It's been two years since the 2013 flood and some Bearspaw band members are still living in interim housing.
It's been two years since the 2013 flood and some Bearspaw band members are still living in interim housing.
Henry and Joyleen Ear have moved four times within Morley since the flood, bringing along with them their four children to every temporary house - and most recently being placed in a one-bedroom, one bathroom space.
“It is stressful, physically and emotionally - we don't even have any privacy, ” said Joyleen.
The family said they were finally notified earlier this month that their permanent house would be ready by mid-October, a four-bedroom modular home.
“Our daughter was Googling modular homes and it looked really nice, but when we saw [the open house] we were really disappointed, ” Joyleen said. “We waited for two-and-a-half years and we thought they would do better. We wanted a house and they gave us a trailer - to me it looks like temporary housing. ”
The Ears said the new “house ” is a one level, four-bedroom unit with no room for storage. Joyleen said she asked the Bearspaw band if the family could have a house with a basement or a house with a garage and they said the band's reply was the family could have a ‘sea can container.'
“I don't want a sea can in my yard - it would be a reminder every day of the flood, what we went through and what we lived through, ” Joyleen said. “The way the [band] is talking sounds like they are going to put a sea can outside our house and there is nothing we can do. ”
The Ears have been told to ask the Canadian government for assistance, as the Bearspaw band said is does not have the means to help the family.
Henry said one of the most upsetting things about the new house is that the family will be back in the flood zone. The Ear family asked the Bearspaw band if their new modular unit could be relocated, only to have their request be denied by the chief and council.
“[The new home] is where the flood was - they said the [house] is going to be lifted, but what happens when it floods again? ” Henry questioned.
The family worries about what would happen to their belonging, mentioning that they have horses and that in the last flood they lost a vehicle.
“They don't think of me living there until I'm old. The surroundings is supposed to be my [home] - they just want to put the house there and get on with the next house. ”
“As homeowners we think we have a right to decide where to put our house, ” Joyleen said. “The only decision-making we were a part of was what colour the exterior of the trailer would be. ”
“[The chief and council] was even joking about the [future] third flood, saying ‘You'll be coming down the river in your trailer', ” Henry said.
After already experiencing two floods in their last home, the Ear family said they are tired. When the 2013 flood hit, the family was moved to the Morley Community School. When school began in September, the Ear family was then relocated to the Bearspaw Elders Lodge where they stayed until the Nation's Recovery Management Team set up temporary outland camps for victims of the flood. Earlier this year the camps were demobilized, moving the Ear family, still awaiting their replacement home, back into the Elder's Lodge.
The family said since they were relocated back to the lodge this March, there have been a number of problems with the unit.
Joyleen said the bathtub has a leak, which leads to their unit always feeling damp. The mother explains that her son has asthma and since living at the lodge, has had troubles breathing.
“We requested a screen door [to relieve the humidity] and they said they would get to it, ” Joyleen explained.
Henry said since they have been living there, he has had to replace his vehicle tires a couple of times, suggesting the tires have been vandalized.
“I don't feel safe here, ” Henry said. “We don't want to complain - and we feel like we can't complain [because] they might put us out. ”
Joyleen shares her husband's frustration with the situation. “It seems like we get victimized over and over, ” she said. “It feels like they don't want to help. ”
Other residents are also facing flood-related issues, such as Preston Twoyoungmen, who was evicted from his house after the house was deemed unlivable post-flood.
As previously reported by the Eagle, Twoyoungmen stated the band just wanted him and his family off of the reserve and was officially served with eviction papers from at the end of July.
“I am a band member entitled to the house - they want to kick me out and build a new house and give someone the new house, ” Twoyoungmen said.
The Bearspaw member is currently still in his house, refusing to leave until the matter goes to court. “The next step would be [for the band] to get a court order. ”
Twoyoungmen said he has stayed in his house because he does not trust that if he leaves, he will get a replacement home. In previous interviews, Twoyoungmen said he was originally asked to leave because the previous homeowners were attempting to lay claim to the land. The band denied these allegations, but Twoyoungmen was not convinced.
“The government says they have aboriginal's best interests [but] that system does not take care of its own people, ” Twoyoungmen said. “The formula is wrong. ”
The Ear family is also questioning the band. Henry said he asked who was deciding the type and location of their replacement house asking if he could speak to who was in charge, to talk to them and make them understand the family's situation. The family was then told by the band to talk to the Recovery Coordination Centre (RCC), who then told them to talk to their chief and council. The family said they are frustrated with the “run-around. ”
Henry said he knows of other families in the same situation.
“No one is saying anything - they don't want to step on anyone's toes, ” Henry said. “Basically we are starting back at the bottom. ”
“It seems like we are under a dictatorship - we didn't want to give up our house but they said we [had to], ” Joyleen said. “We just want a basement and a relocation. ”
The Eagle attempted to contact Stoney Tribal Administration for comment but did not receive a reply by press time.
