Urban reserves offer a renaissance – Winnipeg Free Press

January 29, 2015

Dispel stereotypes about First Nations and combat racism

The Arboc smoke shop, gas station and nearby VLT lounge is a humble little cluster. Its trailer and pumps and low-slung lounge are easy to miss among the shiny new hotels and car dealerships that have popped up along the TransCanada Highway through Headingley.

As small-time as it is, the tiny urban reserve helped spark Swan Lake First Nation’s renaissance, turning it into one of the best-run and most self-sufficient bands in the province. The small business ventures gave the band capital — cash-flow that helped fund everything from new playground equipment to a wind-farm proposal to the new casino near Carberry. The band was even able to fix up nearly every old house on the reserve. During a visit a couple of years ago, photographer Ruth Bonneville and I coveted one of the cool log cabins the band built for several young families, a kind of test project for a home-building business. It’s pretty rare to be jealous of a rez house.

If that’s what a small urban reserve can do for Swan Lake, imagine what one at Kapyong Barracks could do for First Nations in general.

Read More: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/Urban-reserves-offer-a-renaissance-290062211.html