Shoal Lake 40 shares optimistic vision of future during annual treaty day celebrations

Some members of Shoal Lake 40 returned home for the first time during its annual treaty day celebrations, and they're hopeful for the community's future after decades of forced isolation and a lack of clean drinking water.

Chief Kevin Redsky says this year's celebrations are not just big for Shoal Lake 40, but for all of Treaty 3, as it marks 150 years since the document was originally signed in 1873.

"It's a proud day for Shoal Lake 40," Redsky said, adding that a family gathering, canoe races and storytelling events are part of this year's festivities.

The northwestern Ontario community near the Manitoba-Ontario border has been the source of Winnipeg's water for more than a century. It was left isolated on a man-made island after the city's aqueduct was completed in 1915.

"That's a long way back," Redsky said. "We struggled as a First Nation just for basic survival."

The community was only accessible by ice road in the winter or by barge in the summer until 2019, when Shoal Lake 40 gained year-round road access. The First Nation was able to build a school and its first-ever water treatment plant in 2021, ending 24 years of boil water advisories.

Redsky says his community is just now grabbing hold of opportunities lost over that century of isolation. "Our ultimate goal is to catch up to Canada. We're so far behind."

A commemorative plaque for the treatment plant was unveiled on Tuesday, which is dedicated to all those who "endured the prolonged trauma and risk of inadequate water systems, and the insult of 24 years of inaction by Indigenous Services Canada."

The community filed a lawsuit against Winnipeg and Ottawa last July, saying it continues to experience long-term cultural, economic and social effects from that century of forced isolation, according to the statement of claim filed in Ontario Superior Court.

The isolation made it challenging for community members to maintain businesses or even get basic necessities such as gas, mail and groceries, the lawsuit said. Many left to pursue better education, employment and housing opportunities, according to Redsky.

Laurie Barnard, who grew up in Redditt, Ont., said she got chills as she entered Shoal Lake 40 for the first time on Tuesday.

For a long time, all Barnard knew about her mother's home community was that it was accessible by ice road in the winter and by ferry in the summer. She was hurt to learn that Winnipeg sourced its drinking water from Shoal Lake 40 while the community struggled under a long-term boil water advisory.

"It just tore me apart. It never made any sense," she told CBC News.

She hopes to return to the community more often in the future, and said making connections during the treaty day celebrations will allow her to do that.