SACRED PLACE
WE PASS BURNING SAGE FOR THE FIGHT AHEAD TO SAVE SPIRIT ROCK
Lake Obabika -- The eastern shore
of Lake Obabika here in the Temagami wilderness is dominated by towering
red and white pines that are home to bears, wolves, pine martens and more
than 100 species of birds. Alex Mathias, the head of the Misa'be family,
left the reserve almost 10 years ago to make his home here and reconnect
with his ancestors, who had lived on the land for generations before contact
with white people.
On this Saturday, I'm sitting with Mathias and 35 other people, native
and white, around Spirit Rock, a centre of energy where the Anishnabe have
sat, fasted and sought guidance from their ancestors for millennia.
The smoke of burning sage is circulated to cleanse our spirits. Sacred
tobacco is passed around. Love for the land flows between us as the feather
of a juvenile bald eagle is handed around the circle.
One native woman speaks of her experiences as a child -- how she was taken
from her family at the age of four and placed in an abusive home in Alberta.
She still carries the scars. She also spoke of her connection to the land
here and how it has helped her to heal.
Later our tears will be transformed into peals of laughter as we swim
in the lake. But now we throw our tobacco into the sacred fire, asking our
ancestors to give us strength for the fight ahead.
Two large areas (blocks 30 and 46) not far from here, in the heart of
the Temagami wilderness, have been approved for logging by the Ontario government.
For more than 20 years a struggle has been going on between those who
want this area protected and those who want to profit from logging its natural
wealth of red and white pine.
The land is truly magnificent. Sadly, though, 200-plus years of logging
have taken their toll, particularly in the eastern section of Temagami, where
past clear-cuts are marked by logging roads and partially regenerated forests.
The Ontario government has assumed jurisdiction over the territory and handed
huge tracts over to logging companies.
I have visited many First Nations communities in Canada since my arrival
from the UK four years ago. One common theme resonates through all these
meetings. A way of life, a culture practised since time immemorial, is under
serious threat.
This culture is the land, and the land is the culture. One cannot survive without the other.
The land provides for all needs -- physical, emotional and spiritual.
The land is the grocery store, the community centre, the pharmacy and the
church.
In Temagami as elsewhere, as each new tree is felled, as each new clear-cut
appears, the integrity of the land begins to disappear .
The boundaries of block 30, slated for logging in early September, fall just 300 metres from Spirit Rock.
Mathias worries that the rumble of heavy machinery could cause the rock to topple.
He compares the loss of the surrounding forests to tearing down the church
while leaving the damaged altar behind. A place of healing will be lost forever.
Louise Molloy is forest campaigner with Earthroots.
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