Invisible North: The Search for Answers on a Troubled Reserve

In 2005, a crisis long brewing in the northern reserve town of Kashechewan exploded onto the national stage. Much like the one would rage in Attawpiskat in 2012, the crisis in Kash combined overcrowding, toxic mould, substandard infrastructure, and desperate poverty. When journalist Alexandra Shimo arrived in Kashechewan in 2010, nothing could have prepared her for the despair, squalour, and inequality that scarred the struggling northern community. Fire and Water is her account of life on a severely economically depressed reserve. It is a powerful case study of the failings of the Canadian government, and the wider community, to recognize the unique challenges and needs of individuals living on reservations.