The Beausoleil First Nation submitted the following statement as evidence to the Ontario Municipal Board in December of 2001. Merle Assance Beedie, Elder to the First Nation, graciously provided these words of wisdom. It concerns the impacts of a proposed golf coarse and housing development. The issue has now been resolved.

Anishnaabe Cultural Perspective on the Natural World

Dear Mr. Chairman:

We would like to thank you for providing us the opportunity to share a few beliefs from the principles of our traditions.

As you know, we had few opportunities to do this when your ancestors arrived in our land. Just as we have few opportunities to explain how we feel about the development since it was proposed. We believe that all things: plants, animals, people, water, trees, air, rocks, and mother earth, need to be considered for such projects, not just in the present, but also for seven generations. We are here, after all, because of the foresight of our forefathers, and like them, we must be mindful of those who are yet unborn for seven generations to come. If we may, we would like to invite you to do the same. We know that it is difficult to think this far ahead. The rapid changes that are occurring in the world today have overtaken our Christian Island community as well, and the first step in accomplishing the foresight that is needed, is to carefully consider the whole environment around us. When this is done with kindness and respect, then the Spirit internal to all living things will reveal itself. The elders have instructed that the knowledge thus gained is the basis of planning for the future.

First and foremost of our concerns regarding this development is the impact on our drinking water. Since ancient times we have regarded water as a precious element, and hold it as a sacred part of our ceremonies. The Creator used this sacred element, along with that of air, the spirit of fire, and mother earth herself, to create humanity. All living things are made up of water and depend on it to live. Indeed, not one of us can blink an eye, draw breath, or even speak without water. Every cell in our being requires this element in order to function. Today, as in ages past, we still honour this life-giving force in our daily ceremonies. The women of our nations are the ones who conduct the water portion of our ceremonies, since they share with water the power to bring forth life. It is the eldest and wisest woman present, usually a grandmother, who conducts the teaching and instructs the rest of the women about their responsibility to care and protect the water as a powerful spiritual and medicinal entity. We know that our community, as well as the Penetanguishene Peninsula, is underlain by a reservoir placed there by the glaciers. The aquifers that reach up from that reservoir are like the veins of mother earth. We are, therefore, deeply concerned about the many homes proposed for this development.

Will they draw so greatly from these veins that they begin to dry up? Will their septic beds leach into these veins and pollute them? Will the use of salts on roads and driveways do the same? We are also worried about the many substances that will be used by the proposed golf course. Will the pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides begin to poison these veins of water that mother earth has so graciously supplied? If this project proceeds, we would like assurances that the water supply will be continually monitored, so that problems, such as occurred in Walkerton, Ontario, will not go unnoticed.

Our concern also extends to the waters of Christian Channel. Will these polluting substances reach the channel? A mere fifty years ago we could draw drinking water directly out of Georgian Bay. Today our island community requires the use of a water treatment plant. Will more treatment plants be built because of this development? The channel has also been an important spawning and feeding area for different species of fish. These areas are now so few because man-made interferences have altered the habitat. Yet our residents have derived a livelihood by fishing these waters for many generations. Fish are held in high esteem by our people. We know the fish to be wise beings with cosmic knowledge.

They travel in their water world always gazing upwards, observing all things. We believe that they hold council every morning at dawn to discuss mankind’s needs and many willingly volunteer to give up their gift of life that day so that the human kind may have sustenance. We believe the Creator arranged this ultimate sacrifice, of the sharing of life and kindness. Out of respect and gratitude, fishermen are instructed to offer gifts of tobacco, which is considered a sacred medicine. It is also a tradition to soak nets in cedar water, another sacred medicine. Will this development threaten the health of these creatures that more properly deserve our thanks?

Our final concern is the proposed shredding of the forest. This may increase the flow of pollutants as the soil and thus the groundwater movement will change. It will also open this area to the introduction of new plants and animals, at the expense of those already here. Though this development proposes to spare many trees, it will sacrifice just as many.

When we look out into this wooded area, we do not simply see a bunch of trees. For us, every tree is an individual entity. Some are male, and some are female, not in a botanical sense, but in the role that each tree plays. For every species and variety, some will grow more slender and stretch their branches upwards; these are males. Some will grow wider and stretch their branches outward; these are female. They can be seen in families, with the young saplings of the mature mothers and fathers being sheltered by the giant grandmother and grandfather trees. As more than one species begin to grow together in the same forest, they start to form a community. These communities have been steadfast in their tasks since the beginning of time. The trees hold a very special meaning and purpose to all other living things. They have provided medicines for our sick and the materials to build our homes. They have fed our fires so that we could cook our food and warm our shelters. They shade us from the sun, shelter the small animals, birds, and insects, and, most importantly of all, purify the air that we breathe and the water we drink. We believe that such unwavering devotion is truth, the truth of kindness and love, the truth of strength and respect. As with all the other creatures, trees willingly provide for our needs. In return they must be treated with kindness and respect due any family or community. Will their kindness to us be forgotten? Will the respect they are due be ignored? Will the truth they represent to us be, quite literally, cut down?

We knew that when your ancestors arrived, it would mean more people and that more people would mean a greater use of the land. But our ancestors also knew that survival required a respectful relationship with the land. They knew as well that it meant a respectful relationship between our two peoples, and an understanding of one another’s ways of life. Have we been granted a second opportunity to work towards a shared responsibility in our relationships? The Creator placed the plants on mother earth first, then the animals, and finally the humans. We need them for our existence, but they have no necessity for us. We need to reciprocate the kindness given to us by the water, by the animals, and by the trees. We are concerned that the rapid changes which will be brought about by this development and the addition of potentially toxic chemicals will alter the behaviour of the plants, the trees, then the animals, and eventually us. In our language there is no word for “planning”; the closest expression we have is “Neegan NaaNaa Gdawendang”. It translates as “Thinking Ahead Carefully”. If this is to be done, then both you and we must act on the wisdom learned from the past, share kindness in the present, and respect a common hope for the future.