Jackfish Metis Association lends a hand during COVID

Jackfish Metis Association

The Jackfish Metis Association is based in Schreiber, Ontario and was established to both promote heritage and provide aid to Metis and first nations people in the township. Jon MacDonald is a founding member and director and and is still actively involved after over twenty years. Donna Mikeluk from the Schreiber Media Centre, caught up with Jon recently to discuss the organization and the many ways in which it benefits not only the residents but the municipality itself. Without the contribution of the Metis and voyageurs, the landscape of Canada would be quite different. The Jackfish Metis association also contributes school bursaries and donations to various organizations in the surrounding areas. There is an emergency fund programme in place as part of the community aid initiative as well. The organization is affiliated with the Ontario Coalition of Indigenous People (OCIP) who are connected to the Congress of Aboriginal People, a federally funded organization managing various provincial territorial organizations. As covid continues affecting the livelihood of people, the organization has become even more important as the need for assistance has increased and the organization believes it has a responsibility to people in the community it is based in. 

The association actively takes part in many projects by providing local knowledge of natural history and the geographic makeup of the north shore of Lake Superior. Consultation takes place with mining and environmental assessment activities and other government departments whenever there is any new development planned that might have an impact on traditional ways of life or possible damage to the environment. A mapping project is being proposed as a means to show where Metis interaction occurred along the area and help to preserve history. As Voyageurs expanded west, the region of Thunder Bay grew to accommodate the additional traffic and commerce that followed. The emphasis on family has become more important as younger generations had moved away in order to secure employment and find new opportunities. Today technology has allowed the combining of traditional and modern ways and Jon remains optimistic about the future and feels there could be a possible resettling of the area due to metropolitan fatigue.