CPTnet
December 16, 2003
ASUBPEESCHOSEEWAGONG: Meeting our own needs

Tricia Brown

"When you see a beaver building a lodge, do you question why he does
it?" People ask Robert Williamson to explain why the people of Grassy
Narrows are harvesting and milling logs for building log homes, and this is
his response. They are finding ways to meet their needs - an act as
natural and creative as that of beavers building dams, or birds weaving
nests.

The Grassy Narrows community has experienced a housing shortage for years,
since INAC (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada) funding for housing falls
precipitously short of demand. Therefore, the community decided to build
their own houses from the resources available on their traditional land use
area.

About two years ago that the Grassy Narrows Band Council decided to purchase
a log mill to be used in the process of constructing log cabins for families
on the reserve. On November 24, 2003, a Roundtech mill, delivered to
Grassy Narrows from Finland, saw its first day of operation.

 The community is not out to prove something by using the mill, Robert said.
"The key," he says, "is actually believing it is our right, and feeling
comfortable using what is ours to use."

The log mill at Grassy Narrows sits atop a hill overlooking a lake. It is a
long, narrow, state-of-the-art machine that transforms the barky surfaces of
logs into surfaces smooth as tile and honey blond. It also notches the logs
to fit together into heavy, weather-tight walls. The log homes built by the
community will be not only practical and well-built, but beautiful. Eight
Grassy Narrows residents are employed in the milling
process, including those who harvest trees for the mill from the forest
surrounding the reserve.

The difference between the tree harvesting done by the Grassy Narrows
community loggers and that done by the logging companies the community has
been blockading over the past year is dramatic. The community takes only
what they need; logging contractors for the Abitibi corporation clearcut
wide areas. "After we've cut," says Robert, "you cannot tell where we've
been. We are careful about the damage we do, so that nature has the
ability to heal itself without our assistance. We do not damage the forest
in such a way that we have to go back and rebuild it. It can rebuild
itself naturally."

The Housing Committee of the Grassy Narrows Band will choose which families
on the reserve are eligible for log houses. The process envisioned by the
Band will allow families much more participation in the building of their
houses, will provide housing to Grassy Narrows families more efficiently
than INAC's methods, will make wise use of resources close to the community,
will produce less waste and by products, and will allow the
community greater autonomy in meeting their own needs.

 "We can see the benefits of actually going out and getting what we need,"
Robert says, "We can see it right away."