4 May 2013 – First Nations Drum

Ontario has a very large number

of tribes, natives, indigenous

populations that have survived all

forms of deceit so far from non na-

tive policies, agendas and activities.

Yet the way things are going non na-

tives might not survive from the de-

ceit of their own agendas. With the

abundance of farmland which pro-

duces a rich supply of fresh food for

Ontario why sell this fast green belt

and parklands, to hungry develop-

ers for huge profits.

Seeing how Ontario is full of rich

farmland so is the province with

adequate parklands, watersheds,

marshland which too is under ex-

treme threat by developers. Not

only are natural spaces and natural

environment used by the farmers

and the public but the indigenous

people of Ontario are maintaining

their way of life and culture with a

vigorous restoration and resurgence

through education ,sharing ,healing

and ceremony. Why is there such

a threat to natural environment/

Mother Earth and those who try to

live with green space and try to pro-

tect other life, animals, birds, fish,

and insects which are our relations?

They say the Bumble Bee is threat-

ened and if we loss them it could

bring about a human disaster why

is this so hard to believe?

There is an incredible ever grow-

ing interest and need by the public

which enjoy and visit native POW

wows and cultural events in On-

tario and through out Canada to-

day! In fact there is a link with POW

wows, green spaces native culture

and parklands. Nothing is more im-

portant today then healing, health

and peace in tranquil environment

especially for native and non native

youth who many are suffering from

stress.

Ontario and Canada could be in a

double crisis if rich parklands farm-

lands water ways which surround

cities and reservations are exploited

or mismanaged. The Springwater

Provincial Park has been cut fund-

ing from parklands Ontario. Spring-

water is between Barrie Ontario

and the Great Georgian Bay home to

the Great Ojibwa Nation, Mohawks,

Wendat, Huron, Métis and many

other indigenous people not to men-

tion non natives and everyone’s

children. The way Ontario is head-

ed if Parklands like Springwater are

closed down our sanctuaries will be

neglected or possibly sold to build

500 thousand dollar condos similar

to the way Beaver Pond Forest was

attacked and destroyed only 2 years

ago in Kanata near Ottawa.

Beaver Pond Forest was defend-

ed by native elders the late Grand-

father William Commanda, Bob

Lovelace, Daniel Bernard, myself

and native and non native citizens

with environmentalists even some

scientists helped out and many more

but with closed eyes from all levels

of government. Beaver Pond Forest

was mainly all clear cut. Not only

was Beaver Pond Forest cut down

but it was an ancient old growth

forest was cut down! Hundreds of

non natives rallied with natives in

a struggle which we close our eyes

in shame at all levels of government

in Ottawa for not listening to the

people and standing up while there

was still hope for the trees and life

species.

With this lesson and there are

many more we as Ontarians must

never allow such atrocities to ever

happen again. Springwater Provin-

cial Park with fresh aquifers shoot-

ing out from Mother Earths belly

must remain a funded Provincial

Ojibway Elder Beth Elson Leads in Defending Springwater Provincial Park

Story and photos by Danny Beaton | www.dannybeaton.ca

Krystyna Holly Brown (left) and Beth Elson (right) at Springwater Provincial Park photo by Danny Beaton May 2013

May 2013 – First Nations Drum 5

Park and heritage place now for

generations to come.

Deer, wolf, coyote porcupine fox

fisher, rabbit live in Springwater

not to mention frogs, snakes, tur-

tles, salamanders and other rela-

tives. Springwater is over 100 year

old provincial park even the town

it is in is named Springwater. The

thick Pine Forest, Cedar Trees and

Spruce cover the park and nurture

all the life that sustains itself. Sur-

face Spring flows out freely natu-

rally so one can bend into it and

drink clean pure fresh water from

Mother Earth’s body. Georgian Bay

would never be the same if it ever

disappeared like Beaver Pond For-

est or the riches developer. It is a

heritage place a home to life species

which are spectacular to see liv-

ing and moving in good health the

way we all should be. It seems our

country can be bought and sold to

the highest bidder daily even it can

be sold to China but our ancestors

would never have let this happen

if they really knew where we were

headed! We as human beings need

to really take time to look at all the

facts , information, statistics and

see how much life has disappeared

and is suffering road kills are every

where when we head up north and

when you see a dead adult many

times their youth will wonder back

to see and be killed too. Our parks,

farmland, water must be protected

as with our animals, birds, fish and

honey bees.

