Members of Neskantaga First Nation travelled by snowmobile this week to a mining exploration camp on their traditional territory to deliver a cease-and-desist letter, demanding an immediate halt to exploration activities they say were undertaken without their consent.
The remote Ojibway community, located in the heart of Ontario’s Ring of Fire region, says it has not approved exploration work being carried out by PTX Metals Inc. for its proposed W2 Project, which targets copper, nickel, platinum group elements, gold and cobalt.
Among those who made the journey was 21-year-old Lashaunda Waswa, the community’s youngest band councillor, who said the decision was rooted in a responsibility to protect the land for future generations. She said the exploration camp is located near her grandmother’s trapline, raising deep personal and cultural concerns.
Neskantaga Chief Gary Quisses said exploration activity has intensified in recent weeks despite the First Nation never granting permission. He said the area being explored is part of the community’s harvesting grounds and ancestral lands.
“We never gave you permission to come and take our resources,” Quisses said, recalling his message to workers at the camp. “This is our home.”
The move comes as development pressure mounts in the Ring of Fire, a mineral-rich region in the James Bay lowlands that Ontario Premier Doug Ford has positioned as strategically important amid Canada’s trade tensions with the United States. While no mining projects have yet been approved, the province has recently signed multimillion-dollar agreements with Marten Falls and Webequie First Nations, as well as the Municipality of Greenstone, to advance road construction into the region.
Neskantaga is among several First Nations pushing back against the pace and framework of development, citing concerns about provincial legislation aimed at accelerating project approvals, including Bill 5 and the One Project, One Process Framework.
Quisses’s community is also preparing for a key court hearing scheduled for Thursday, as part of a $95-billion lawsuit filed by 10 Treaty 9 First Nations against the provincial and federal governments. The case challenges how Treaty 9 lands are regulated and developed.
In a statement to the media, PTX Metals said its exploration activities are in the early stages and fully permitted. The company said it respects its relationships with First Nations and has engaged with local communities over the past four years through consultation and permitting processes. PTX added that it has reached out again to Chief Quisses and hopes to meet with community leadership soon.
Ontario’s Ministry of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation said the province remains committed to its duty to consult Indigenous communities and emphasized that no legislation removes that obligation.
Beyond land concerns, Quisses said Neskantaga is grappling with longstanding social and infrastructure challenges. Home to fewer than 400 people and located roughly 440 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, the community has lived under a boil water advisory for three decades — the longest in Canada.
“We live in third-world conditions,” Quisses said, pointing to the high cost of food, mental health struggles, addictions and inadequate infrastructure.
Waswa said she understands those challenges firsthand and is now focused on reconnecting youth with their culture and traditions. That includes encouraging young people like 14-year-old Katrina Sakanee, the chief’s granddaughter, who recently wrote an essay urging governments to address community needs before pursuing resource extraction.
“You can’t just come to our land and start mining,” Sakanee wrote. “You need our permission.”
