mercury poisoning in grassy narrows

Speech presented at the Methodologies in Housing Research organized by the Royal Institute of Technology in cooperation with the International Association of People-Environment Studies, Stockholm. Within environmental injustice and environmental racism literature, a gap presents itself; there is limited work focusing on Indigenous communities in Canada. “Grassy Narrows marchers offer government mercury-tainted fish.” Windspeaker 30(4). In the 1940’s, the Ontario government significantly intensified its efforts to control Grassy Narrow’s land and resources (Vecsey 1987). Plans for new resource extraction projects include mineral extraction and mining (da Silva 2008). Today, misrecognitions of cultures, ethnicities, and “ways of life,” are embedded in public and private spheres, which hold racist connotations that are taken for granted (ibid: 99). My methodology starts with a critical literature review, used to “tell a story and help to advance our understandings of what is already known” (Jesson & Lacey 2006: 139). The name "McGill" is used with the permission from McGill University (University Secretariat). American Indian Literature, Environmental Justice and Ecocriticism: The Middle Place. Mercury poisoning in Grassy Narrows has caused significant health problems for many of its residents. Otherwise, the river system would have buried the mercury naturally over time source. This paper contributes to filling that gap by discussing these topics in a Canadian context. Toxins travel to large organs and in pregnant women the mercury settles in the fetus, leading to birth defects (Vecsey 1987). Any legislation protecting Indigenous land rights was rendered useless once Crown title over land became achievable through “discovery” in the late 1800s (Kulchyski 2007). Retrieved from http://this.org/magazine/tag/andrew-keewatin/. Understanding Grassy Narrows mercury poisoning within broader historical processes of capitalism and colonialism. Honneth (1992), Lake (1996), and Schlosberg (2007) take the environmental injustice model one step further by linking misrecognition to procedural injustice. Fathers teach sons who teach grandsons how to maintain trap-line (p.o. Grassy Narrows experiences misrecognition by governments and corporations. Vecsey (1987) provides an in-depth analysis on the government and corporate destruction of Grassy Narrows’ traditional land. Grassy Narrow’s fight for clean water began almost immediately after the discovery of mercury in the water. Kerr, S. J. Bill Fobister, a … They are a dynamic social group existing as ongoing culturally-specific processes of relations that are ever-changing and in a constant state of flux (Powell 2011; Woolford 2009). My research methodology combines critical literature review and case study with autoethnography. When the poisoning was discovered, both industries declined. The new space was not consistent with their cultural lifestyles (Rodgers 2009). A case study is “expected to capture the complexity of a single case” (Johannson 2003). “Mercury Poisoning in Grassy Narrows Worse than Ever.” Intercontinental Cry. Residents of Grassy Narrows First Nation, about 100 kilometres northeast of Kenora, Ont., have grappled with long-standing mental and physical health issues due to toxic mercury levels in the nearby English-Wabigoon River. Peterborough, Ontario. A number of schools instituted abusive policies to fulfill their goals. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. From the Roots of Violence to the Route for Allied Relationships: The Role of Allies in the Struggle Towards Safety for Indigenous Women in Canada . Environmental injustice often stems from patterns of non- or mis-recognition of different cultures and worldviews (Fraser 2000). Scientists funded by the government and corporations are intentionally obtuse when presenting conclusive scientific findings made by impartial researchers, like Dr. Masazumi Harada (CBC 2009). The economic losses from the fishing ban sent the community from a “95% employment to 95% unemployment” rate (Vecsey 1987: 294). 2002. Schertow, John. It must “be a complex functioning unit, be investigated in its natural context with a multitude of methods, and be contemporary” (ibid). Fearing this outcome, the people of Grassy Narrows are asking the government to put the money they were promised in a trust to ensure that it remains theirs. Alacantara, Christopher. Next, I carry out a case study into the mercury poisoning experienced by Grassy Narrows First Nation. A deeply embedded colonial history shaped the culturally-ingrained racism, disrespect, and exclusion of Indigenous communities via “state-enforced assimilation policies and practices, unilateral erasure of treaty guarantees, denial of legal representations, denial or criminalization of spiritual practices, and other legalized and socialized forms of systemic violence” (Haluza-DeLay et al. The case of mercury poisoning in Grassy Narrows cannot simply be understood as an incident of pollution without looking at the historically created colonial patterns that justify it. As pressure for the settlement of Western Canada grew, the government’s treaty-making strategy changed (ibid). 