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Cramped homes became scarred by violence, with teens regularly the victims. Given these challenges, many people turned to alcohol to ease the pain of disability or idleness. Residents in Grassy Narrows must use bottled water, because the tap water is unsafe to drink. They said that he had neurological problems and he died in a very sad way,” Fobister said. “I saw one kid that died in agony not so long ago. Everyone seems to ignore the ailments the mercury problems.
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“I kind of resent the fact they’re going to spend money to do a cleanup. Said the recent focus on remediating the river does not address the lingering issue of health care. Services only cover a fraction of the travel.”Īfter decades of delay and mounting pressure from First Nations and environmental groups, the Ontario government announced in June that it would spend $85 million to clean up the mercury in the English-Wabigoon River. “They have to go to appointments in Winnipeg with a neurologist just about every month. “They’re never going to grow up normal,” Fobister said. He also has problems with memory and concentration and suffers from extreme headaches. Often has the sensation that he’s going to fall forward. Darwin has difficulty with his balance, and Two of his grandchildren, Darwin and Catherine, are “severely” affected by symptoms associated with mercury poisoning.
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It’s the youngsters Fobister worries about the most. Hidden from her family, what hope is there of healing?Ī Grassy Narrows member undergoes a medical assessment to determine the extent of mercury poisoning in his body. Her death has become an emblem of the social devastation that followed the environmental destruction at Grassy Narrows, leaving many to wonder: If a child’s plea for help can go unanswered and the details of her death can remain Listen to Jody Porter's radio documentary on Grassy Narrows.Azraya took it the worst.”įriends and family believe it was Azraya’s quest for help in dealing with her grief that led her to Kenora. That went through that, it makes everybody sad. We probably are, already, and we don’t know what’s going to happen because nobody is helping,” said Chayna Loon, one of Azraya’s cousins. “Knowing how Calvin died, we could all be dying. Then there’s the psychological stress of seeing your friends and family stricken with these problems.īut health services are limited to a small nursing station, and mental health counselling on the reserve is nearly non-existent.Īzraya’s friends believe her death was tied to her despair over the loss of her older brother Calvin, who died from mercury poisoning in 2014. Ninety per cent of the population in Grassy Narrows experiences symptoms of mercury poisoning, which include neurological problems ranging from numbness in fingers and toes to seizures and cognitive delays, according to a recent studyīy mercury specialists. Anishinaabe grandmothers sang a traditional mourning song, their drums echoing the rhythm of a heartbeat in the damp spring air. Candles flickered in the pink evening light, perfectly reflected This past April, on the first anniversary of her death, Azraya’s parents attended a vigil and wept quietly by the tree where their daughter’s body was discovered. Police and hospital officials refuse to answer questions about More than a year later, no one seems to know how she got there.Īzraya’s last interactions were with Ontario Provincial Police in Kenora and possibly staff at the hospital, where police say they dropped her off two days earlier. On April 17, 2016, Azraya was found dead in a wooded area just across the road from Lake of the Woods District Hospital in Kenora, Ont., 90 kilometres south of Grassy Narrows. The girl with the bright smile had just turned 14 when she left her family in Grassy Narrows First Nation in northwestern Ontario last spring in search of someone - or something - to ease her overwhelming grief.