First Nations Voice

JUNE 2014 • PAGE 13 � Facilityrentals (meetings,socials,weddings&more) ASDowns.com 204-885-3330 3975PortageAve Winnipeg,MB ASD �LiveRacing May-September �Casino-styleVLTlounge �Fabulousdining �Weeklypokergames withcashprizes �Openyearround D D othe owns! ASD � Facilityrentals (meetings,socials,weddings&more) ASDowns.com 204-885-3330 3975PortageAve Winnipeg,MB ASD �LiveRacing May-September �Casino-styleVLTlounge �Fabulousdining �Weeklypokergames withcashprizes �Openyearround D D othe owns! ASD I had an interesting conversation with a local person who is fairly well known in aboriginal circles. He asked me if I thought I would get the support of the aboriginal community just because we built a grocery store in a largely aboriginal community and staffed it with community people. My immediate response was "Yes, of course. I think all people, especially aboriginals, want to see a homemade success story with people like themselves!" I thought it was a strange question when I considered all of the effort and hard work put in by so many people to get Neechi Commons open for business. It seemed logical that the aboriginal community and the surrounding neighbourhoods would line up to see what's up and really get behind the project…we all need a good grocery store close by, right? We all want jobs, right? He looked at me from across the table with a bit of a grin and said "no way, we're not like that. Just because you built a store with the aboriginal community in mind doesn't mean they (the aboriginal community) will show up." We continued the conversation together for a while and when he left the store I was left a bit confused. "Why wouldn't they come?' I asked myself. I have spent most of my life surrounded by aboriginal people and we share the same hopes and dreams as everyone else. When we were kids we wanted to be police men, construction workers, truck drivers (like my Dad) and firemen. We also wanted something that I knew was different than many of the other (non-native) kids in my neighbourhood; something better for us than what our parents had. I know the stories. I have heard them and lived some of them. The struggles and the setbacks but always the desire to be more than what we saw around us. That's why we make schools and fire halls and trucks....and corner grocery stores. All of these are doorways to a better life than what our parents had. You just have to walk up to the door and knock. Now back to my friend across the table. Was he right? I started thinking that I don't recall seeing many aboriginal firemen or even grocery store clerks when I was growing up in the 70's and we all know the legacy of residential schools. It's entirely possible that if I built a school or a fire hall or a police station that no one, or very few, might show up. Why did I think that just building a grocery store on Main Street would result in a stampede of people all looking inside to see a bit of a dream coming to life. Fear. Fear of success or fear of failure was one of my first thoughts. I knew a couple a long time ago who were enjoying a small bit of success in their lives. Both of them were working and when it came time to buy a house they purchased a home, because they could afford to, in the 'south end' of our town. Some of their immediate family declared that they would never visit because they were all of a sudden "too good for them." Is Neechi Foods 'too good' for some people. Is fear of success or the fear of failure holding us back? Someone once told me it is our nature to fight amongst ourselves, like back in the old days before the Europeans. Is that what happened to the AFN? I don't buy into the fear concept. Colonialism maybe but not fear. I don't buy the idea that we are suffering with in fighting. There are lots of reasons why people choose where they shop. One thing for sure is that we have to change old habits and ideas. We have been hammered with corporate messages, fast food, poverty, unemployment, economic emigration from the north and the list goes on……. I think, in the end, I'll stick to the basics of a good store, staffed with good local people and a plan to stick around for a very long time. We have built it….now will you come? Frank Parkes, Neechi Commons general manager neechi foods co-op. if we build it will they shop here? We have built it….now will you come?

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