Siksika chief responds

Page 5

Dear Editor:

In the Windspeaker article "The legacy of inadequate housing" (December 2003 edition), the Siksika Nation chief and council are accused of using housing as a "political tool." Had Windspeaker performed due diligence on the subject, it would have been realized that council was only looking out for the best interest of the Harry Good Eagle family.

Siksika Nation chief and council, the Siksika Housing Department, and the Public Works Department made every effort to accommodate Mr. Good Eagle when his house was flooded, including offering alternative housing units, but until recently he refused all offers.

Numerous attempts were made by the housing department to gain access to the house to assess the damage and determine what caused the flooding. When the department finally gained access it was determined that ruptured frozen pipes had caused the flooding and not "spring thaw" as was stated in the article.

Also not mentioned was that the house in question was built approximately 50 years ago and the cost of renovating the condemned house was projected to cost well beyond its assessed worth.

Water tests conducted in the area where the house was situated indicated the water was not conducive to human habitation. The iron, manganese, alkalinity and total dissolved solids were in excess of allowable limits and sulphate was close to the maximum limit. And up until the time of the flooding, an expensive iron filter and water distiller that had been installed did little to mitigate the problem.

The decision made by chief and council to encourage the Good Eagle family to take up another residence was based on health concerns for the family, as well as economics. In fairness to Windspeaker, it did identify the federal government and its limited housing budget as the source of contention concerning First Nation housing.

As mentioned earlier, Mr. Good Eagle has accepted to take up residence in another area of the reserve in a new home with much improved water conditions and we wish him well in future endeavors.

Siksika Nation chief and council will continue to make decisions some will consider controversial, but those decisions will, again, be based on what is in the best interest of Siksika Nation and its members.

We are currently researching alternative methods, similar to those mentioned in the article, to address housing problems. They include studying the feasibility of establishing independent home ownership for both on- and off-reserve members.

I want to extend a personal invitation to Windspeaker to visit Siksika to report on these initiatives and to hear the housing situation from a First Nation leadership perspective.

Siksika Nation chief and council has no interest, nor could they afford, to play "political football," a game played with human lives and emotions.

Sincerely,

Chief Strater Crowfoot

Siksika Nation chief and council