CPTnet
June 28, 1999
Grassy Narrows, ON: Letter from Joe Fobister about the Whisky Jack Forest
Management Plan

NOTE: Joe Fobister is the proprieter of a local grocery store and
spokesperson for the Grassy Narrows First Nation Environmental Committee

For as long as I can remember trapping and living off the land has been a
way
of life for me. My earliest memories began in the very early 60s on the
trapline at Inar lake. My grandfather, my parents and us kids would go our
every
spring and fall to harvest muskrats, beaver and ducks. Being at the trap
line and live off the land were truly the most enjoyable times of my life.

Most non-native people will not understand what I mean. Back then, I had
heard about the forest industryb and never saw the effects it had on the
land. The land and its appearance are still very important to me. It's
where I go to escape, meditate and communicate with my Creator. In my mind
the forest is my church.

It is devastating to see the land after clear cutting. I share
sadness with a lot of my people who can not communicate. We are told the
only thing governments and white people understand and respond to is written
communication. This puts us at a great disadvantage again, as it always has
been.

My father was a proud man who loved hunting and trapping and would have
given
anything to continue living a traditional life-style. Although he lost
both
legs in a train accident he continued to hunt and trap. In the early part
of the 70s the MNR (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources] in its infinite
wisdom, bulldozed the road to his trapping cabin at Portal Lake. I guess
intended to stop over-fishing in that lake. The people who the MNR were
trying to stop were walking in and were still fishing.

My dad could not write, therefore could not be heard. My dad gave up his
trapping and ended up on [the] streets. He died in a police cell in Kenora
on July 1st, 1994 [Canada Day].

I am running out of places to go in my little piece of land we call the
Grassy Narrows traditional land use area because most of it is being cut
down. I, like other people in my community have made a commitment to stop
the continued
destruction to what is left of the our land. This letter is just a start.

Yours Truly,
Joseph B. Fobister