Wiikwemkoong builds ‘Grandma’ houses

By Jacqueline St.Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor Another seven coming soon WIIKWEMKOONG—Three new five-bedroom homes are taking shape near the Buzwah borderline, entering Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, built with something more compelling than walls and windows in mind: the way First Nations families sometimes have to stretch, bend and gather themselves back together when life-altering circumstances threaten to pull the fabric of their families apart. For Grandmother Alison Recollet, one of the women who will soon move into one of those homes, the meaning of it can be summed up in a phrase that reaches far beyond housing. “No matter how the children can come and go, depending on what’s going on with their family, I’m the centre home fire for everybody there.” A home fire. The place…

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