Attawapiskat declares state of emergency!

By Chelsey Romain, The Daily Press
March 25, 2009


The remote First Nation community of Attawapiskat has said enough is enough
and has declared a state of emergency.

Community officials, along with the local education authority issued a
release late Tuesday night stating both the elementary and high school have
been closed until further notice.

In recent weeks, the building that used to house the J.R. Nakogee Elementary
School was torn down. It was during the demolition that members of the
community allegedly began smelling a strong ordour of fuel. According to the
release, the old school, which became contaminated following a diesel spill
in 1979, was dumped just four kilometres west of the city, five kilometres
south of the community's water intake site. Both the high school and the
portables now being used as an elementary school are a mere five to 10 feet
away.

The release says the community is tired of the ignorance by Indian and
Northern Affairs Canada as they continue to struggle through years of
fighting to get a new school, new water intake, a new dump site, on-going
water plant and sewage problems.

"Finally the community has said enough is enough," the letter stated. "This
will always be a struggle unless addressed by Indian and Northern Affairs
Canada, as First Nations are wards of the Crown.

"As always, comments will be made by INAC that they are working on it, but
these are only band-aid solutions."