Pikangikum First Nations Project

1. Pikangikum First Nations Project By: Mohammed, Max, Casandra, Parm, Thomas, Bianca and Angelica

2. Description • The purpose of our project is to improve the social and health aspects of a First Nations community in Northwestern Ontario. • Our approach will involve infrastructure development in the form of a recreation center. • Specifically we will focus on the Pikangikum reserve, 100 km northwest of Red Lake, Ontario.

3. Background • The culture among the Pikangikum people is based on the Ojibway way of life, which is one of the largest groups of First Nations in North America. • An important aspect of the community is traditional language sustainability, which is successful with a nearly 100% retention rate of Ojibway fluency. • Nearly 2400 First Nations people currently reside in the reserve located on the Pikangikum Lake. • The communal government is run by a Chief, Deputy Chief and nine First Nation Counselors, who receive position through custom elections. Many decision-making processes involve the greater community as well.

4. Rationale • We decided to focus on improving the quality of life for the Pikangikum people based on the fact that suicide rates within the community are among the highest in the world. • Studies and examples throughout history have shown that an increase in community involvement leads to mental and emotional stability among youth. • We will ensure that the local perspective is taken into consideration by having consultations with the communal government concerning the community’s best interests

5. Use of Hours • We will require some English-Ojibway translators in order to engage in initial consultation with the local Pikangikum government. • The consultation and planning process will require approximately 5 people working for 1000 hours in total, providing just over one month for this entire process. • Following this, building of the recreation center will commence with a crew of 25 people working 8 hours a day for 12 months, which total to 52,000 hours. • In order to lead the programs within the recreation center, a total of 3 people full-time and another 5 working part-time. These workers will maintain the recreation center for a full year, providing 11,440 hours of work in total. • As the recreation center is being maintained, a crew of 10 people will be responsible for informing the public of the center and advertising its components, working for a total of 3 months, providing 2,600 hours in total. • The total hours we require for our project is 67,040 hours over a course of 25 months, at which point the crew can retreat and allow the community to sustain the recreation center on their own.

6. Budget • Building the recreation center: $250,000 - $300,000 • Transportation for crew (& return trip): $14,400 • Food: $215,500 • Since transportation, food, lodging and living expenses are covered by the Skeljay award, our total cost for this project will be the cost of building the recreation center itself, which is $250,000 - $300,000

7. Indicators • Since the current suicide rate in the community 0.2% or 2 people per 1000 among youth, we will know that our project has become a success when this figure drops to below 0.1%, which would indicate that our progress has decreased the suicide rate by more than 50%. • The school dropout rate will decrease by more than 50% as well.

8. Timeline • The 6 months after the initial 25 months of crew efforts will show a sudden rise in community involvement in order to sustain the recreation center. • Once this initial adaptation rate has been passed, the recreation center will begin to gain more popularity and demand more work. • Eventually, the number of members in the community will increase as the suicide rate drops and the success/productivity rate of the region increases.