Echoes

Like. Yes, it’s also an exchange of value, sure, absolutely. It’s even an extremely worthwhile exchange of value if you’re a country like Ukraine. But so is lots of vendor lock-in?? Using Amazon cloud services is a good business decision because they are a good deal, and a bad business decision because they make it difficult for you to ever switch away from AWS. Both sides of that are true and real!

i didn't.

i feel like i understand it more now.

you wake up one day in october and discover that people who you have worked for, people you have sacrificed for, have decided you are an Ungeziefer.

(people translate that as bug, because they don't want to acknowledge you. but that's not what it means. it means vermin.)

and you're still you, but people won't see that. they avoid you. they talk about you as though you're not there.

they injure you, they hurt you.

no one cares.

they were once your family, you considered them your family, but apparently you were to be discarded the moment you ceased to be of use to them, the moment you ceased to be someone other people would like.

eventually, once it becomes clear that you are Not Like Them and will stay Not Like Them, you will not cease being Not Like Them and become Good and Like Them again, once it is clear that you are a social and financial liability, they decide you are worthless to them. they make it clear that you are no longer really you, but vermin. that you do not deserve to live. that really, it would be better if you just died.

you die that night.

when you die, they do not mourn you. they go on the train and are happy. they are free from the burden of pretending to care about you.

they talk about marriage. one of the people, the one who helped convince the others that you are no longer worthy of life, has fine marriage prospects.

after all, who cares what she does to you? what she thinks of you? (if she thinks of you anymore, that is.) you're an Ungeziefer. you're just vermin.

Namaygoosisagagun First Nation/Collins has burned to the ground. The entire community is nothing but ashes after being quickly consumed by wildfires. They did not have any support from emergency services, and no one offered aid. The community saved themselves by escaping into boats because no one came.

Mishkeegogamang and Cat Lake have lost power. Families are ending up in shelters with nothing. Armstrong, Lac La Croix, Whitesand, Gull Bay, Lac des Mille Lacs are currently in the fires path and all members are being evacuated.

All this loss, all this devastation, and it was entirely preventable.

After steadily underfunding wildland firefighting and purposefully excluding Indigenous wildland firefighters and Indigenous wildfire organizations from wildfire operations, firefighter training, decisionmaking, and resource exchanges, in 2025, Doug Ford slashed the forest firefighting budget.

It's hard to ignore his decision to cut funding and leave us out of adequate fire training (even though we've lived with forest fires for thousands of years—far longer than settlers have been in Canada—and made sure fires like the ones we're all seeing today were prevented through kinisitotēn) when, despite making up less than 5% of the population, we account for 42% percent of all wildfire evacuations in Canada.

And when we are successfully evacuated, we face discrimination and racism—like Kashechewan—because it's always been easier to blame us than it is to blame the true culprit: denialism, corportate greed, and colonization.

The people of Collins and every other impacted community deserve better.

Right now, the AFN is currently accepting donations to help Collins First Nation. If you're able to, please consider donating.

ONWA (Ontario Native Women's Association) is another great place to donate to. They have outreach vans going to motels and inns and offering food, water, resources, and cultural support to those impacted by the wildfires.

Other places to consider donating to are Mikinakoos Emergency Fund, Red Cross, True North Aid, Indigenous Climate Action. You can also send donations directly to Whitesand First Nation via e-transfer ([email protected]) and they request that you add your full name in the e-transfer comment section to receive a tax receipt.

*Before sending money, verify that the appeal appears on an official First Nation, Tribal Council or registered charity channel.

If you can't offer financial support, please consider donating items of need. Moontime Connections is currently accepting drop-off donations. If you live in the Thunder Bay area, Namaygoosisagagun Health Office is also taking in donations! They can also bemailed to Superior Inn Hotel & Conference Centre at 555 West Arthur Street, Thunder Bay, ON, P7E 5P8.

items needed are: food, diapers, medical masks, men’s and women’s joggers (all sizes), children’s clothing (newborn to size 14), children’s shoes, summer clothing, men’s clothing, toiletries (lotion, Vaseline, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, soap, deodorant, etc.), strollers, adult depends-all sizes, dog & cat food