Family, friends mourn Wabasse

Mourning has begun for Webequie’s Jordan Wabasse.
Cries broke out on the evening of May 11 when Lillian Suganaqueb told the searchers and others gathered at the Travelodge Hotel Airlane that the body found May 10 in the Kaministiquia River was confirmed to be Wabasse’s.
“At 7:55 the coroner contacted the mother and made positive identification,” said Suganaqueb, search coordinator of the 50 to 100 volunteers who had been looking for Wabasse since he went missing Feb. 7. “It’s Jordan.”
Webequie Elder Louis Waswa said a prayer for the family and loved ones shortly afterwards.
“It’s been very hard for the family and the community of Webequie,” said Matawa First Nations CEO David Paul Achneepineskum, one of those gathered at the Travelodge. “At the same time, now that they know what has happened to Jordan, I think it will start to bring some closure to the families and to the community of Webequie, and especially to his classmates at the Matawa Learning Centre. It has been a hard couple of months for them.
“For us, we pray for the family because it will take some time for them to heal. There are a lot of people in the Matawa communities that are right behind the family.”
Webequie Chief Cornelius Wabasse described Jordan as a young man who was close to his community and loved sports.
“He was a young man pursuing education here in the City of Thunder Bay,” Chief Wabasse said. “He liked hockey and sports.”
Chief Wabasse said it was a long day for his community as they waited for the results of the identification of the body.
"Now it is time to move forward and start working on the closure,” Chief Wabasse said.
Initial results of the May 11 postmortem examination indicate the cause of death was drowning, according to the Thunder Bay Police. Foul play is not suspected.
Thunder Bay Police reported recreational boaters discovered Jordan Wabasse’s body near the Western Grain Elevators just east of the James Street Bridge.
The 15-year-old Grade 9 Matawa Learning Centre student and award-winning midget B hockey goalie was last seen Feb. 7 after getting off a city bus late that evening one block away from his boarding house. He was reported missing by a guardian the next day.
“Jordan will be remembered fondly for his love of life and especially his love of hockey, which he pursued with skill, dedication and passion,” said Nishnawbe Aski Nation Deputy Grand Chief Terry Waboose, who holds the NAN education portfolio and spent much of the day with the group of searchers.
Waboose thanked all the volunteers and the three police services that helped search for Wabasse since he went missing.
“We worked alongside with a grandmother,” Suganaqueb said of the searchers. “There were a few volunteers that were there every single day. The grandmother — she just wouldn’t give up.”
Wabasse was the seventh NAN youth to die under similar circumstances since 2000 after relocating to Thunder Bay to attend high school.
“While we do not yet know the full details regarding Jordan’s disappearance, we do know that youth from NAN territory often find themselves without an adequate network of social support in an unfamiliar environment after moving hundreds of miles away from home,” Waboose said. “Each of these deaths is a tragedy and they must stop. We demand that the governments of Ontario and Canada work with First Nation leaders and educators to ensure that adequate support services are in place for students who must travel away from home for secondary school and to work with us to develop education services in all First Nations that is on par with the rest of Canada.”
Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Bruce Hyer attended the Travelodge gathering to meet with Jordan’s parents.
“I have a 15-year-old son and I can only imagine what it is like to send your son away to school in a faraway place — I wouldn’t want to do it,” Hyer said. “I enjoy having him around and he enjoys his family. So somehow we have to change things so kids don’t have to go so far away to school.”
Chief Wabasse asked how this could happen to youth who are attending high school in Thunder Bay.
“There are questions of how can you be more help for our students that come to urban centres,” Wabasse said.
Northern Nishnawbe Education Council executive director Jennifer Manitowabi called for action to ensure the safety of NNEC students after the May 11 Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School graduation ceremony.
“There are strategic plans in place and those will be announced on our website,” Manitowabi said. “We’re open to ideas. We encourage new ideas and thinking.”