Nevermind Feng Shui, how about homes with running water and no mould?
The staff has just returned from a high-summer visit to three of the reserves, Summer Beaver, K.I. and Sandy Lake. The children at Summer Beaver were all at “camp,” a youth retreat about an hour’s boat ride from the main settlement, where they had been learning traditional skills such as how to build shelters from moss and birch branches. We joined them for an evening of dancing, fresh-caught pickerel and fried bannock. There was a great deal of laughter. The blueberries were ripe, the air was warm, husky puppies were scampering under foot, and the landscape was stunning. The following day, public health director Don Sofea took us on a tour of this 450-person community, pointing out some of his challenges in caring for his people’s physical welfare. A major problem is household mould. Virtually every small, cramped home here (several without running water) is built on a wood foundation without adequate venting or circulation. In the fiercely cold winter, the windows supplied via the ro