1997. Nancy Fraser (2000) looks at environmental injustice as stemming from historical processes of misrecognition of different cultures and worldviews (ibid). Dangerously high levels of methyl mercury were found in the fish throughout this aquatic region from dumping by Dryden Chemicals and Reed Paper Limited (Dryden Division), which operated between 1962 and 1975 (Saxe 2012). The consistent refusal of governments to uphold treaty agreements may indicate the level to which Indigenous communities across Canada are actively denied access to decision making processes that implicate their lives and land. London: Earthscan. “Metabolic Rift and Marine Ecology: An Analysis of the Ocean Crisis Within Capitalism Production.” Organization & Environment 18(4): 422-44. We’ve been hit with mercury, we’ve been hit with residential school, we’ve been hit with the reservation system, we’ve been hit with relocation. Retrieved from http://www.ammsa.com/publications/windspeaker/grassy-narrows-marchers-of.... Baxter, Pamela & Susan Jack. Redistribution and Recognition? Speaking for Ourselves. Clement, Dave. 28 Sept 2012). The Scars of Mercury, DVD. Between 1962 and 1970, the company dumped an estimated 9,000 kg of untreated mercury into the English-Wabigoon river system, upstream from Grassy Narrows and Whitedog First Nations. While many community members protest logging companies that contaminate the water (da Silva 2008) and clear-cut their land (i.e. Chief Rudy Turtle signed the framework agreement with Indigenous Services Canada Thursday, which commits $19.5 million towards the construction of the mercury care home. The community continues to be met with reluctance and avoidance from scientific and medical institutions (da Silva 2008). Retrieved from http://pse5-esd5.ainc-inac.gc.ca/fnp/Main/Search/FNRegPopulation.aspx?BA.... Asubpeechoseewagong Netum Anishinabek. Historically, science was a colonial tool for oppression used to “prove” race (Ratannsi 2007). “Ontario Appeal court rules against Grassy Narrows: Ontario has jurisdiction over territory.” Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. ), Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry. “Return to Grassy Narrows: A poisoned community tells its 40-year-old story.” Literary Review of Canada. Churchill, Ward. Environmental racism only partially addresses colonialism because, while racism plays a large factor in colonialism, more complex processes of exclusion are involved. “Speaking for Ourselves, Speaking Together: Environmental Justice in Canada.” In Julian Agyeman, Peter Cole, Randolph Haluza-DeLay, and Pat O’Riley (Eds.) 2011. It makes me sad. “Grassy Narrows: Still ill.” The CBC Digital Archives Website. His excuse is always that, ‘My schedule is very tight. The government’s version of Treaty 3 suggests that the land was given to the Canadian government as a gift from the Anishinaabe community, who apparently signed their rights away gladly (Blaikie 2012). Winnipeg: Arbeiter Ring Publishing. I do not speak for, or represent, the community, nor any of its individual members. As Judy da Silva (2008) explains: “It’s not just about like kicking the loggers out or just protecting the water from pollution, but its’ about protecting our life as a nation, as Anishinabek, because our identity comes from there. Free Grassy Narrows. British Columbia: UBC Press. The community has resisted repeated attempts to sever their connection to the land by corporations – previously Reed Paper Limited, Dryden Chemicals, Abitibi, and currently Weyerhauser logging company – as well as by the provincial and federal governments (p.o. Understanding Bourdieu. “The Violence of the Letter: Land Claims and Continuing Colonial Conquest in Canada.” Canadian Dimension 41(1). 2009). Grassy Narrows and Treaties: Understanding patterns of unequal access to decision making. 1999. These observations are my interpretations of teachings and stories I hear, as well as actions and interactions I either observed or participated in. Mercury levels remain elevated in the animals and fish and are concentrated in top sediment layers, proving contamination is recent (ibid). Misrecognition appears through forms of “insults, degradation, and devaluation” towards different cultural groups (Schlosberg 2007: 14). The Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek (Grassy Narrows First Nation) people have lived with the consequences of one of the worst cases of environmental poisoning in Canadian history. Grassy Narrows Grassy Narrows is in Ontario Canada, closer to Thunder bay Riots have been formed over native rights The effects are: losing feeling in fingers, some say they cant feel the difference between cold and