This blog is the product of an assignment to investigate a social justice topic from a critical criminologist view. I would like to start out by declaring my emotional and personal investment in the Natuashish community and explaining why I chose this topic; I would like to set it all on the table so my bias is evident and transparent.

    I attended Loyalist College in Belleville, Ontario from 2008-2011 and received my diploma in Social Service Work. Although I completed placements in both a food bank and a mental health drop-in facility, I found no opportunities for employment upon graduation. I decided to go to university, centering on Trent in Peterborough, Ontario and looked for jobs I was qualified for in that area. I ended up getting hired at an organization that works with children in residential treatment, or foster care.

    At this point, I have decided not to disclose many details about the organization, including the name, to avoid any possible career conflict. I no longer work with this organization. From what I was made aware of, the organization had an agreement with Indigenous communities in both Northern Quebec (Inuit people from Kuujjuaq) and Labrador (Innu people from Natuashish) where specific at-risk children from these communities would be sent to this area to live in foster care and attend our school system. I was not aware of any details surrounding the agreement, other than that there were often discrepancies between what the parents were told about the agreement and what our foster parents were made aware of about the agreement. My knowledge of the policies and technical workings are sparse.

    I worked with children and youth from both of these places, but many of the horror stories I was faced with came from those who originated in Natuashish. Natuashish also caught my attention because I remembered their story from elementary school. I have a vague memory of an elementary school teacher showing us a news program featuring the atrocities at Davis Inlet, particularly gas huffing, alcoholism, drug abuse, and unsanitary living conditions. This memory was dug up after speaking with one particular youth about her experiences in her hometown and then doing some informal research on the subject. I was reunited with the same images of children huffing gas, news reports about suicide, and general social problems that would create much more anxiety for us in urban Canada than it was there.

    From speaking with youth from Natuashish, of which I was involved with about 4 personally and about 10 through my career network, I learned a few things. The first was that gas huffing was rampant and considered normal teenage activity. The youth often spoke about marijuana and alcohol as well, but gas was the preferred drug because it was cheaper and easier to find. I learned that teenage pregnancy was accepted, if not the norm of the community, and even some of the youth who were previously involved in our organization had gone home and gotten pregnant. I learned about the political climate of Natuashish, how they had been relocated and given new houses and were now a fly-in community. I learned about their policies on drugs and alcohol, and that their community was dry (I was also unwillingly taught about the prices of particular drugs and how alcohol and other substances were smuggled in). I learned a bit about their language, but mostly I learned about the disparity. The youth had no hope, no plans for the future, and barely any opportunity. I was made aware that most school-age children do not attend school (one youth told me that school was "optional") and many of them have no desire to learn. Many have learning disabilities or brain dysfunctions, or perhaps are assumed to have them. They speak of large families but hardly ever of grandparents or elderly people, mostly of other children and youth.

    I was interested in this because many of the stories I heard were shocking. I kept thinking, "People would be having a fit if that was happening here," and I couldn't understand why I was hearing this through the mouths of underprivileged youth and not through policy-makers and government officials who were doing their best to remedy an extremely unfortunate situation. I wanted to investigate this community. I would like to bring to light and heighten awareness on both the socially-created atrocities that are happening in our First World country, and also speak to the awareness of the Canadian Government. In particular, I will be focusing on the environmental justice viewpoint, of the space as being a toxic environment, and on colonialist ideology that paved the way to this point. I may also focus on other aspects as they appear to me, but I will be in conversation with The Indian Act and other relevant documents that historically set the tone for the current situation.