Caldwell First Nation gather to celebrate housing

Despite some intermittent showers, Caldwell First Nation held a Land Back community and cultural celebration on Saturday, August 17 at the reserve land on Mersea Road 1. 

Members and leaders of the Caldwell community were on hand to celebrate the day with food, music, dance and fellowship. 

“It took years of strong leadership and enduring obstacles on our path home,” said Chief Mary Duckworth. “If not for our ancestors and leaders, we would not be standing on our land now.”

Chief Duckworth was joined at the intersection leading into the new urban housing community by current council member and former Chief, Larry Johnson.

“In five years, this land is going to develop to a point where our housing needs are pretty much fulfilled,” said Johnson.

Johnson said they have plans for a baseball diamond, replanting of native trees, a community centre and possibly a school in the future.

The new urban housing community is one of the few First Nation communities to be developed from scratch. What was an empty field a year ago is now home to 10 people, with eight adults and two children who moved into their new housing in July. By next month, 58 people, including 15 school-aged children, will have returned to the community.

“We have come through a devastating experience of land loss at the hands of colonial powers and have restored our land and our homes,” said Chief Duckworth. “Land Back is a deeply meaningful and important history for anyone who lives in Windsor-Essex, Chatham-Kent and Elgin County.”

The Caldwells ratified a land claim settlement with the federal government in 2011 for $105 million. The land was purchased and plans were put in place for the building of the community, which began with the opening of the nearby Caldwell Gas and Variety in 2023.

Infrastructure was put in place for the housing development last year and building began in late 2023 of the pre-fabricated net-zero homes.

The two streets that intersect within the development are giiwewjigaaza Drive — which means “being brought home” — and mino-bimaadiziwin Way, which means “the good life”.

“Coming here today, means a lot to see our people and share our stories,” added Chief Duckworth, “and to see our children run through the fields.”