Justice for Grassy Narrows

Demanding fair compensation and defending our land

This article was authored by Annelies Cooper of Free Grassy Narrows as part of the Justice for Grassy Narrows campaign. Published on May 31, 2024.

Asubpeeschoseewagong Anishinabek (Grassy Narrows) is a First Nation in the boreal forest on the English and Wabigoon Rivers in Northwestern Ontario. Since the 1960s, Grassy Narrows has lived with the consequences of one of the worst environmental pollution events in Canadian history.

For countless generations, Grassy Narrows people have cared for their land and waters. The river is their lifeblood and for generations provided a healthy environment, a major food source, and physical, cultural, and spiritual sustenance. The Grassy Narrows people were robbed of this source of wellbeing and livelihood when the Dryden pulp and paper company dumped 9,000 kg of mercury waste into the Wabigoon River upstream of Grassy Narrows. This raised the levels of mercury (a potent neurotoxin) in local fish to almost 50 times the upper limit considered safe for human consumption. The Grassy Narrows fishery was shut down, and the community went from 90% to 10% employment nearly overnight, plunging the community into a crisis from which they have yet to fully recover. 

Neurologists began to find high levels of mercury in Grassy Narrows people with symptoms of mercury exposure including loss of sense of touch, loss of vision, loss of coordination, loss of hearing, tremors, and many other symptoms. Making matters worse, in the 1980s, clearcut logging to feed the pulp mills in Kenora and Dryden dramatically accelerated—turning hunting grounds that had been used for generations into massive industrial clearcuts nearly overnight. Berry patches and traditional medicines were killed and tainted by aerial herbicide sprays. This environmental degradation from the presence of industry brought social and cultural upheaval and food insecurity to the community.

To this day, Grassy Narrows’ fish remain among the most mercury contaminated in Canada. Researchers have documented a wide range of health impacts including harmful effects on physical and mental health, behavior and school performance, premature mortality, and a wide range of mercury related diseases. More than 27 percent of young people in Grassy Narrows have been reported to have attempted suicide at least once, and research demonstrates that the intergenerational impacts of mercury is contributing to this crisis.

Leading the way

In the face of this intense suffering, Grassy Narrows people have become award-winning leaders in the global movement for Indigenous rights and environmental justice.Through tremendous tenacity, courage, hope, and strategy they have succeeded in protecting over 7,000 square kilometers of forest from all logging since 2008, saving over 15 million trees, and are leaders in the movement for Land Back and protecting the sources of life. 

The fight continues

Grassy Narrows people are powerful leaders who fight for justice against all odds and make real gains. But so much more is still needed to right the wrong of mercury poisoning in Grassy Narrows. To this day, Grassy Narrows people have not seen meaningful compensation for the serious impacts of the ongoing mercury crisis on their  health, culture, and livelihoods. To make matters worse, Ontario is still allowing mining exploration on Grassy Narrows lands against their will. Thousands of mining claims have been granted to mining companies within Grassy Narrows’ Indigenous Protected Area, despite the community’s Indigenous laws banning industrial activity. Grassy Narrows also faces the threat of nuclear waste from southern Ontario being transported and stored underground in their watershed. 

Help heal histories of harm

On September 18, 2024, community members and leaders will travel 1,700 kilometers from Grassy Narrows to Toronto to demand that Ontario and Canada:

1. Compensate everyone in Grassy Narrows fairly for the mercury crisis.
2. Respect the Grassy Narrows Indigenous Protected Area, end industrial extraction on Grassy Narrows’ territory, and keep nuclear waste out of Grassy Narrows’ watershed.
3. Support Grassy Narrows in restoring their community and way of life from the damage that mercury has done.

To learn more and support Grassy Narrows fight for mercury justice visit freegrassy.net. 

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Take action today! Call on Prime Minister Trudeau and Ontario Premier Ford to take decisive action to resolve the ongoing legacy of mercury poisoning in Grassy Narrows, and all other outstanding issues that impact their ways of life, wellbeing, and rights. Send your message here.

If you would like to learn more about Lush’s Justice for Grassy Narrows campaign, click here.