Building homes - shattering stereotypes

Page 33

It's hard to say what makes these 13 women prouder - the houses they

have built, or the stereotypes they are tearing down. They are half way

through a 4,000 hour apprenticeship program that, when complete, will

qualify them as Native residential construction workers.

As Community Opportunity Planner for the Mississauga First Nation near

Blind River, Ont., Val Chiblow pulls several programs together to get

houses built while providing training opportunities for band members.

The Ontario Training and Adjustment Board provided the dollars ( about

$90,000) to pay for this particular program's 22 weeks of classroom

instruction. It was contracted out to the local community college.

Annually allotted federal band support funds for housing were used to

purchase "house packages" from a building supply company. The

successful tenderer in 1995 supplied the materials for the 86.4 sq. m

bungalows at $27,000 per house.

The Naadmaadwiiuk Management Board, which manages job creation and

training programs for Algoma area Aboriginals, kicked in training funds

that made it possible to pay the apprentices $7.50 per hour. (When

funding couldn't be found to pay the women for their final eight weeks

in the classroom they unanimously opted to finish the job without the

pay.)

When the course that began in January of 1995 was advertised as open to

native women with a minimum Grade 10 education, 26 applications were

submitted within seven hours. The unexpected deluge of interest

prompted Chiblow to get permission to add five more "seats" to the 10

originally approved. So far, of the 15 who started, only two have

withdrawn (one when she landed a full-time job; the other due to back

problems).

At a recent luncheon, Tammy Armstrong, Cindy Boyer, Janice Boyer, Kelly

Boyer, Roberta Boyer, Sandra Boyer, Gwen Cada, Mary Chiblow, Yvette

Jackpine, Felomena Labranche, Cheryl Morningstar, Linda Niganobe and

Trudy Niganobe were recognized for their accomplishments. All 13 had

passed the exam that concludes the program's classroom instruction and

logged 24 weeks of building experience.

Val has implemented many other band projects, but this one she

considers special, because she believes the women are doing so much more

than building houses. They are building personal and community pride

and serving as positive role modes for other girls and women in the

community.

Last summer, after eight weeks of braving the elements, biting bugs and

blackened fingernails, the construction workers were still brimming with

enthusiasm as they sweated the houses into shape. The women worked in

two crews, one watched over by instructor, Robin Horwath, the other

under the supervision of carpenter, Roy Jackpine.

"I'm surprised at how fast they are catching on. I've worked with

people in the trade for 17 years, they've caught on as fast as anyone

I've worked with," Horwath said as his crew continued their hammering

from the rafters. He confessed that he hadn't known what to expect at

first. "I didn't know what to think. I just didn't know how they would

handle the 'bull work' of the foundation but they handled it extremely

well."

The women had some doubts of their own.

"We were too scared to go up on a roof without being tied to it just a

few weeks ago," Cindy Boyer admitted, then adds with a healthy pinch of

pride, "but now we do a dance up there."

"There were 15 of us who didn't know how to do any of this. We never

held a hammer or touched a block, but we've encouraged each other," said

Yvette Jackpine, agreeing with her peers that pulling together, both

emotionally and physically, has been their source of strength.

There were those who said they'd never do it.

"They thought that the women weren't capable of lifting (the blocks and

the roof trusses), that they weren't physically fit for the work," said

Nanette Boyer, whose sister, Kelly is an apprentice.

But, with an attendance record Horwath called "exceptional", workers so

gung-ho they often showed up early even when star time was 7 a.m., and

with six new houses ready for decorating and habitation (apprentice

Linda Niganobe now lives in one of them), community opinion has changed.

"I think the general opinion of the community now is they are very

proud of the women and they are saying - are they ever fast, are they

ever doing a good job," Val Chiblow said.

The women need another 2,000 hours of supervised work experience for

full certification. The plan is to hire the women again this year.

Besides the usual five, the band has decided to purchase the materials

for several additional houses this year using money from a trust fund

established through a recent land claim settlement. While new job

opportunities are the obvious pay-off for these women, even if they

never get paid to pound in another nail, their time and effort won't

have been wasted. The many useful skills they now possess have them

relishing a new sense of independence and accomplishment. And they talk

about the other valuable lessons they have learned: How to work as a

team; that it feels good to work; that the harder or scarier a job is,

the better it feels to have done it; that confidence comes from success

and accomplishment.

And there, standing solid and substantial before the eyes of the entire

community, are the houses - modest, functional, sturdy shelters that

should be there for decades to come.

In one builder's words: "Twenty years down the road we'll be able to

say, or our kids will, those are the houses that our moms built."