M’CHIGEENG—Take a drive down a winding road through the community of M’Chigeeng, past Lake Mindemoya and up a hill and there you will find the home of Pam Roy. Pam’s home has been a safe place for many youths over the years. She is a salt-of-the-earth mother, of that there is no doubt.
Pam opens the door, smiling with welcoming brown eyes. “Biindigen,” she says. “Welcome.”
Her hair is tied up in a bun and her house smells of warm sweetness. She has been baking up a storm, catering for the local bingo, and nearly every surface in the kitchen is covered with cooling racks full of baked goods like mini strawberry shortcakes. A teenage girl is sitting on the couch in the adjacent living room holding a baby chick. There are chickens and beehives in the yard, and the home has a remarkable warmth about it.
Pam has been fostering children for more than 34 years. When asked how many children she has fostered in that time, she laughs and shrugs. “I lost count a long time ago. Some kids stay for a week or two, some for many months. They’re all special to me, but it’s impossible to keep count.”
When asked why she does the work of caring for children, she says, “I don’t really know, it’s just the way I am, I guess. I take care of elderly people, like my uncle too. It’s just what needs to be done.” She wipes her hands on a towel and motions to an enclosure in the living room. It’s got five or six baby chicks inside, huddled together under a heat lamp. She opens a container filled with eggs, and there is a newly hatched chick inside. “I leave the newborn chicks in there until they dry off and their feathers get fuzzy. You can hold it if you’d like,” she says gently.
On top of being a community mother figure, Ms. Roy is the mother of three adult children with a fourth grandchild on the way. She shows a photograph of five generations of her family, beaming with pride. “This one is the littlest one here,” she says. “He just turned one yesterday. And we have another one due any time now.”
She sits back down in the kitchen and hands me an icing piping bag. “I have a little job for you if you want,” and asks me to fill it with whipped cream as she dresses cakes with strawberries.
We sit talking about life, community and the importance of culture, for Indigenous children to be cared for from within their own communities.
She finishes her task and we go outside to where she keeps her hives which are teeming with bees as a comforting hum of bees buzzing fills the air.
“My partner and I also keep bees. I have always wanted my kids to be close to where their food comes from. I think it’s an important thing that many people have forgotten about.” I think a while about the lessons we can learn from bees, about team work and community.
Before I leave her home, she hands me a jar of fresh honey and a large piece of sticky cake. “When I learned you were coming I had to make sure to have some snacks ready. Please come back any time!”
Happy Mother’s Day, Pam and to all the moms and foster moms out there.