hot To do so, the case study approach values using a variety of sources to “[ensure] that the issue is not explored through one lens, but rather a variety of lenses which allows for multiple facets of the phenomenon to be revealed and understood” (Baxter & Jack 2008: 544). If the Ontario government respected Anishinaabe worldviews, they would protect rather than severe their ties to the land. Image by Shelby Gilson. Health Canada stopped the regular monitoring of mercury levels in the Grassy Narrows community in 1999. In the face of these ongoing environmental injustices created and maintained by colonial governmental practices and capitalism’s industrial growth, Grassy Narrows remains a strong and resilient community. Working Groups. (Photo: Toronto … “We need clean water. Upon my next visit to Grassy Narrows, I will be attending a Youth Gathering. Weyerhauser) (Wolfson 2011), some work for these companies and rely on them for their livelihoods and subsistence (p.o. Aboriginal Peoples and Comprehensive Land Claims Negotiations in Canada.” Journal of Federalism 38(2): 343-69. Persky, Stan. Between Justice and Certainty: Treaty-Making in British Columbia. 2010, April 7. Two, many Indigenous perspectives, the treaties secured their traditional territories, to ensure self-governance, and self-determination (Satzewich & Liodakis 2007). As a result, the Anishinaabe community is denied access to decision making regarding their Treaty 3 territory. This published article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. http://foresttalk.com/index.php/2013/05/23/grassy-narrows-first-nation-h... http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/2013/05/21/grassy-narrows-files-s... http://rabble.ca/news/2013/11/grassy-narrows-wants-justice-destructive-l... http://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2009/01/return-to-grassy-narrows/, http://www.sicc.sk.ca/archive/saskindian/a75our06.htm, http://envirolaw.com/50-years-mercury-pollution/. 13 Nov 2012). Image by Shelby Gilson. Miscreognition as a cause of environmental injustice is exemplified in Indigenous and settler colonial relations in Canada (da Silva 2008). In the 1960s, the Dryden Chemical Company used mercury in a process to create the materials needed to bleach paper at a paper mill along the English-Wabigoon River, just 320 kilometers upstream from Grassy Narrows. Current treaty disputes in Canada are considered violent by some because the modern treaty processes can be just as fraudulent and coercive as they historically were (Kulchyski 2007). “How to do (or not to do) a critical literature review.” Pharmacy Education 6(2): 139-148. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. Abstract: Using an environmental injustice framework, this paper explores how the case of mercury poisoning in Grassy Narrows,an Anishinaabe community in Northwestern Ontario, exists as part of broader colonial processes in Canada. 3. In 1999, Joseph Fobister, Andrew Keewatin, and Willie Keewatin - three trappers from Grassy Narrows - sued logging companies to stop clear-cutting on their territory (Wolfson 2011). They went beyond this, “affirming both the integrity of tribes and bands; as well they recognized the right of Indian people to manage affairs on their own land, in accordance with their customs and traditions” (Saskatchewan Indian 1975: 6). Through this process of internal colonialism, “[which involves] the colonizing power quite literally swallow[ing] up contiguous areas and peoples, incorporating them directly into itself” (Churchill 1999: 25), Indigenous peoples were dispossessed from their lands and rights to self-determination. Race is used to create “structures of attitude and reference” (Churchill 2004), through which white Europeans are defined as civilized and all Others are something of lesser quality (Bhabha 1985). 2009: 10). 2013. As a white settler colony, Canada is dependent on “natural resource staples” for economic prosperity (Ali 2009: 97). As early as 1975 the community began mobilizing against the mercury poisoning (da Silva 2008). 27 Sept 2012). 2007. The colonial and capitalist attacks included child apprehension, forced relocation, and economic deprivation (ibid). As a solution, the Proclamation introduced land surrender treaties (Satzewich & Liodakis 2007). “Environmental Inequality Formation: Toward a Theory of Environmental Injustce.” The American Behavioural Scientist 43(4): 581-8. The tendency for environmental justice groups to focus on these matters on a local level, “dealing with specific community-contamination events, the harmful health effects of local pollution on members of the community, and the local politics involved therein,” is understandable because each situation is very much place-based and “context-dependent” (Ali 2009: 97). Ties to the land are much stronger than appreciation, preservation, exploitation, or subsistence (Hallowell 1975). Indigenous communities were not given the amount of land they were entitled to, as agreed upon in the treaties (ibid). “I am a believer of honesty and I believe in praying. 