Sydney Goodreau/The Independent

For four days, fire keepers from the Anishinabe Nation maintained a sacred fire set up beside Molly’s Creek, just north of Dresden.

The purpose was not to protest York One’s plans to set up a dump in Dresden. It was to unite peacefully in prayer with those in the surrounding community.

It was one of two events by citizens of Walpole Island First Nation to bring attention to the importance of the water bodies around the proposed York1 dump.

And Dresden citizens took notice and welcomed them. 

“Our First Nations community has joined hands with the community of Dresden because we have a common goal: the conservation of the lands we all love,” said Possum, one of the main fire keepers who stayed on the site. “The Sydenham watershed is, by far, one of our greatest treasures within our territory.”

Zowaanagnini, another volunteer, says, “We have a responsibility to take care of this land. 

And when we share this land with newcomers, they have to share their responsibility as well.”

Many in the Three Fires Confederacy worry the proposed dump will damage and pollute the Sydenham and other important ecosystems.  

“When you get 200 trucks out in a rainstorm like we had earlier today, hundreds of gallons come out of the back of these trucks, fully contaminated, directly into the ditches,” says one of the fire keepers who only gave the name Possum.

He urges Chatham-Kent council to have Croton Line and roads along the truck root assessed by engineers to ensure the roads can accommodate the hundreds of trucks working out of the dump. 

“This road is pretty small,” said Zowaanagnini, pointing to Croton Line. “Who has to pay for the damage when the roads around the dump fall apart? The Chatham-Kent taxpayers. But they don’t get a say in this.”

The roads should be assessed if the dump is to be opened, but Possum said that “with Doug Ford’s Bill Five, they don’t have to go that route anymore.” He says this will allow the provincial government to bypass important ecological and safety assessments to pass projects they deem beneficial. 

“They’re writing laws to break their own laws,” said Zowaanagnini.

Possum said, “Chatham-Kent is using the word ‘expropriate’ when they talk about taking the land from the people of Dresden. What we need to do as a community is to turn that word around. We’re gonna expropriate the land from York1 to stop this. The council and the mayor have absolute authority to do the expropriation. They have an obligation to the constituents, the people of Chatham-Kent, to fight as hard as they can. We have to have a greater need for that land than the … government does.”

Zaanaagmisinkew, Zowaanagnini’s wife, said, “Molly’s Creek is a big focal point to the dump site, and when we think in terms of culture and ceremony, we’re thinking in terms of balance. With the sun rising, the moon also rises. With water, there is also fire. 

“We want to maintain that balance, especially with the dump coming. That will disrupt the balance. The sacred fire is about those reminders and to let us know that Creator is there. We offer our tobacco, we offer our cedar, and it takes our prayers up right away.” 

“We have had nationalities from all over the world that have come here to visit,” said Possum.

”From Japan, Turkey, and Poland.

We have had people from British Columbia. 

“Anybody can be an ally to anything if the cause is right, and it is.”

The sacred fire was tended by the volunteers at the same time as members of the Walpole First Nations paddled from Dresden to Walpole Island to draw attention to the important ecosystem.