Walpole Island First Nation is custodian of the largest and most valuable wetland in the Great Lakes system.

The environmental challenges of self-administration for WIFN are many ...

Walpole Island First Nation (WIFN) was the first community in Canada to remove the Indian Agent and has administered itself since 1965. Though the current territory is unceded land, the boundaries of the First Nation have never been formally defined. WIFN claims the whole of the Canadian portion of Lake St. Clair as well as lands beyond the present islands.

Particularly when confronted with the lack of formally defined boundaries, adjacent chemical plants, large cities, and intensive agriculture that all drain into WIFN's delta location.

WIFN is downstream from a large concentration of petrochemical plants near Sarnia known as "Chemical Valley". It is also close to Windsor, Ontario and across the lake from Detroit, Michigan. Walpole's immediate surroundings are largely agricultural (based on draining of what was once very extensive wetlands). This places WIFN in the centre of a region characterized by increasing urbanization, heavy industry, and intensive agriculture, and the First Nation has struggled to maintain its traditional way of life in this context. The community has had to devote considerable time and resources to counter threats to its environment from nearby industry and, in some cases, municipalities.

A healthy St. Clair River has been and continues to be fundamental to a healthy Walpole Island.

The St. Clair River provides Walpole Island with water, fish, wildlife habitat, and recreation. Its importance to both day-to-day life and the community's traditions has fueled the strong community response to threats to the River s health. Though many actors have been involved in this story, WIFN has exerted an influence well beyond its size. It has been effective in convincing other governments and private industry in coming together to find common solutions by means ranging from court action to participation in task forces.

The health of both came under threat through Post World War II industrialization along the shores of the River.

The petrochemical industry started to become established along the St. Clair River during World War II and rapidly developed into a formidable industrial complex. Given the weak regulations of the period, Chemical Valley routinely discharged toxic chemicals into the river throughout the 1950s and 60s virtually unchecked, and over those decades the river became notoriously polluted. The problem was compounded by untreated municipal sewerage and agricultural runoff, the latter made worse by increasing use of pesticides and fertilizers.

Closure of Lake St. Clair fishery 1970-80 prompted communities to act.

As environmental controls tightened in the 1970s and measurement techniques became more sophisticated, it became evident that the river contained pollutant levels that were dangerous to public health. The levels of mercury in Lake St. Clair were so high that the lake fishery was closed, putting many fishermen (including Walpole residents) out of work and forcing a lifestyle change. All communities along the river expressed alarm, and WIFN was in the forefront of pushing for change and challenging polluters, if necessary in court. Though the closure of the fishery ended in 1980, there are still consumption advisories for large fish.

Governments, including Walpole Island First Nation, and industry initiate a series of action plans...

Governments, including that of WIFN, began serious efforts to understand and resolve the problems. Most importantly, the petrochemical industry was forced to control its discharges more effectively and by the late 1980s the situation shifted from one in which toxic chemicals routinely entered the river to one where the issue became accidental spills. This was still a matter of concern, as a major spill can have a devastating effect, but it was a definite improvement. A system of warning downstream communities, including WIFN, when a spill occurred was put into place.

.. but psychological impacts and suspicions remain...

Under this system, WIFN is able to close its water intake until the spill has passed. This is surely inconvenient, and has resulted in Walpole investing in a new water storage tank, but the potential impacts on health are greatly diminished (however, indirect impacts are still felt through the consumption of fish and wildlife). A series of tests over recent years have consistently shown that the community's water supply is safe. Further, the entire river from Courtwright south is said to be characterized by good water quality and normal bottom-dwelling species distribution. There are still, however, restrictions on the Lake St. Clair fishery and suggested limits on the consumption of fish and wildlife, a serious handicap for a community like Walpole Island. And the psychological impact remains; many Walpole residents are suspicious of the water quality and worried about its impact on the health of their children, especially those using the river extensively before the mid-1980's.

...despite a comprehensive plan for collaborative remedial measures

The most recent and extensive collaborative effort to solve the river's problems is the Remedial Action Plan (RAP) for the "St. Clair River Area of Concern". A major research program led to a list of ten concerns that still existed in the early 1990s:

• restrictions on fish and wildlife consumption
• restrictions on drinking water consumption and taste and odour problems
• beach closings
• degradation of aesthetics
• added cost to agriculture or industry
• loss of fish and wildlife habitat
• bird or animal deformities or reproductive problems
• degradation of benthos
• restrictions on dredging activities

WINF's central role in the St. Clair River Story stems from its environmental philosophy...

In responding to the St. Clair River environmental challenges, WIFN drew upon its formally adopted environmental philosophy which reads as follows:

To preserve, enhance and maintain a mutual respect and to
continue our beneficial environment, we shall endeavour
to co-exist with Mother Nature and protect this relationship.

We, the Walpole Island First Nation people, pledge to
use these resources to the mutual benefit of all peoples.
As our elders have done, we shall maintain laws that
preserve our wildlife, land and resources.

...and the WIFN Heritage Centre

As its key institutional response to these challenges, WIFN created the Heritage Centre. This community-based institution integrates environment, heritage, land claims, and devolution in a continuing program of research and action. It provides to Chief and Council research results and advice on the appropriate balance among these concerns. The Heritage Centre attempts always to take the long view, both historically and into the future, thus ensuring some consistency of policy on the environment and other topics. Many other departments of WIFN Government are of necessity focused on solving today's crisis, so without the Centre, Council would not have the information it needs to place its considerations in context. Without the Heritage Centre's research capacities, WIFN could never hope to pursue a large number of land claims simultaneously. Finally, it is the Heritage Centre that links traditional knowledge and the wider scientific community. The Centre is the main point of contact for the scientific community, and over the years it has gained the respect of a large number of leading scientists and engineers.