The Late Grandfather William Commanda Speaks Out For Life

In many respects, it is too late

because many of our children and

people have been educated and

raised in new ways and now be-

lieve in ownership of land. Many

have forgotten their sacred rela-

tionship with Mother. You cannot

own Mother, we belong to her. So

we must stop the endless cutting of

trees that produce oxygen and life

breath. Trees hold the waters and

prevent flooding and mudslides.

Trees create; protect gardens of

biodiversity and medicine plants.

The forests of the world are habi-

tats of the fourleggeds and winged

creatures. The rivers are the veins

of Mother Earth, and everywhere

dams impede her movement of wa-

ter life and accumulate debris and

poison are not washed out to seas

for cleaning. Our cancers are a re-

flection of the poisons and contami-

nations in our Mother Earths body.

We must respect the four elements

and creatures of the natural world.

We must reignite a Sacred Relation-

ship with Mother Earth if we are to

survive. Take prayer and ceremony

and tobacco to her and to particu-

larly sacred energy places. We need

to influence the mainstream world

with the ideology of Indigenous en-

vironmental Ethics/values.

Indigenous Peoples who have re-

tained the sacred connection with

the lands of their birth and ances-

tors have a special role to play in

the healing of Mother Earth and all

her children and in decrying com-

modification of every aspect of her

being. This is our biggest job, and

we must prepare ourselves for it by

going back to the land for guidance.

Mother Earth is an endlessly cre-

ative spiritual being. Decades ago,

Indigenous people prophesied that

she would start her own process of

cleaning and over recent years we

have begun to see this in the dev-

astating hurricanes, earthquakes

,droughts ,floods ,fires ,and mud-

slides across the globe. She is also

generating new life forms and land

so she will continue to be a powerful

creative force. But nothing is free on

Mother Earth any more people own

everything, you can no longer travel

safely and you can no longer pick

wild berries or call other food life,

so Mother Earth cannot provide for

use in her own way the way. And we

have abused our sacred relationship

with her and so we have to pay for

that. We have to reconnect with the

4 elements and learn to work with

them as our ancestors did in order

to create hope for our children.

Beth ElsonSpeaks out

We are strong minded women

who are here to establish a place to

come together to make our nations

stronger by providing spiritual guid-

ance and traditional role modeling

to benefit all nations. The occupa-

tion is going great and the Ministry

needs to open the gates and allow

the disabled and our elders access

to this place as well. We have been

requesting the gates be opened for

ceremonies and they refuse to open

them. We are building a lodge later

this week and putting a call out for

fire keepers and campers.

We call the place-Springwater

Park-Camp Nibi. We have taken

over the lands of Springwater Pro-

vincial Park which was previously

cared for by the Ministry of Natural

Resources. It was a financial burden

to the Provincial Government which

no longer could afford to assume

the responsibility for the park. Our

objectives are to maintain the park

and create a business for the First

Nations and employment for our

people. The First Nations has many

unique and diverse programs that

will be of benefit to the surround-

ing communities. Our unique con-

nection to the land leads the way to

inventive programs to inform and

establish connection to the wild-

life, forest, lands, water, and air.

Our traditions and culture are to

be shared and our knowledge is to

be passed on so people can relate to

Mother Earth and gain connection

and respect. Our education and the

education of the communities sur-

rounding our territories will be en-

hanced by the unique relationship

we have to discover in one another.

Beth and Krystyna both work with Les Steward and local citizens to protect Springwater Provincial Park photo by Danny Beaton May 2013