Lake St. Martin First Nations
After the Flood
Manitoba, Canada(2013-2017)
Story Published in The Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail
After decades of watching their homes grow moldy Lake St. Martin Residents were finally permanently flooded out in May 2011 many in which continue to live in temporary housing.
The government chose the latter, effectively saving urban and agricultural properties from catastrophic floodwaters. But the artificial flood decimated the homes and infrastructure of the Lake St. Martin First Nation (LSMFN) community, forcing its entire population to be permanently evacuated. Residents left behind most of their belongings, and more intangibly, their livelihoods. Relocated to hotels or temporary housing without land to hunt and fish or kitchens to cook in-- without means of earning income or adequate compensation for their destroyed properties-- the community was devastated.
Lake St. Martin reserve is quiet as nearly all residents have taken part in the mandatory evacuation.
Danielle Sinclair-Traverse at the condemned Lake St. Martin school that was flooded out long before the final evacuation.
Single mother Edee O’mara holds her youngest daughter Moon as she takes a break from moving her family for the 44th time in 6 years. The trauma of moving her family yet another time in this long displacement is palpable.
Natalie Forbes tries to calm her crying grandson Lucas as she walks up and down the halls of her temporary home in a one-bedroom hotel room in Winnipeg that she shares with her daughter. She has yet to return to the reserve since she was evacuated, and her house has since been demolished.
A pregnant teen girl from Lake St. Martin and her boyfriend spend the way watching television.
Moon cuddles on a small rug during her family's 44th move. Her mother tells me that in order to feel a sense o security, Moon builds a rug in the corner of all the hotels and temporary homes they have been evacuated to.
Kassidy Pelletier gets help with her graduation cap from her mother Jenny Pelletier before making her Grade 9 valedictorian speech at a temporary school in Winnipeg for Lake St. Martin students. She is one of four Grade 9 students to graduate in June out of 14 students who initially enrolled in the fall of 2012.
Rosey plays at a video lottery terminal (VLT) at the hotel where evacuees pick up their living allowance cheques once a month. In November 2012 their living allowance fell from $23 a day to $4 a day for all expenses besides rent. Gambling is readily available to many evacuees as their hotels feature VLTs and some are attached to casinos.
Rio, who is cared for by his elderly family members, is soothed at a restaurant.
Lake St. Martin and other First Nations fisherman and their families protest the re-opening of the Lake St. Martin emergency channel. The province claims the outlet will alleviate flooding while fisherman claim it is devastating their fishing livelihood.
A traditional pow-wow is held at a neighbouring reserve where a few Lake St. Martin band members attended. The long displacement has made it difficult for an otherwise tight-knit community to practice customs and language that goes along with that.
After such a long 7-year displacement a new land deal withe government has finally been struck and construction underway. But the question for many remains-- where is the best place for your family when your children are in schools and have adjusted to live in the city? So much has been lost that cannot be rebuilt and what can be rebuilt on this new land which experts have questioned it's viability and flood-prone history.