Kashechewan First Nation

Location

Kashechewan is located on the north bank of the Albany River, the longest river in Ontario approximately 980 kilometers in length with a navigable distance of approximately 400 kilometers. The First Nation is situated in the district of Kenora 81 degrees west longitude and 52 degrees north latitude. It is a First Nation of the Albany Reserve #67. The closest urban centre is Timmins and is located approximately 300 miles south. The nearest community is Fort Albany; another First Nation of the Albany Reserve #67 located approximately 5 minutes by air and 12 kilometers by boat.

Reserve Size

The Albany Reserve #67 has a land base of approximately 36,346 hectares. The Kashechewan First Nation is situated on the land base reserve while Fort Albany is situated on Sinclair Island.

Transportation

Depending on the season, Kashechewan First Nation is accessible by air and water in the summer and winter road in the winter. Air Creebec and Thunder Air provide scheduled passenger and cargo services. During the summer months, freighter canoes are the main modes of transportation between Fort Albany and Kashechewan; in the winter, the winter road is constructed for cars, trucks, and snow machines.

Topography

The James Bay Lowlands is generally flat with shores mixed with intertidal mud, sand, and salt flats, estuarine waters, intertidal marshes, freshwater ponds, swamps, and forested peat lands.  The James Bay lowlands is described as having a sub-arctic appearance because of the predominance of open cover of stunned black spruce and tamarack in the swamps and peat land. The banks of the Albany River, river in lands and tributary streams however, are forested with heavy cover of white spruce.

Climate

The climate of the James Bay Lowlands is of long winters and short warm summers. James Bay has the effect of retarding the warmer temperatures of the spring and prolonging slightly warmer temperatures in the fall. Rainfall averages about 28 inches per year and most of this covers the river thus providing an alternate means of transportation. Permanent ice may appear between late Novembers and will provide cover until the end of April or early May.

River Life

The river systems are populated with white fish, trout, northern pike, pickerel, suckers, and sturgeons. Fishing season typically starts after the spring break-up where outdoorsmen gather in spawning areas.

Wildlife

The wildlife of the reserve consists of geese, duck, caribou, moose, beaver, bear, wolves, martin, wolverine, rabbit, muskrat, and otter. There are others but these are the most common.

Government

Kashechewan First Nation is governed by an elected body of officials. The council consists of a Chief, Deputy Chief, 11 Councilors, 4 Representatives, and 1 Elder to act as an advisor. Kashechewan is represented by Mushkegowuk Council are the regional level. Mushkegowuk Council is a tribal body that represents seven other First Nations.

The overall population for Kashechewan is approximately 1,700. The total membership for Albany Reserve #67 as of February 2010 is 4,119. The on-reserve population is 2,534 combined together with Fort Albany First Nation. The off-reserve population is 1,519. It is estimated that there are approximately 200 unregistered newborns in Kashechewan.

Economy

The economy of Kashechewan consists primarily of government support services, private sector, supplemented by traditional pursuits of hunting, trapping, and fishing.

Communication System

Television

All households own one or more television sets. The Economic Development provides residents with cable services through partnerships with other service providers. Most of the homes are now equipped with satellite cable systems provided by Bell and Star Choice.

Radio

The local radio station (CKAS 100.5 FM) has been operating since August 1991. The radio station provides important services to the community. A telecommunication network, Wawatay based in Timmins provides daily radio programming through the local radio station.

Telephone

The community has been serviced by Bell Canada since 1976. Majority of the residents are provided with the usual services and additional services can be accessed when required. The introduction of the fax machine has made communication with the outside world faster and easier.

Mail Services

The postal services are contracted out to the Northern Store by Canada Post. It provides services to Kashechewan five days per week. The post office is housed within the Northern Store and it employs one community member full-time. The post office provides individual post office boxes to residents.

Internet

The community is connected to the fibre optic grid owned by the Western James Bay Telecom Network, a company ownership between Attawapiskat, Kashechcewan, and Fort Albany. The Internet Service Provider for fibre optic services is Xittel Telecommunications.

Infrastructure

Kashechewan Power Authority - Electricity

Heating

The majority of the community uses firewood for heating which is hauled from the surrounding forests. Since 1989, new houses are serviced by electric heat; this is expected to grow due to the electricity that is now available.

Water & Sewer

The water supply for the community is received from the Albany River. Due to the deterioration of the old water treatment plant, a new one was constructed. The new treatment plant has been operational since March 1998. The plant supplies clean, chlorinated water to the community. Water lines are available to all lots.

The sewage project was initiated in 1996 and construction of the sewer lines in the community was completed in 1998. All lots in the community are now serviced.

Sanitation

Garbage is collected three times a week by a band employee. The dump site is located 2 miles west of the community.

Fire Protection

Along with the construction of the water project, fire hydrants were installed in the community. There are a number of community members trained in firefighting techniques. A service lot has been constructed for the future development of a Fire Hall which will also house the ambulance services. At present, however, no fire facilities are available.

Flood Control (Dyke) Project

The community is situated in an area that is susceptible to flooding during spring break-up. At times, due to the danger of flooding, community members have had to be flown down south or to camps until the danger have subsided. With this in mind, funding for the Flood Control Project was secured. The dyke encompassing the community is a mixture of clay and gravel. The dyke reaches 10 to 14 feet in height and is approximately 5.3 kilometres in length.