The Indigenous Intrigue (entry no.6)

 Honestly I didn't think I was gonna write an entry today considering how much writing I've done in the last 24 hours. Yesterday at 2:00 pm I finally started working on my 1000 word essay which was due at midnight. I even went to the library by my house and bought myself a coffee frappe from McDonald's to force myself to work on it. After leaving the library and coming home, I continued to work on my essay on and off until I was forced to lock in for the final 3 hours before the submission deadline. I ended up submitting the essay at 11:58 pm and instantly went to bed even though I had a thousand other things to do. 

I ended up writing my essay about the Blackfoot indigenous language. It was actually very interesting and I enjoyed doing research on the topic. I even found an old book from 1892 documenting the history of the language and it's speakers. I was so intrigued that I actually saved that reference so I could eventually read the whole book. I'm a nerd I know. 

Ever since I can remember I have always been interested in the indigenous people of Canada. Part of that curiosity came from the curriculum my old French immersion school followed. Every year from grade 1 to grade 8 we would talk about the different First Nations communities. Every year I learnt something new and the more I learned the more I felt sorry for them. I continued to educate myself on the topic throughout high school. In grade 10 I took an environmental science course and learnt about Grassy Narrows, a First Nations reserve located in Kenora, Ontario. 

What I learnt broke my heart. During the 60's and 70's thousands upon thousands of kilograms of untreated Mercury was dumped carelessly into Grassy Narrows river system by the Dryden Chemical Company. This has destroyed the eco-system and many on the reserve have died as a result of Mercury poisoning. Today the English-Wabigoon River system continues to be contaminated with high levels of Mercury. The Grassy Narrows community continues to suffer from a careless mistake they did not make. But very few know about Grassy and those who do don't seem to care. It's so frustrating that just thinking about it makes me tear up. 

I've always felt very strongly about injustices such as these. My mom always says that I'm the type of person who would chain herself to a tree if I knew it was going to be struck down. Maybe I feel too much, but I'd rather that than feel nothing at all. 

You're still here? Meet me at entry no.7 :)

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