The Butcher Shop project bringing food security and a return to traditional diets at the Red Rock Indian Band

Nestled in the snowy woods just offHighways 11 and 17 on the shores of Lake Helen, stands an immense structure painted in the four colours of the Medicine Wheel.

Tim Ruth, a member of the Red Rock Indian Band, explains that it's a "four-pronged moose hanger" with dimensions of 15 feet wide and 18 feet long.

Ruthjokes that even though there are only enough prongs to hang four moose at once, "you can put ten moose on there for sure so it's quite, quite massive."

The moose hanger, which was constructed and installed in the fall of 2019, is part of the First Nation's "Butcher Shop Project," designed to improve food security, increase access to wild foods and expand inter-generational knowledge sharing.

"When we have our traditional harvest in the fall, we can bring the moose here and the community can gather to skin and process the moose at one area, instead of hanging it at someone's house and then bringing it over to the area down here," said Ruth.

'At the gathering place': Butcher shop to be a space for the community

Sitting adjacent to the moose hanger is the building that will become the community's butcher shop. It stands empty at the moment, as COVID-19 has delayed the construction and shipment of the walk-in fridge, freezer and other equipment. But Ruthsays he thinks the building will be ready to be used early in the new year.

The butcher shop is called, "maamawitaawining."

"The name of the place was presented by one of the band members, which means 'at the gathering place,'" said Ruth.

"That's another big concept of getting this place going, is we can have the elders teach the young ones how to process and tell stories and make the wild game edible after the processing and gathering and harvesting of the wild game itself."

A return to traditional diets will improve health outcomes

In a 2019 study commissioned by the Chiefs of Ontario, it was found that "the number of First Nations people living with diabetes is at an all-time high and the prevalence of diabetes is much higher among First Nations people than other people in Ontario."

The study also noted that the higher prevalence of diabetes among First Nations in the province are linked to "ongoing racism, dispossession from land, childhood and intergenerational trauma, changes in diet and an increase in sedentary lifestyles associated with colonization."

In response to higher rates of diabetes, the Red Rock Indian Band chief and council began several programs to improve food security and nutrition, including a community garden that has produced more fresh vegetables than the community could eat, a "good food box," and a "kids in the kitchen" program to educate children about nutrition and safety in the kitchen.

But these programs can't improve access to wild game in the same way Ruthand the First Nation hope the Butcher Shop Project will.

"We try to get out all the time to harvest foods off the land. But a lot of times you're consuming a lot of no good food that's readily available and easy to grab. So to teach the kids how to get berries and trap rabbits and stuff like that is becoming lost within our community and other First Nations," Ruthadded.

"I think that if we start eating more traditional food and wild game, hopefully generations to come will start getting back to being healthy and consuming a healthier diet of wild game."