2009. Wolfson, Carmelle. Some 900 people live in Grassy Narrows and health official say 90 per cent have signs of mercury poisoning, which include vision and hearing impairment, tremors, and decreased cognitive function. In the historical section, I mostly use information gathered through literature review and the teachings of community Elder Judy da Silva who speaks from personal experience and Anishinaabe oral history. In addition to this promise of federal support, the provincial government of Ontario secured an $85 million trust to aid in the cleanup of the land and water. From my personal interactions with several activists from Grassy Narrows, I observe that a many of the community’s activists value direct action. On August 16, 2011, the Ontario Supreme Court ruled in favour of Grassy Narrows, protecting their right to hunt and trap on their land (ibid). 4. 1998. Community members have continuously made observations of mercury poisoning symptoms since the 1970’s (da Silva 2008; p.o. MSR is now available in libraries around the world on Proquest's online social science article databases. Vast lands were appropriated from Indigenous cultures and only the smallest sections of land were “gifted back” to them (Smith 2012). Initial Indigenous and settler contact in what is now known as Canada occurred in the eleventh century, however, it was not until the fifteenth century that Europeans began settling the East coast and entrepreneurs began claiming territory on the West coast for resource exploitation (Woolford 2009). Pressure for settlement was growing and guarantees contained in the 1763 Royal Proclamation protecting Native land for the purposes of hunting and trapping became problematic for settlement (ibid). Due to spatial and temporal inconsistencies of colonial processes, it is “difficult to offer a brief and unified overview of colonial … history in Canada” (Woolford 2013: 66). Fish, their main source of food, contained extremely high levels of mercury from toxic dumping by the Dryden Chemicals pulp and paper mill upstream (Kraus 2013). “Our livelihood was taken away. Here's a sneak peak. Nonetheless, Ottawa and Health Canada stopped monitoring mercury levels in 1999, claiming the levels were below the Health Canada safety guideline (Schertow 2010). ), Speaking for Ourselves: Environmental Justice in Canada (pp. Science is manipulated to suit different (even opposing) positions when determining causes and effects of environmental issues, serving political and economic interests (ibid). Until recently, literature on environmental injustice focused on the distributional patterns of goods and hazards. In 2007, two children were born with brain cancer and many others experienced seizures (ibid). The history of treaty-making is corrupt, involving neglect, malfeasance, deceit, and incompetence on behalf of the government (Kulchyski 2007). These are not just issues of the past. In the water, the metal undergoes a process of biomethylation, involving a reaction with a variety of organic bodies (such as fungi, bacteria and fish), making the metal an organic and lethal substance (ibid). The first walk was over 1,800 kilometres from Grassy Narrows to Toronto, ending in a “Sovereignty Sleepover” at Queen’s Park attended by hundreds of Indigenous leaders and activists across Ontario (ibid). In 1962, Dryden Chemicals Ltd. began operating a chlor-alkali plant in Dryden, Ontario. After years of fighting to be heard, in December 2017, then-Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott promised the community that the federal government would pay for the construction and operation of a treatment center in Grassy Narrows. 2012b. Her report is one of several produced by Grassy Narrows First Nation in recent years, showing younger people still being afflicted with mercury poisoning … Just as environmental injustice cannot be understood without the broader socio-historical processes that cause it, the same goes for the struggle towards justice. It shows where his priorities are,” said Chief Turtle. Canada: The Truth Commission into Genocide in Canada. Unpacking the Grassy Narrows case study using four factors of environmental injustice– the distributional patterns of environmental hazards, the historical processes which determine hazard distributions, patterns of non-recognition, and unequal access to decision making – illuminates how Indigenous oppression secures their land for settlement and capitalist expansion. For thousands of years we’ve been here, since like time started and that’s what we want to pass onto our children.” This is an important aspect of environmental justice and decolonization because it prepares the next generation for the struggles towards ameliorating environmental hazards and risks while addressing broader considerations of decolonization. “Grassy