Planes, trains, and automobiles…

And boat taxis, and ferries, and buses…

That’s been the theme for this week… transportation.

On Sunday, T (my supervisor) and I set out on a plane to Timmins, Ontario, where we would catch a bus on Monday morning to Cochrane, where we would catch the Polar Bear Express to Moosonee.

The Polar Bear Express was actually nicer than the trains I’ve taken in the northeast US, AND there’s currently a project in the works to make it even nicer by 2017. I had a nice lasagna lunch aboard the PBE.

The rain started pouring just as we pulled into Moosonee, which is the last stop on the line. So all the passengers crowded under a tin roof with their luggage, awaiting taxis to take them home. And since Moosonee is so small, there is only a limited number of taxis, making numerous trips.

On the PBE, we happened to meet the Chancellor, President, and Registrar from the University of Sudbury, with whom we caught a taxi. The taxi drove us to the boat docks, where we then waited in line for a boat taxi to take us to Moose Factory Island, home of the Moose Cree First Nation. Our boat taxi was driven by a soft-spoken giant who had serious skills.

On the train, an older man walked by and saw my jacket, and said, “You go to Penn? I used to coach rowing in Philadelphia!” Come to find out, he was the owner of where we were staying for the night, the Cree Village Eco Lodge. The Eco Lodge was phenomenal, with a truly home-like feel to it… I really wish all the hotels I stayed at were like this.

The reason we left on Sunday was so that we could make it to the very first graduation of the University of Sudbury’s Indigenous Studies Distance Learning program, which is why the Chancellor, President, and Registrar were all traveling with us. Four ladies made up the first graduating class. The graduation kicked off with a drumming performance by an all female drum group, followed by several speakers, including President Pierre Zundel and Chief Earl Cheechoo.

Again, most of our time was spent building relationships, which was easy in such a celebratory atmosphere.

The following day, we spent time meeting with various stakeholders to determine how this program will spread in other communities — negotiating space for learning centers and time and travel for instructors as well as discussing other minor logistics. We then caught a ferry back across the water, a taxi to the airport, and a small plane to Attawapiskat.

After a stopping in the other fly-in communities on the way, we landed at the smallest airport I’ve ever been to (no security!) and walked what would be equivalent to a couple of city blocks to our accommodations for the night.

We were unlucky in that all of the food / grocery places in town were closed for National Aboriginal Day (see below: the only grocery store, the Northern Store)…

However, we were also lucky that it was National Aboriginal Day, as we could partake in all the festivities… most notably, the food! Including… fried bannock with homemade cranberry sauce and a variety of meats.. beaver, goose, moose, caribou, rabbit, pike, “white fish”, duck, crane..

I also got to talk with some of the youth about sports and meet a high school soccer team from Toronto that had raised money to help the community.

In recent months, Attawapiskat has made international headlines after declaring a state of emergency over a spate of suicide attempts. People all around the world have reached out.. delivering letters of hope, donating musical instruments, or in the case of the soccer team from Toronto, hosting sports clinics. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has had meetings with community leaders, which shows he’s listening, but Chief Bruce Shisheesh says allocating money for mental health services isn’t enough.

Much of our discussions revolved around these happenings and what the community needs going forward. We met with the band manager as well as the head of the local Ontario Works office. There’s been a recent documentary regarding Attawapiskat, called After The Last River, if you’re so inclined to learn more. There’s also a Facebook support group if you’d like to reach out and help in the state of emergency.

Until next time…

Tyler Hallmark