Land helping to heal

Joseph Remi Nakogee and his siblings are on a healing journey after their late sister Dakota passed away last year. She was 16.
“Over the summer, (the family) decided to build a modern teepee for our late sister with a bonfire inside,” said the 33-year-old Attawapiskat band member. “We all pitched in – even my little daughter Shawnessy pitched in sometimes.”
Nakogee was impressed with the turnout from the community when they held the bonfire in memory of Dakota, who left behind a young daughter.
“Everybody showed up and were impressed at how the teepee looked like,” Nakogee said. “After we were done with the teepee, we decided to go back to our late grandparents’ campsite to fix up the house and try to make a few cabins for extended family members.”
The family wants to complete their healing journey by rebuilding the cabin their late grandparents Emile and Sabeth Nakogee built at Ekwan Point, located about 25 kilometres northeast of Attawapiskat along the James Bay coast.
“I spent a lot of time with my grandparents there,” Nakogee said. “Every time they had a chance to take me out I always went with them.”
Although Nakogee and his siblings have not been out to their grandparent’s campsite for about 10 years, they want to use the cabin to rediscover the traditional teachings passed on by their grandparents. Emile Nakogee is still recognized across Nishnawbe Aski Nation territory and an annual Keewaywin Award is named after him: the Emile Nakogee Award for Outstanding Leadership.
“I’m trying to instill those values on my siblings,” Nakogee said, noting he is the oldest of six brothers and five sisters and his youngest sibling is 10 years old.
Nakogee would usually help his grandfather build a blind in the spring for hunting geese and ducks along the James Bay coast.
During the summer he would help his grandfather set up gillnets to catch fish from the bay. Two of his sisters were old enough to help their grandmother.
“Every day was an adventure,” Nakogee said.
In January, Nakogee and two of his siblings travelled to the campsite to check out the condition of the cabin.
Family looks to honour fallen sister
“We were awed at the sight that greeted us, how so much of the area has changed in our absence,” Nakogee said in an e-mail message. “Our Mooshum/Gookums house was in bad shape.”
Nakogee said the family made the decision to burn down the cabin before the trip, but once they were at the campsite they couldn’t do it – they felt all their siblings should be there.
“It’s pretty peaceful, tranquil,” Nakogee said about the campsite. “You don’t overanalyze anything that needs to be done. It’s just simple.”
Nakogee said the landscape has changed significantly since a forest fire burned through the area about 10 years ago.
“There is plenty of dry wood now for the stove,” Nakogee said. “My brothers were all in shock when they saw the campsite. You could just see their jaws drop when we got there.”
Nakogee and his brothers had originally planned to rebuild the campsite with frame buildings, but after receiving little response to a request for donations of building supplies, they are now thinking about building log houses.