Our Plan

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Food in our communities is too expensive.  Everyone but us is in control and outsiders get rich while we suffer.  We've been taught to fear change and we've become dependent. We all know what the problems are, successive governments have been trying to address it, academics have studied it, yet our people still go hungry. We must decolonize, we must lead in the solutions to our own problems.  Enough talk, its time to act.

The plan starts with free food for those most in need.  This is where our food bank partners shine, they are the experts, we just need to support them.  To do this, we campaigned Nutrition North Canada to subsidize food banks and charities at a special rate.  We work with communities to ensure that what is shipped will be used. And we, along with our partners, are building a distribution network to shorten the supply routes to our member communities.

In 2020, during the pandemic, we recognized that, even if the food gets to community, there is no place to store it, and no way to get it to those that need it the most.  So, in 2021, Nutrition North listened to us and introduced the Community Food Programs Fund, a portion of the Harvester's Support Grant that can be used to build storage and distribution within communities.  We work with you to develop this capacity so, when food arrives, it gets where it's needed.

We are a proud people.  For millennia we looked after ourselves and built traditions that allowed us to live off the land and ensured that everyone in the community was fed  But the world changed, we were crammed onto reserves and isolated socially and economically.  All we need is a balancing of the scales, a way to look after our own interests. 

Alone, we are communities of an average of 1000 people.  Together, we are a market of almost 400,000 people.  With our food bank partners, we represent over 700,000 hungry people.  More people than Hamilton. And too big to ignore.

The Wiiche'iwaymagon Alliance seeks to leverage this as a strength.  By working together we can impact the market and we can feed our people, without relying on handouts.

In October 2024, the Wiiche'iwaymagon Buying Alliance was created as a not-for-profit corporation.  It was created because the market is responding to what we are doing.  As directed by our First Nation Board of Directors,  Wiiche'iwaymagon Buying Alliance will negotiate pricing on behalf of member communities, including shipping rates, food price, harvesting equipment purchases, etc.  Backed by a revolving fund, the Alliance can purchase in bulk and send the purchases through our own distribution network to reach communities.  As a not-for-profit, the Wiichewaymagon Buying Alliance cannot generate profit.  Any proceeds must go to funding and growing operations, including operations in member communities, instead of a group of faceless shareholders.  Remove greed from the equation and everyone eats.  This is a hand up.... and this is our tradition.

Our Board sees success as a process of constant growth.  Our member communities demand it and we will not remain idle.  Our communities need options for credit and banking equal to those enjoyed by all Canadians, we need emergency response that is coordinated and that meets our needs, we need access to harvesting supplies and equipment that meets our standards, we need a market for our traditional products and we need real jobs and hope for the future of our children. The Wiiche'iwaymagon Buying Alliance will respond with the help of our members and our partners.  Because none of us is alone.