Traditional foods contaminated, study reveals

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A two-year study has revealed high levels of contaminants in the wild meat and fish consumed by Grassy Narrows and Wabauskang First Nations.

One hundred and eighty samples of animals that include otter, beaver, muskrat, moose, rabbit, deer, marten, jackfish and pickerel were collected. Lab results for 93 per cent of the samples collected show high levels of mercury, arsenic, cadmium, lead, tin or other heavy metals.

"Our study found that mercury was higher in animals that were top predators of the food chain and carnivores. The otters are at the top of this food chain because of what they eat. This study found otters to have the highest levels of mercury. Mink, marten and fishers, which are predators, also showed mercury contamination," said Dr. Leanne Simpson, the project co-ordinator and a member of the Alderville First Nation.

Simpson cautioned members of the two communities to avoid or cut down their consumption of fish and otter until more studies can be done.

This is the third contaminant study conducted on the wildlife at Grassy Narrows First Nation. At Wabauskang First Nation, this is the first time testing of fish and game has been completed.

Grassy Narrows First Nation is located 80 km north of Kenora and 500 people live on reserve. About 90 live at Wabauskang First Nation, situated 67 km northwest of Dryden.

Judy Da Silva is the project manager for the Grassy Narrows study. She believes that many of the ailments seen on reserve, including babies being born with tumours, is linked to contaminants that come from paper mills located in Kenora and Dryden.

"We started questioning the pollution that's coming from them, like 'how would it get to us?' And we thought of the wild meats that we still eat and the water, the plants, blueberries, wild rice, things we take from the forest," said Da Silva.

In the late 1960s and 1970s, the Reed Paper Mill located in Dryden dumped inorganic mercury into the English-Wabigoon River system, which tainted the food supply of the First Nations. In the early 1980s, Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemong First Nation near Kenora received financial compensation from the mill and the federal government.

Betty Riffle, project manager for the Wabauskang study, said her community has never received compensation for the effects of mercury contamination. Around the time of the mercury dumping, Riffle said many people from Wabauskang First Nation were living in Quibell, 60 km from Dryden. Riffle recalls at least six bottle-fed babies, including her own nine-month-old brother, who died as a result of what she believed to be mercury poisoning. Riffle suspects others in her family, including a niece who has spina bifida, have fallen ill as a result of contaminants.

"Mercury doesn't go away in the environment, and it works its way through the water, ecosystem, onto the land," said Simpson.

Although tests point to a relationship between mercury and the illnesses that people in both communities have suffered, Simpson said more studies need to be done to establish a solid relationship between the two.

"The biggest cause and effect relationship in the Grassy and Wabauskang story is really between that mercury and some of the symptoms and the illnesses that people have developed now. Because there's documentation of that large spill (in Dryden), we know that it's the environment. We know that we've been exposed to it. That's an easier thing to do, but we would definitely need to have more studies to say anything to make those links," said Simpson.

Da Silva said she would like to see more studies done before launching official inquiries into the effects of industry on human health. Further testing may include blood and hair samples from young mothers and other women of childbearing age.

"A priority we're looking at is the health of our children and our grandchildren that are coming and our great grandchildren ... if we don't do something now, they have a verybad future ahead of them. The water's going to be no good, the air's going to be no good, the plants will be no good," said Da Silva.

Riffle said she would like Wabauskang First Nation compensated with follow-up care for the mercury poisoning and land in Quibell where some members are buried.

"I'd like to have something done ... I'm getting old and I'd like my community to have something that we're entitled to ... I'm thinking it would be nice if we could have our road done. Our road is so bad. If we ever get compensation, those are things I'd like to have done, and also housing is a very bad thing in every Native community."

This year, the project's $160,000 budget was provided by the North American Fund for Environmental Cooperation and the Ontario region of Health Canada. The Assembly of First Nations Environmental Contaminants Program has provided another grant for next year's tests.

"If the results turn out to be showing that the contaminant levels are low and comparable to other regions in Canada, then I think we need to go back and work with the community and try to figure out if something else is going on. If contaminants are very high then I think we would ... come together with the community and decide on a strategy, whether that would be working with the AFN or other political organizations to put pressure on Indian Affairs and Health Canada to deal with the issue," said Simpson.