No swearing allowed in new home
Temporary communities for flooded Siksika Nation residents come with unwelcome rules
SIKSIKA NATION — From the top of one of the many rolling hills found in the southeast corner of Siksika Nation, Warren Drunken Chief watched with his family as water inundated their neighbourhood, known as Little Washington, and destroyed their home.
More than a month later, some of the 1,000 band members left homeless by the flooding have started moving into the first of three temporary communities provided by the province.
Drunken Chief hopes to move into one of the temporary homes, but knows that it will come at a cost.
Residents say no smoking or pets are allowed, and that a 10 p.m. curfew has been enacted on Saturdays.
Security guards provided by the band, but administered in part by ATCO, are on-site and quick to throw out anyone who is not wearing one of the coloured wristbands required to be in the camp.
Vulgar language, alcohol and inappropriate clothing are not permitted either, according to residents.
“We’ve pretty well lost our freedom now, but in order to keep our family safe we’re going to have to live with it, just abide by their rules and accept what we’re going to get right now,” Drunken Chief said.
“When we move into the trailers, we’re appreciative — they’re going to get us out of the winter. But to take away our freedom is another thing.”
Siksika Nation is about 100 kilometres east of Calgary.
Drunken Chief joined a handful of other band members who say the camp’s strict policies remind them of an ugly part of Canadian history.
“We’re pretty well being colonized right now, that’s what is going to happen to us,” Drunken Chief said.
Most of the rules are standard ATCO accommodation rules, says David Dear, a spokesman for the provincial department of aboriginal relations. And the alcohol rule was at the request of band leadership, Dear said.
“That was apparently for reasons of safety,” he said.
There are discussions underway to construct a sheltered smoking area and to provide exemptions to the curfew for those who have night jobs, Dear said.
Dear couldn’t confirm whether there were rules regarding a dress code or vulgar language.
Construction crews are still working on what is being called Deerfoot Community, the first of three temporary communities being built. The trailers are described as small, with limited places to eat or shower.
There are 100 beds available at the Deerfoot site and about half of those were filled as of Friday, Dear said. To get a bed, evacuees fill in an application form and the band makes the decision about who gets in where, he said.
The units have hot and cold water, and the site has an eating area where residents are given three meals a day, he said.
Dear stressed that the units are a temporary measure, and that longer-term accommodations are being prepared.
“But the reality is, it’s going to take time. And in the meantime this temporary shelter will be a little better than what they’ve had so far and obviously closer to home,” he said.
Not everyone is allowed into the fenced community. One band member, who asked that his name not be used for fear of retribution, said many are being kept out of the temporary camp until construction is finished.
He’s staying in his own trailer near the site and hopes to park it closer to Deerfoot Community soon. He wants to park within the fenced community for safety, he said.
“I find it very strict out here,” one band member said.
Longer-term “temporary” communities for Siksika are still under construction.
For now, Drunken Chief is unable to return home. The province deemed his house uninhabitable.
“The mould, from the flood that washed right through the home, is all upstairs,” Drunken Chief said. “We lost everything.” He has camped for more than 40 days with about two dozen of his family members. He said there are good days and bad days within their makeshift campground — dubbed Three Bulls Camp by one of the elders on the site.
“The future is completely bleak because we can’t plan it. We have no idea where we are going to end up,” said Drunken Chief, who added that they live one day at a time.
Drunken Chief said he considered moving his family to Calgary but was deterred by the city’s low vacancy rate.
He finds some solace in the fact he isn’t alone in facing an uncertain future. Many band members are still left with unanswered questions about their homes.
“Everybody is all misplaced,” Dallas Duckchief said.
Duckchief’s home is uninhabitable. Like others from one of the six areas of the reserve hit hard by flooding, he’s staying with family for now.
“We were all put in different areas all over the reserve,” he said of his fellow band members.
Some are concerned the relief stations, including Deerfoot Community, aren’t being set up close enough to the hardest hit areas.
Stephen Yellow Old Woman used to live in the Little Chicago community.
“It’s been a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of speculation and wondering,” he said.
Several residents, including Yellow Old Woman and Drunken Chief, said they wonder when they will be allowed to move back home and where all the money coming in via donations will land.
Drunken Chief is certain the 6,000 people living in Siksika Nation, where a boil-water advisory is still in effect, won’t soon forget the June flood.
To make sure of that, he plans to mark Three Bulls Camp so the story can be passed on to future generations.
“We’re going to leave a little monument to signify where we were, and this year, 2013.”