Its only school ripped away by arson, Eabametoong First Nation focuses on healing and keeping kids in class
Leaders of First Nation in northwestern Ontario push for temporary school to be built by fall
The John C. Yesno Education Centre was more than just a school for students and teachers in Eabametoong First Nation.
It was a place where children in the northwestern Ontario community made friends and played sports, and community members gathered for everything from feasts to flea markets.
"When I first started school, I experienced all kinds of abuse," said Mary Okeese, who has taught kindergarten there for over 30 years. "When I started working here, that was my healing journey from all the stuff that I experienced.
"I thought of the school as my friend."
Nearly 300 students from junior kindergarten to Grade 9 have been displaced after the school was razed in a fire that police say was purposely set on Jan. 25. They later arrested and charged four teenagers.
Eabametoong is a remote fly-in community of 1,600 people about 360 kilometres north of Thunder Bay. As they continue to deal with the loss of the education centre, leaders of the First Nation are looking to get a temporary school built by September. However, other needs in the community may get in the way of them reaching that goal.
They include:
- A lack of fire services.
- Poor water infrastructure.
- A housing shortage.
- An unstable winter road.
Eabametoong has also been under a long-term boil-water advisory since August 2002.
"Our infrastructure is collapsing," said Chief Solomon Atlookan.
Ontario Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford has pledged the province's full support in helping the community in its rebuilding efforts. As well, federal Minister of Indigenous Services Patty Hajdu has said the government is committed to improving fire services in First Nations.
Reem Sheet, Hajdu's press secretary, said the minister will meet with Atlookan on Friday "to work on a short-term plan so that students have what they need to continue studying and on a long-term plan to build a new school." The location of that meeting is to be determined.
The federal government has spent more than $3 million since the fire to help provide educational resources, additional teachers, school supplies and mental health resources in the community, Sheet said.
But Atlookan is calling for provincial and federal leaders to visit Eabametoong in person to fully understand the urgency.
In an emailed statement Thursday morning, Suzanna Su, a spokesperson for Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), restated the department's commitment to the community.
"On Feb. 1, 2024, the First Nation submitted a proposal for modular classrooms to address the short-term, immediate need for infrastructure to support the children and youth impacted from the John C. Yesno Education Centre fire," Su said. "ISC is committed to advancing this proposal as quickly as possible to ensure that students in Eabametoong First Nation can resume in-person learning in September 2024."
Subpar fire and water services
Plans were already underway, before the fire, to build a new school in Eabametoong, but it wasn't anticipated to happen soon. It took nearly a decade for Pikangikum First Nation's school to be rebuilt after it burned down in 2007 and nearly eight years to replace Wapekeka First Nation's school after a fire in 2015.
Eabametoong has a fire truck, but Atlookan said it's missing necessary parts to make it fully functional. That, combined with problems at the community's water-treatment plant, meant the school never stood a chance in the blaze.
"Our water reservoir down there that we use only lasted about 45 minutes, so even if we had fire trucks that are operational, what are we going to do without water?" Atlookan said.
Last summer, the water-treatment plant was damaged by fire, displacing more than 700 people for nearly three weeks. Eabametoong relies on the winter road to get essential supplies for infrastructure projects, but this season's warm temperatures have presented additional challenges.
At last week's winter chiefs' assembly, Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), which represents 49 First Nations across Treaties 9 and 5, declared a state of emergency over the winter road conditions.
"We need [to be] subsidized if we don't have a winter road to bring our equipment in for materials to build that school," Atlookan said.
Grade 9 students sent to Thunder Bay
On Monday, more than a dozen Grade 9 students were flown to Thunder Bay to finish their semester at the Matawa Education and Care Centre. Eabametoong students usually leave the community in Grade 10 to finish high school, but leaders feared a disruption to their Grade 9 year would set them too far behind.
"There's a mixed emotion, especially for my daughter. She says she's scared but excited at the same time," Paul Holcroft, vice-executive officer of Eabametoong First Nation, said after seeing his 15-year-old daughter off at the airport.
None of the Grade 9 students chose to speak with CBC News before their departure, but many had hockey sticks in tow and expressed excitement about playing in the city.
'It would mean everything for me'
Okeese said the fire was traumatizing for her students — some feared she had died as they didn't know she wasn't in the community at the time.
The only large building left in Eabametoong is the community hall, but it's in high demand, which means students can't always use it. Some portable classrooms may reopen in the next week, but there's not enough space to accommodate everyone.
"Our whole lives have been turned upside-down," said Julie Pope-Désilets, another kindergarten teacher, who said she's eager to be reunited with her class.
Grade 2 student Owen Slipperjack, 7, said he felt sad when his school burned down. He enjoys math class and recess the most, and said his dream school would have "hard math," clean classrooms with lots of toys and a bigger playground outside.
"It would mean everything for me," he said about getting a new school.
Supporting students' mental health
A big lesson from the fire has been forgiveness.
Atlookan said his main priority is ensuring young people have every opportunity for success.
"We need our people to be trained," he said.
Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa, who visited Eabametoong on Monday, said he could feel the weight of the community's grief as soon as he saw the remnants of the school. CBC News travelled with Mamakwa to and from Eabametoong, but paid for the flights independently.
"It's important to address the students' mental health through this loss because they need to see a vision, they need to see a goal, they need to see that there is a new school coming," Mamakwa said.
He'd like to start a letter-writing campaign to have students from other parts of Ontario connect with Eabametoong's youth "so they don't feel alone" and "feel supported."
Atlookan said the band council has already selected a potential contractor to get a temporary school up and running, pending federal funding.
"We shouldn't be having to be begging to get our new school built. It should be a given that we do it right away."
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