Cree boy gets lesson in the power of a good letter

While the Nemaska BMX pump track was under construction, young Amari Coonishish checked its progress just about every day and reported back to his mom.

"After school ... or when we would leave town, when we were driving back he would say, 'let's go see the park. Let's go check'," said Amari's mom, Nathalie Mettaweskum Coonishish.

Even if it was dark, or if Amari had fallen asleep in the vehicle, his mom would wake him up and they would go check the progress of the track. 

The eight-year-old felt a deep connection to — and almost a responsibility for — the track, according to his mom.

That's because it was because of him that it was being built.

When Amari was just six, he wrote a letter to the community's chief asking if Nemaska could have a BMX pump track like some other Cree communities. Riding a pump track involves a style of bike riding where a rider will 'pump' their body up and down to move him or herself forward through an undulating, circular track. 

"He tried out the other BMX parks in other communities like Mistissini and Oujé-Bougoumou. We would pack up his bike whenever we got a chance to go there," said his mom.

It was on the long six-hour drive back from the BMX track in Mistissini that Amari asked for a track in his backyard, something his mom told him they couldn't do. 

After talking it through with the help of his mom, Amari decided on a sending a written request to "the boss of Nemaska," Chief Clarence Jolly.

"It didn't have many words. It took him about two weeks to finish it," said Mettaweskum Coonishish.

Nemaska forced to relocate 

After hand-delivering his letter, Amari waited more than a year and half before Chief Jolly told him they were building a BMX pump track in his community. 

In the 1970s, Nemaska people were the first Cree to be displaced by hydroelectric development and were scattered for a time among other Cree communities of Mistissini and Waskaganish. 

Jolly himself went to school in Mistissini.

"When we returned home after the Nemaska relocation … we came home with nothing, there were only tents and teepees on the shores of Champion Lake," said Jolly, adding he missed what the children of Mistissini had. 

"I am happy that my own children got to enjoy what we have today," said Jolly. 

Last month, Nemaska held a ribbon cutting for the Nemaska BMX pump track with bike safety workshops.

Since then it's been a big hit with youth in the community.

"So far we've had a lot of positive feedback from parents and cyclists," said Rosalina Jolly, youth centre supervisor.

"The parents said they are grateful the children have a place to go," she said.

The youth council was given the mandate to maintain the track and installed signs with safety rules and a picture of Amari's letter that started it all. 

Amari injured himself after one of his first trips around the BMX pump track. He fractured his leg and needed to wear a cast for several weeks. 

His mom said she hopes he's learned an important safety lesson. 

"[Amari] is not afraid of anything," said Mettaweskum Coonishish.  

"He likes speed and high jumps, things that involve speed, dirt bikes and BMX, those are his interests," she said.