's water source. Associated with the Neskantaga First Nation is the Summer Beaver Indian Settlement, which is shared with Nibinamik First Nation. The Lansdowne House is linked to the rest of Ontario by the Lansdowne House Airport, and by winter roads and ice roads to points south, via the Northern Ontario Resource Trail. As of November 2011, there is a total registered population of 414 people, of whom 304 people live on their own reserve. Neskantaga is a fly in community and is therefore not accessible by year round road. The Ring of Fire is 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay in the remote James Bay lowlands, and contains a vast, rich and untapped mineral camp of world class chromite, nickel, copper and palladium deposits.

The First Nation elects its officials under the Custom Electoral System. The most recent officials were Peter Moonias as Chief, and Bill Mequanawap, Christopher Moonias, Kelvin Moonias and William Moonias as Councillors; their two year term ended on 03/31/2013. The First Nation's council is a member of the Matawa First Nations, a local Chiefs Council, and of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, a Tribal Political Organisation representing most of the First Nations in northern Ontario.

The Neskantaga First Nations is about 450 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Neskantaga is at the headwaters of the Attawapiskat River in the James Bay Lowlands, in a "pristine boreal setting known for bears, wolverines and excellent fishing" with many bodies of water and a "landscape weaving among them".

According to their website, the "ancient Anishnawbe communities [date] back to at least 3000 BC." The "Attawapiskat and Otoskwin rivers surrounding Neskantaga merge into a delta with significant brackish tidal marshes" and the area was once "part of a major trade route". On February 7, 2009, Ontario Minister Rick Bartolucci released the White Paper regarding the Northern Ontario Ring of Fire, including the announcement of decisions made regarding Cliffs and the province that would negatively impact Treaty 9 land. According to the Neskantaga First Nation, the agreements with Cliffs about Treaty 9 lands, was a "blatant and illegal attempt by Ontario to expand its own influence and jurisdiction in Treaty No. 9. "Ontario has twice pushed back the deadline for input" in Ring of Fire planning, but the community says it has not enough time. By December 2020, Ontario there were tensions between the Ontario government, Neskantaga First Nation, and the nearby Webequie First Nation. The Webequie First Nation was leading an "environmental assessment process for a supply road leading to the Ring of Fire mining region" but the Neskantaga First Nation raised concerns about their own lack of meaningful participation in the assessment process during the COVID 19 pandemic. The participation of the Neskantaga First Nation was further complicated by a forced evacuation in October 2020 caused by the community's "precarious water supply."

The water source for the Neskantaga community is Attawapiskat Lake. The lake often has a "naturally occurring “colour” from the roots of trees, plants and other organic matter" and has to be filtered before it can be used as drinking water. It is a "laborious process" in which individual households have to haul sleds several times a week to and from the local hotel to use the unreliable machine. They also depend on shipments of bottled water. East of Neskantaga and west of Attawapiskat First Nation, in the Northern Ontario Ring of Fire, in the James Bay Lowlands, De Beers' Victor Diamond Mine—which was operational from 2009 until 2020 when it was decommissioned—had provided "clean water for hundreds of workers" on its open pit mining site. and was not adequately disinfecting the water. In 2016, then Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett visited Neskantaga, which at that time had a population of 350, and announced that the federal government would "invest approximately $8.8 million to help upgrade the community's water treatment system, including an addition to the existing water plant with new treatment technology and additional reservoir storage capacity to meet the community's long term needs." In October 2020, the Neskantaga First Nation fully evacuated the reserve after test results showed high levels of hydrocarbons in the water supply, caused by a faulty pump installed by Razar Contracting Services. On December 21, 2020, over 250 members returned to the reserve. By December 2020, the new water treatment plant was commissioned and by March 2021, the upgrade and expansion was approaching final completion. There were 374 people living on the reserve and the boil water advisory affected "76 households and 6 community buildings."

Neskantaga First Nation has a subarctic climate (Dfc). Summers consist of mild, sometimes warm days with cool nights and rain usually falling on a little more than half of all summer days. Winters are brutally cold with nights reaching dangerously cold temperatures and annual snowfall averaging 95.1 inches, (241.6 cm) falling on 89 separate days. Winter usually begins sometime during October and can easily last well into April.