Narrows Reserve: Mercury Pollution, Social Disruption, and Natural Resources: A Question of Autonomy.” American Indian Quarterly 11(4): 287-314. Rodgers, Bob. The government document is used as the official version, which denies the legitimacy of Indigenous oral history and establishes colonial “truths” in the place of Anishinaabe understandings. According to Chief Turtle, the government official that the community most wants the eyes and ears of is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Kraus, Krystalline. Washington: Island Press. I attended a feast to celebrate the ending of a new moon fast for the welcoming of spring 2013 and continue to attend ceremonies and celebrations, spend time at their blockade site, and will soon be attending a Youth Gathering in the community. “Signs Taken for Wonders: Questions of Ambivalence and Authority Under a Tree Outside Delhi, May 1987.”Critical Inquiry 12: 89-106. 2010, April 6. Discussions around the blockade illuminate some diversity in the community. [1] In my citations, “p.o.” stands for personal observation. There are also "hidden effects, including things like miscarriage and lowered resistance to alcohol and infections” (ibid: 295). 2011, November-December. Unemployment led to high rates of alcoholism, personal withdrawal, negative self-evaluation, and routine violence (Clement 2003). Webb, Jen, Tony Schirato, & Geoff Danaher. The government’s tendency to refuse Indigenous worldviews, specifically surrounding land responsibility and ownership, as legitimate has been an underlying justification for appropriating their lands (Churchill 2004). The relationship between Canada and the people of the First Nations has always been touched by conflict. The discovery of mercury poisoning in 1970 was a devastating blow to Grassy Narrows. Grassy Narrows already filed their appeal with the Supreme Court of Canada in response to Ontario’s court ruling to issue logging permits on Indigenous territories (Forest Talk 2013). Together, community members from Grassy Narrows and their supporters marched from Queen’s Park, the home of the Ontario Legislative Building, to the Indigenous Services Office to bring awareness to their cause. 2011. Carroll, William K. 1989. An edited book of Indigenous authors, Speaking for Ourselves: Environmental Justice in Canada, offers detailed accounts of environmental justice in Canada from Indigenous perspectives (Haluza-DeLay et al. The Royal Proclamation was implemented in 1763 by the British Crown to protect “Indian Territory” from aggressive prospectors and to preserve military alliances (Satzewich & Liodakis 2007: 35). The government controlled Indigenous access to capital, technology, and other resources necessary for self-determination (Bolaria & Li 1988). Archived at http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/environment/pollution/mercury-risi.... Chartier, Clem. Michigan: Pantheon Books. From the Ground Up: Environmental Racism and the Rise of the Environmental Justice Movement. OTTAWA — The federal government has signed an agreement with Grassy Narrows First Nation that will see a long-promised treatment centre for residents with mercury poisoning finally built in the community. I will draw upon secondary sources, primary accounts, personal experiences, and observations to make my arguments. While some value direct action on the ground, others feel the court-system is a better avenue for protecting their land (ibid). When it became poisonous, their entire diet had to change. My perspective as an ally to the Grassy Narrows’ community and Indigenous struggles for decolonization also offers a contemporary perspective in the environmental justice literature. In Canada, European settlers are created in relation to Indigenous peoples – the good and pure in relation to the barbaric – and this relationship is one of "power, domination, of varying degrees of complex hegemony" (Said 1978: 5). Appeal over logging Rights. ” Kenora daily Miner and News travel to large organs and in women. Where his priorities are, ” Chief Turtle ensures the crowd in Toronto momentum more... All necessary, they are not an end when it comes to protecting their land ( i.e Lynne! 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On Grassy Narrows industrial technologies to develop programs of assimilation, Residential Schools, Truth,... Are much stronger than appreciation, preservation, exploitation, or subsistence Hallowell... Are diverse and maintain varying perspectives, ideologies, and forget ” ( )... Existing literature on environmental injustice, colonialism, and economic consequences ( Schlosberg 2007 ) to physically prevent trucks! Whom the environment and subsequently Indigenous communities in Canada is treaty–making ( Kulchyski 2007 ) Wabaseemoong! To visit their land and speak with community members european colonizers claimed any land they come across, believing was.

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