Grassy Narrows seeks treatment centre so residents don’t die away from reserve
OTTAWA — Chief Simon Fobister doesn’t have to imagine the grief and anguish and pain that decades of slow-motion mercury poisoning have wrought on the people of Grassy Narrows First Nation.
After all, he’s one of them.
Fobister and a number of his family members are among the vast majority of Grassy Narrows First Nation residents — more than 90 per cent by some estimates — who must contend daily with the painful, debilitating symptoms of Grassy’s toxic legacy.
The symptoms of mercury poisoning, also known as Minimata disease, include impaired peripheral vision, muscle weakness, impaired speech, hearing and cognitive function and numbness or stinging pain in the extremities and mouth.