Meet some of the first residents living on Caldwell First Nation
On the day Darrelle Vaughan was moving herself and her young twin girls to Caldwell First Nation, she arrived outside of their new home just before sunrise.
Vaughan and three other families — who are the first to live on Caldwell’s land located in southwestern Ontario — were being welcomed with a sunrise ceremony. The ancient ritual, which involves smudging, drumming and a sacred fire, gathers people before the sun rises to ask the spirits and their ancestors to join them in that moment.
“It opened my eyes a lot because of how much I’ve missed out on this kind of stuff,” said 20-year-old Vaughan.
“It made me like grateful for my culture. It made me realize how beautiful my culture really is and that I get to finally be a part of it again.”
But Vaughan and her nearly two-year-old twins, Daveigha Vaughan-Drouillard and Khalia Vaughan-Drouillard, aren’t the only ones reconnecting with who they are. By mid-September, Caldwell says roughly 60 members will be living on the reserve.
It’s a historic moment for the First Nation, which has spent more than 230 years fighting to reclaim its land and restore its community.
Dirt lawns, unpaved pathways and numbers taped to the windows marking some of the units, are signs that the community is still a work-in-progress, but it’s come a long way from the empty field that was there about two years ago.
The subdivision includes 28 net-zero, rent-geared-to-income duplexes and fourplexes, there are street lamps and signs, as well as newly paved roads. The street names were chosen by Caldwell’s youth, who specifically wanted one to be named, giiwewjigaaza, which is Anishinaabemowin for “being brought back home.”
As Caldwell Chief Mary Duckworth walks through one of the unoccupied units, that needs a few final touches, she says building the community from scratch has been “surreal.”
“Our community has arrived and we have housing on the territory. But I think what we forget to do is think about our ancestors and think about, you know, the journey and how long it took to get to where we are today,” said Duckworth, whose traditional name is Madidoog-KinNya-Eyojic, which is Anishinaabemowin for “spirits are all around me.”
“I have gratitude and I have hope and I have faith in what’s to come for Caldwell.”
Mom hopes to share Caldwell culture with her kids
That hope for a bright future is what encouraged Vaughan to make the move onto Caldwell First Nation.
Inside Vaughan’s two-storey unit, she’s still working on settling in.
There are new couches arriving soon and photos to hang. Vaughan says the high cost of housing was part of the reason why she moved, but she’s also eager to be surrounded by family.
“Both my neighbours are my family and I had no idea. And that’s bringing me closer to understanding who I am, who they are, and like, what our culture is, already.
Recognizing that she’s missed out on 20 years of learning about her Caldwell roots, she’s excited that her daughters have a chance to know about their background from a young age.
“They get to come into this world, learning all of these traditions that I’m just learning now,” she said, adding that she wants to know how to speak the language and hear the traditional teachings.
“And [Caldwell’s] plans to build a school here, where they get to … learn these things that like I never got to, my mom never got to, so for us to be able to provide that for, not just my children but other people’s children as well, is like amazing … They’re gonna be able to come home and teach me and that’s exciting, because I want to learn.”
Caldwell says there will be about 15 school-aged children living on the reserve as of September.
Vaughan says they’re going to be able to make her daughters moccasins and ribbon skirts.
“And like even those small things are so big because that’s still teaching them culture and I never got to do that,” she said.
Being one of the first few people on the reserve, Vaughan admits that it’s been a little “lonely” at times, but she knows that that won’t be the case once more people arrive.
Elder wants to pass Caldwell teachings on to youth
Her duplex neighbour, 70-year-old James Welch, is already the twin girls’ biggest fan.
“Every time I see them outside, I’ve got to go out,” said Welch, who was the first one to move on to the reserve mid-July.
“Soon as I go out, they see me, [they say], ‘hi.’ They’re really cute.”
At this, Welch’s face fills with emotion. He explains that he’s raised a big family — eight kids — and comes from a big family.
Being one of the elders, Welch says he’s looking forward to teaching the younger generations how to snare animals and skin them.
When asked why this is an important skill for him to pass on, he says, “because they’ll always have food.”
Welch had been living in Chatham-Kent for about 23 years before his move, but he says housing was expensive and his neighbourhood was loud. He finally feels settled.
“All of us mostly moved around all the time, there was no permanent place to call home and now everyone will have a place they can call home and enjoy it.”
WATCH: Take a tour of one of the new, net-zero homes with Caldwell First Nation Chief
Caldwell Chief Mary Duckworth walks CBC’s Jennifer La Grassa through one of the unoccupied housing units on the reserve.
Housing, infrastructure cost about $20 million to build
Right now, Caldwell has 80 hectares of land, which it bought using $105 million that it got from a land claim settlement. The land is located in the municipality of Leamington, off of Bevel Line Road and Mersea Road 1.
In 2023, the First Nation opened Caldwell Gas and Variety — a gas station and small general store that sits a short walk away from the housing development.
The homes and infrastructure cost about $20 million, according to Caldwell councillor Ian Duckworth.
He says they got funding and support from Indigenous Services Canada and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
As for who got selected to rent a home from the First Nation, Caldwell’s housing manager Ramsey Kicknosway says he undertook an objective process to review applications. And he said that the number of applications he received happened to perfectly match the amount of housing they have, so there isn’t currently a wait list.
Right now, the First Nation is gauging interest from others who might want to move to the property. So far, Ian says they’ve heard that some people would like to see three to four-bedroom housing units.
He says they’re hoping to eventually build more housing, along with a multi-purpose centre that will include the band office and services for kids. A senior’s centre and school are also in the works.
The First Nation has also set up an agreement with Leamington to use its water treatment and wastewater services, as well as its policing, fire and ambulance services.
When asked how it feels to rebuild his community alongside his own family, Ian admits that he’s so caught up in the day-to-day planning that it can be hard to remember the big picture.
“I’m just a little part in this big machine of the community,” he said.
“We had previous councils that pushed us to get us to this point. So it wasn’t just us, it was a group effort to get us this far.”
Outside in the community’s main courtyard, which still needs to be landscaped, Chief Duckworth says there’s lots of “excitement” from the people who have moved on to the reserve so far.
Mixed in with all the big emotions though, are all the usual questions that any resident wants to know, like when’s garbage day? and where will the school bus pick up the kids?, she says.
Looking out over the property, Duckworth says she can already see the community she knows they will become.
“I see people gathering, I see people sitting outside laughing and sharing [food], I see people having extended family here visiting, I see a playground. I see real community values being demonstrated by working together, sharing with each other, taking care of each other.”
