FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION – The frigid cold blanketing the region didn’t stop a number of families on Fort William First Nation from enjoying some outdoor Family Day weekend fund.
About 64 entrants signed up to take part in the community’s snow sculpture contest, which Chief Peter Collins said was put on as a way to help residents fight off the winter blahs.
“It’s too bad the elements haven’t settled down a little bit and given everybody a chance to get outside and build the sculptures. But I see a lot that have been built in the community. I drove around this morning just to look around and see who’s done what,” Collins said.
“I see some are still trying to build them. We’re just trying to get people out of their homes and get their families thinking about each other and working with each other.”
It’s all about unity, Collins added.
“We even included our off-reserve members,” he said.
From what he’d seen so far, there are some pretty creative people living in the community, Collins said.
“There are some great ones. When I look around and I see what people are building. Some of them have created massive turtles. We live here on Turtle Earth. It’s good work from some of the folks in the community and everybody’s participating as much as we can.”
Collins encouraged residents who live on Fort William First Nation to safely tour the different neighbourhoods to see the sculptures. The community’s residential areas are closed to the general public due to the pandemic.
