Ancestral home is where the heart is for Nipissing First Nation Elders

By Kelly Anne Smith

NIPISSING FIRST NATION – “It’s a long time coming,” says Nipissing First Nation Councillor Yvette Bellefeuille, of the new Duchesnay Elders’ Lodge named Enji-naakdawendmindwaa, at the grand opening on June 30.

“There is a senior’s apartment building in Garden Village, but there was no assisted living for the Elders anywhere on the reserve. So, over the years and decades, previous Chief and Council, CEO’s, and health staff were the ones that pushed this along to now. We’re opening the 10-bed facility on Duchesnay land, and then, the other one will be done within the next couple of months to be ready for people to move in. And that’s also a 10-bed facility. They were built both at the same time. That’s taken a long time. It was in the seventies that they started talking about this.”

Sitting in the new lodge outdoor lounge, former Nipissing First Nation Councillor and Deputy Chief June Commanda reminisces.

“It was a long haul, but we kept the dream alive. We didn’t give up.”

Commanda says that Bernard Bouchard was crucial in the Elders housing project.

“He knew all the government procedures of what’s required. Like we said, we want a 16-bed or a building enough for us. And they said, the government won’t fund it unless it’s a 32-bed. And then when you do that, you have to let other people in. It’s first come, first serve like the other ones in town. But we wanted to serve our people because our people were sent to Wiikwemkoong (Unceded Territory). And we went there. We took a van with some people to visit them and they were very lonely. They died like that. They died over there,” expresses Commanda. “I remember Phillip Goulais, he was Chief then; he made a call out if anybody wanted to be on a committee to look at a nursing home. At our first meeting, he asked, ‘Why do you want to be on a nursing home committee?’ So, everybody did their round. And me, being a Residential School Survivor, I said, ‘I was taken away as a child to Residential School away from my home, my family, my village, my relatives.’ And I said, ‘When I get old, I don’t won’t to be sent away again. I want a place here. So, I’m very happy to see it come to fruition. And we said we wanted big rooms where they can live or they can have visitors and feel at home. That’s like a bedroom for them. You don’t have to go down the hallway to go to a bathroom. It’s right there. And they have a little sink and kitchen cupboard. They can make coffee or make their own soup or whatever they want. They are still independent, so it’s perfect.”

June says Bernard suggested the committee members travel to long-term care and other homes to understand what was needed to assist older citizens.

“We went to Sturgeon to the Au Château there. We went to Toronto, even to a big nursing home there. We wanted to see the rooms and what they have. The one in Toronto even had a store with clothes and toiletries.”

Commanda is very proud and happy to see the new Duchesnay Elder’s Lodge ready for 10 Elders to call home.

“Yes, for a long time, everything was slow, then stop. We had committee meetings, on and on, but, we just kept at it. And then, Kimberly (Lalonde) came on. And she’s the one. She was in that LHIN project that has to do with long-term care. Well, she went into that. Then there was nothing more left for us to do. So, Dwayne (Nashkawa) and Phillip (Goulais) and Kimberly and Bernard, they took over doing all those fine details like dealing with the government and the funding. And then we ended up getting all the funding. We thought we’d have to pay. So that was a total bonus. So, it’s a big, big dream come true for our community.”

Cheyenne McLeod, a home and community care registered nurse of the Lawrence Commanda Health Centre, gave a tour of the Duchesnay Elders’ Lodge, showing the visiting room and the tub room with a big shiny tub with soothing jets. The rooms are identical, with windows looking out to trees and greenery. Lake Nipissing is just across the road.

“Cable and internet will be included. They are welcome to bring their personal items like dressers, TVs and other belongings, as much as they want. This is their room. They can do as they please. They have a hospital-grade bed with a crafted comforter. We had quilts made and donated. It adds a nice touch, making it homey. And the bathroom is spacious. It’s very accessible. They have safety bars everywhere. And there is a built-in shower chair. If they become unable to stand in the shower, then they can have a seat.”

Dwayne Nashkawa of Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation was involved in the journey, building two Elders’ Lodges, first as Nipissing First Nation CEO and then as a strategic planner to the First Nation.

“I started at Nipissing twenty-one years ago and it was an issue then. It had already been worked on for some time. It went through various iterations and ideas about what form it could take: long-term care or independent living. We eventually settled on a strategy where long-term care was probably too ambitious, too costly. And we would look at assisted living. And that’s where this came in. And we kept trying to secure the resources for years and years, through different governments and different programs. Meanwhile, we got our plans ready and we knew what we wanted for the community. And then, when the rapid housing funding came along a few years ago, we were ready. We hit the ground running. We initially secured funding for one building, but because we were so prepared, there was some slippage funding. And they said, ‘Can you build both?’ And we said, ‘Yes.’ And we built them both. We got them both fully funded.”

Nipissing First Nation received $6.85 million in 2023 from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) Rapid Housing Initiative for the 20 homes for Elders to be supported with care.