housing on reserves

the only way you are going to live in a desent house is to be related to the chief.any complains about needing help on our old run down houses falls on deaf ears..

that does indeed happen on some reserves. Elect more accountable chiefs. Insist on an open process.

Or would you rather indian and northen affairs was responsible for the management of housing money?

I was listening this AM on the radio where someone died recently on a reserve, where there were 15 living in the house. Too crowded , because there weren't enough houses, but more important the problem of building an inferior house , that because of its poor construction would last only 15-20 years.
I guess that is what you get when the government is in charge of things! Poor quality at too high a price, eating up the housing allowance.
What does it cost to build a tent these days?

What Deank said. Plus...

If I cannot afford a "nice" place I will at least keep what I can afford clean and tidy. I will not let mould become a problem. I will paint occasionally. I will get broken windows fixed. I will cut the lawn. I will not let crap build up in the yard (old rusty cars...).

I will not let guests or family damage the house during parties. I would not continue to drop children If I don't have room for them. Nor will I allow my children that live there drop more children.

Pride of place. Personally accountability. Words to live by.

grumpy old man wrote:What Deank said. Plus...

If I cannot afford a "nice" place I will at least keep what I can afford clean and tidy. I will not let mould become a problem. I will paint occasionally. I will get broken windows fixed. I will cut the lawn. I will not let crap build up in the yard (old rusty cars...).

I will not let guests or family damage the house during parties. I would not continue to drop children If I don't have room for them. Nor will I allow my children that live there drop more children.

Pride of place. Personally accountability. Words to live by.

My girlfriend and I just bought our first home and its amazing how much we appreicate this place compared to appartments that we have had when we were younger. I guess now that we have the debt, we have learnt to repect it. That and we have sense of pride and ownership. If we let the place run down, then thats what our friends and family see.

LOL... well I have too many kids... or not enough .. cant remember.. I have a broken window I need to fix for over a year now... I have a rusting van sitting in the driveway ( not the yard yet.. there is too much snow) I am too busy to keep the house perfectly clean and yeah it definately needs some paint on the outside...

We have lived in the same home for 21 years now and we have always maintained it and have just completed some renovations to the plumbing and electical. Although we may not keep the cleanest of homes because of our busy lifestyle I also maintain that my friends and family are coming to see ME not my home. If they were coming to see my home then they really aren't my friends. But with that said, because we own the house we make sure that the maintenance is up to par and we do not let things get out of hand. But we also have a lot of stuff (clutter) that we are slowly getting rid of as we are looking to downsize in the near future. It is all in the pride of what is yours and if you have made the effort to purchase it on your own or if it was a hand out (rental). I see similar conditions on my street from the slum lords who choose to rent to welfare recipients and the conditions that they allow the homes to get to is almost as bad as a reserve but again it is the ownership vs freebie issue again.

Pride of ownership somethiong those on the reaserve do not enjoy , it is owned by the goverment of the day. It could be changed but it hasn't been . Wonder if we have enjoyed the controler role which we have given out with glee over the years.

White man speak with forked tongue!

There is clean and there is clean. Clutter, dishes in the sink are one thing and those are the things that slip in a busy household. When I say keep a clean house I mean on occasion we clean up mould. Or we wash a window or two.

Two wildly different meanings of that word eh?

Deank wrote:LOL... well I have too many kids... or not enough .. cant remember.. I have a broken window I need to fix for over a year now... I have a rusting van sitting in the driveway ( not the yard yet.. there is too much snow) I am too busy to keep the house perfectly clean and yeah it definately needs some paint on the outside...

If God forbid something happens while you are living life in your cluttered house that maybe needs a paint job will you blame the government and maybe sue them?

See the difference?

rosencrentz wrote:White man speak with forked tongue!

How do you mean that , as it is true .

There rights are still not as good as your s and mine 140 yrs later . Now there is something as a nation to be proud of .
Well I don't agree with the antics they are sometimes up to I would probably do the same after that amount of time . It is time for us to stop being their landlord .

The problem is inherrent in the agreement that our government made to look after the aboriginals if they gave up their land and moved onto rocky land that cannot support anything.
We made the deal and the problems will only be solved when we honour our agreements, and get the aboriginals into the cities and towns, off the reserves, into the education system and into the Canadian mainstream. Something similar to foreigners coming into the country and getting to work so their kids will be able to enjoy what Canadian society has to offer!

holly golightly wrote: I also maintain that my friends and family are coming to see ME not my home. If they were coming to see my home then they really aren't my friends. .

Well considering we just purchased our home, I know that friends and family are or were coming to see the house. Now that we have been there for 6 months, people are coming to see us and not the house or atleast I hope. We still try keep the place tidy and what not. I mean there are still the pile of last weeks flyers on the coffee table. But we do try and make sure the sink isn't full of dirty dishes or that the carpet isn't covered with dirt and stains.

"But we do try and make sure the sink isn't full of dirty dishes or that the carpet isn't covered with dirt and stains."

somedays I consider my self lucky if the carpet is not full of dirty dishes

Too many neurotic people regarding "keeping it clean".
keep it safe and who cares about the dust?

i have bad allergies...

rosencrentz wrote:The problem is inherrent in the agreement that our government made to look after the aboriginals if they gave up their land and moved onto rocky land that cannot support anything.
We made the deal and the problems will only be solved when we honour our agreements, and get the aboriginals into the cities and towns, off the reserves, into the education system and into the Canadian mainstream. Something similar to foreigners coming into the country and getting to work so their kids will be able to enjoy what Canadian society has to offer!

That hits it on the head

To bad Don Marks has not come around to how much money a trip to the UN, costs and how many house fix ups could be done with it .
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/just_how_bad_does_it_have_to_get_on_the_rez39252332.html

If most of us weren't so anti- aboriginal, we would realize that what the government agencies looking after the aboriginals have managed to accomplish, if emulatted in the "white" society, would cut down on urban sprawl, save on valuable land and resources.
The only negatives that I can possibly see is the fact that a toilet breakdown might be catastrophic, and the fact that learning how to sleep standing up, might be a hard thing to teach, mainly because teaching on reservations is another problem!

Anti-aboriginal? Tell me Rosie how many aboriginals do you employ? You seem to talk the talk...do you walk the walk?

http://mqup.mcgill.ca/extra.php?id=860

Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry
Frances Widdowson and Albert Howard

National Post - Review

Anybody read the book yet?

Well employment is one thing what about the right to own the house they live in or the land they have . That is up to all of us, for we created the mess for them .

Who'd want to own a house on a Reserve anyway?

Sorry JTF the book is some what right , but we have started the act of oppression with them , is that not why most of our forefathers came here to escape from .