{"id":108081,"date":"2026-08-21T14:26:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T18:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=108081"},"modified":"2026-08-21T14:32:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T18:32:42","slug":"people-returning-to-kashechewan-after-8-month-evacuation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/people-returning-to-kashechewan-after-8-month-evacuation\/","title":{"rendered":"People returning to Kashechewan after 8-month evacuation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com KASHECHEWAN \u2014 As hundreds of people return to their James Bay community, leaders are pushing to restart talks about permanently relocating it. Tyson Wesley, executive director of Kashechewan First Nation, said the homecoming has brought a mix of relief, happiness and grief for residents who have spent months living in hotels and other temporary accommodations. \u201cI&#8217;m glad this is over because I was getting tired of sending our people home in coffins,\u201d Wesley told TimminsToday. The community of about 2,000 people was evacuated in January after failures in its water and sewage systems contributed to the spread of cryptosporidium, a parasite that can cause gastrointestinal illness. The evacuation lasted about eight months, with about 1,700 residents staying in communities including Timmins, Kapuskasing, Sudbury,&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F08%2F21%2Fpeople-returning-to-kashechewan-after-8-month-evacuation%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com KASHECHEWAN \u2014 As hundreds of people return to their James Bay community, leaders are pushing to restart talks about permanently relocating it. Tyson Wesley, executive director of Kashechewan First Nation, said the homecoming has brought a mix of relief, happiness and grief for residents who have spent months living in hotels and other temporary accommodations. \u201cI&#8217;m glad this is over because I was getting tired of sending our people home in coffins,\u201d Wesley told TimminsToday. The community of about 2,000 people was evacuated in January after failures in its water and sewage systems contributed to the spread of cryptosporidium, a parasite that can cause gastrointestinal illness. The evacuation lasted about eight months, with about 1,700 residents staying in communities including Timmins, Kapuskasing, Sudbury,... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F08%2F21%2Fpeople-returning-to-kashechewan-after-8-month-evacuation%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>People returning to Kashechewan after 8-month evacuation - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/21\/people-returning-to-kashechewan-after-8-month-evacuation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"People returning to Kashechewan after 8-month evacuation - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com KASHECHEWAN \u2014 As hundreds of people return to their James Bay community, leaders are pushing to restart talks about permanently relocating it. Tyson Wesley, executive director of Kashechewan First Nation, said the homecoming has brought a mix of relief, happiness and grief for residents who have spent months living in hotels and other temporary accommodations. \u201cI&#8217;m glad this is over because I was getting tired of sending our people home in coffins,\u201d Wesley told TimminsToday. The community of about 2,000 people was evacuated in January after failures in its water and sewage systems contributed to the spread of cryptosporidium, a parasite that can cause gastrointestinal illness. 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