Eabametoong First Nation – The Eabametoong First Nation is Fort Hope states in a media release that the community “Is very appreciative of support that the community has received over the last couple of days, after declaring a State of Emergency last Friday. Chief Lewis Nate says; “Other Matawa First Nations leaders have immediately come to our community, and have helped us create a larger voice. This crisis is not exclusive to Eabametoong First Nation, it is a situation that many First Nations can face or have dealt with in the past.”
Both levels of government have also made announcements of assistance, looking to allocate funds for supplies, security, and reconstruction of the school,” Nate continues; “This is short term assistance to help us restore order in the community, but we also need necessary resources to provide long term solutions to the larger issues, such as the drug epidemic that triggers much of the crime occurring in the First Nation.”
Currently Eabamentoong First Nation membership is participating in group meetings to discuss the needs of the northern community. The community has invested a lot of funding into the crisis over the past year in attempt to move the First Nation forward, however this has set Eabametoong First Nation back- with debt and resources not available for other necessities.
Chief Nate says; “We are not going to just sit back and wait for help. We need to get our community organized.
We continue to work on implementing the 7-point action plan that was developed for this crisis. We know what the problems are, but what I am telling the people of Eabametoong First Nation today, is that we have to stop blaming each other and move forward, we need to be willing to work together and it has to come from the heart.”
On October 22nd, 2010, Eabametoong First Nation declared a State of Emergency following a series of violent crimes that caused community members to fear for their personal safety. To date, these crimes continue.