By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source ONIGAMING — As chief of Ojibways of Onigaming, Jeffrey Copenace goes to many funerals. Copenace’s First Nation, which has about 850 members living on and off reserve, has lost 52 members since he became chief in August 2021. “It’s like an epidemic of grief that’s in our community,” he said in an interview. Recently the Anishinaabe community had “back-to-back funerals, a mother and a daughter,” he said. “It’s just so overwhelming and something that I never ever expected to go through, but I’m hearing more and more chiefs are going through times like this.” He said the situation appears to have taken a toll on Onigaming children and youth, partly because of where funerals were frequently held. A child psychologist…
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