Fixing It Up by Patrick Quinn
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How Cree women’s collective Niweshtanan began building houses Photos provided by Nieweshtanan
hen Jacqueline Quinn heard about a volunteer building project specifically for women in Montreal a few years ago, she was immediately interested. She had always dreamed of travelling somewhere to lend a helping hand but had never taken that leap. Now on maternity leave with her third son, Quinn felt empowered to step out of her comfort zone and follow her passions. She didn’t hesitate when a friend in the city called to say she had four openings in her Habitat for Humanity team. “I was snowshoeing across the lake with my sister Kim and started telling her I’m going to renovate a house,” Quinn recalled. “I said, ‘I’m a little scared because I’ve never used power tools but I’m really excited to try this out.’” The Quinn family is well known for their charity work in Mistissini, from fundraising campaigns for disaster relief to the Wreath of Hope initiative every Christmas at the Meechum grocery store, which is owned by Jacqueline’s parents, Jack and Beverly. Quinn still remembers the look of admiration on her eight-year-old’s face when she shared the
14 the Nation October 23, 2020 www.nationnews.ca
news. She was pleasantly surprised when her cousins BettyAnne Forward and Christina Jimikin agreed to join the sisters for a day of work in the east end of Montreal, where the women were tasked with plastering, sanding and priming. “The second year we wanted to have our own name and let people know we were all Cree women,” Forward told the Nation. “We named our group Niweshtanan, meaning ‘we will fix it’, and my brother made the logo on our Facebook page. We were asked a lot of questions about the Cree Nation – I feel very proud.” Jacqueline Quinn’s other sister Catherine and Christina Jimikin’s sister Sonia joined the team in 2018 to make it a real family affair. As the non-profit organization requires each person to raise at least $500 for supplies, they embarked on an impressive fundraising campaign that included selling poutine and spaghetti plates and creating a hockey pool. “My late cousin Robie Nicholls played a huge part cheering us on,” Quinn shared. “He would help with fundraising at the grocery store. I think the organization appreciated us a little more
