By: Simona Rosenfield, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

YELLOWKNIFE (LJI) – A Yellowknife tent platform that was set up last month and subsequently disappeared hasn’t fully vanished. Instead, it has been reassembled.

The people who put the wooden platform there in the first place say they have turned it into multiple structures to better meet the needs of residents.

Georgina Franki helped lead the creation of the first platform on land opposite the city’s Niven neighbourhood last month. At the time, Franki said the platform was part of a broader plan to establish an encampment for “people evicted with nowhere else to go.”

Franki now says the plan evolved after she got a call from Yellowknife resident Benji Manuel, asking to downsize the first platform and use the leftover materials to build more.

A group of volunteers got to work the next day, she said. They were able to assemble one smaller platform with two more on the way, alongside a garbage container and outhouse.

“All we’re doing is what the homeless want,” Franki said. “It’s the perfect location. They want to be in a safe location.”

Franki says the encampment can offer a safe space for people to sleep.

“The way they are treated right now, it’s inhumane,” said Franki. “Some of them come to me: ‘I just sleep anywhere on the ground, anywhere.’ No shelter, nothing.”

Two couples began living at the tent encampment on Sunday, according to Franki, who recently received a $5,000 donation from a southern organization to purchase tents, blankets and foam mattresses for the initiative.

“For now, that’s all we can provide,” Franki said.  

The Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs told Cabin Radio the GNWT had not been involved in moving or removing the platform.

“On July 4th, ECC officers met with the parties involved in building the platform and provided a detailed explanation on the process of applying for and acquiring tenure,” read a statement from the department.

Support letters

In the past month, Franki’s group has requested letters of support from MLAs, government officials, and Indigenous organizations and governments.

“Letters are coming soon,” Franki said, adding that this work is ultimately the responsibility of the territorial government. “We’re just helping, because they need to find solutions for housing the 300 homeless.”

Franki says she has received positive feedback from the community. She’s also aware that complaints were sent to the Legislative Assembly, but has not received criticism directly.

Approximately 300 Yellowknifers are experiencing homelessness, and the majority are Indigenous, according to a 2021 estimate. Franki says these numbers are on the rise. 

“It all stems from the residential school. All of us are impacted by the residential school, every one of us Indigenous in the Northwest Territories, and it’s continuing,” said Franki. “When does this stop? Have a heart for us. This is our land.”

Franki says the territorial government has a responsibility to address the crisis.

“All we’re doing is assisting finding solutions, because we have no means,” said Franki. 

“The government has to decide how they’re going to house all these people that are sleeping on the highway, the Ingraham Trail, in their vehicle.

“It’s human rights, Charter of Rights. The United Nations said we also have to cover Aboriginal rights as well.”

No means and great needs

Franki says there are informal tent encampments “all over Yellowknife.”

Presently, homeless residents find themselves living under a constant threat of tent evictions, where they are shuffled from one location to another without an end in sight, according to Franki.

A government-backed tent encampment would help mitigate risks associated with homelessness, she said, while giving people an opportunity to transition and heal.

Originally, the group hoped to put up canvas tents on one large platform with a wooden stove and mattresses. With multiple smaller platforms, the tent encampment may look different.

Franki says there’s ongoing work to keep the area clean and safe. She hopes to see action at local or territorial level to support this.

“I’m hoping that the whole Northwest Territories can all step in because the homeless are all transient from the whole Northwest Territories – it’s all our families that are homeless,” said Franki.

“Canada belongs to the Indigenous. We should not have to live in this horrendous environment.”