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The Countess, who is making a solo visit to Northern Ontario, will spend two days in this remote, fly-in aboriginal community. Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation, known as KI, is a reserve that suffers from problems such as poor and inadequate housing and education facilities, unemployment, unhealthy water treatment facilities and drug addiction. Sophie previously expressed an interest in visiting a First Nations’ community during her trip to Canada. In KI, she will get a look at the trials and tribulations faced by the people belonging to the community in their everyday lives.
“We are just trying to grasp it now. The last time anyone came here from the Crown was in 1929 when we signed our treaty, said Chief Donny Morris of KI. “To have someone from the Royal Family, representing that, reliving that, I think that’s what we’re excited about — somebody actually coming here 85 years after we signed the treaty with the Crown.”
The treaty in question is Treaty 9, also known as the James Bay Treaty, which was signed between the English Crown and various First Nations, which are the aboriginal communities in Canada. According to the terms of the treaty, KI was considered a part of Ontario, and full reserve status was granted to Big Trout Lake, the lake on the shores of which the First Nation is located.
On Thursday, Sophie will meet with the community elders and youth leaders and tour KI’s community school, before having lunch with Chief Morris and his council. She will also tour the site where Treaty 9 was signed, before ending the day with a traditional feast and a campfire discussion with the community members.
After spending the night there, the Countess will begin the next day with a traditional field breakfast, to be served to her by the Canadian Rangers, a military reserve unit comprised of aboriginals. Later in the same day, she is set to visit the Nipissing University on Friday, attend a symposium on First Nations education, and present young achievers with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award.
The Countess of Wessex will be joined on her visit by other important women such as Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Lieutenant Governor-designate Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Ruth Ann Onley, wife of the lieutenant governor and Vicki Heyman, wife of the U.S. ambassador to Canada. Her husband, the Earl of Wessex, will be carrying out his own engagements in Saskatchewan.
Photo credit: UK in France via photopin cc]]>
