The giving spirit of Six Nations people was on full display the past two weeks as the community came together to help the displaced First Nations devastated by the wildfires that ravaged Northern Ontario this month.
Thousands of dollars have been raised and hundreds of items have been donated thanks to the efforts of local community members spearheaded by Lindsay Monture.
“It all started when the smoke started coming down over here,” said Monture. “There’s a lot of people in the community that felt a sense of urgency to do something.”
The smoke blanketed huge swaths of North America this past month from forest fires in Northwestern Ontario, with 117 active wildfires still currently burning in the province. Of those fires, 23 are not under control.
A few First Nations have been completely devastated by the fires, resulting in the evacuation of members from Cat Lake First Nation, Eabametoong First Nation and Neskatanga First Nation.
Many of the evacuees have been staying in hotels in Barrie, Toronto and Fort Erie, far removed from their home and culture.
“I’m a mother of little girls and for me it’s terrifying to see and what it all means for the rest of us,” said Monture. “I just had a lot of anxiety around that and felt like I needed to channel that into something actionable.”
So she put up a post on Facebook asking if anyone to help the evacuees somehow. The response was overwhelming, she said.
Three fundraisers have been held in the community in the past two weeks with both monetary and physical donations dropped off at the Mohawk Longhouse and Six Nations Community Hall.
“At one point it felt overwhelming, people just kept coming, dropping off stuff at the Mohawk Longhouse.”
Dozens of volunteers came on board to help sort through items and ferry items out to evacuees across three different cities.
“It was a lot of coordinating,” said Monture.
Local businessman Glenn Styres donated a truck and one of his drivers to deliver items to Toronto and Fort Erie evacuee locations.
One of the most recent efforts was bringing evacuees to this past weekend’s Six Nations of the Grand River Champion of Champions Powwow.
Volunteers got a coach bus to bring the evacuees to the powwow with free admission and a chance to experience some home cooking, with a delicious wild game meal at the community hall on Saturday.
“It just happened kind of quickly. Six Nations Parks and Rec waived the fee for the community hall. It was easier to work at the community hall. Having home-cooked meals was a huge request of theirs.”
They were treated to elk and moose meat, dishes they could not get in the cities where they are staying.
Evacuees were able to walk through donation tables to pick up what they needed. They also got a chance to experience the largest powwow they ever attended this past weekend, said Monture.
“They went and enjoyed the powwow.”
Volunteers and community members were also able to send evacuees back to their hotels with gift cards and cash for whatever they needed, said Monture.
Monture said she empathized with how traumatizing it must be to be relocated from a rural community and experience the culture shock of the big city.
“I was really glad they were able to come to our community. It was really fulfilling to see the community mobilize so quickly. I’m just so grateful for our community.”
She said the evacuees were really grateful.
“They just kept thanking us for our generosity and making them feel welcome in the community. They just kept thanking us and giving us hugs. I hope they felt welcomed and grounded.”
If anyone wants to help with the continuing fundraising and support efforts for the evacuees, all information can be found in the Facebook group Six Nations Wildfire and Evacuee Support.
