Naomi Weistche is the youngest of seven children born to Andrew and Louisa Weistche. She is twelve years-old and is presently attending Wiinibekuu school in Waskaganish. As a Cree student in the school she faces a problem that not many other Crees have to face. She is deaf.
She wasn’t born this way but it came about after she got spinal meningitis in the summer of 1988. She was evacuated to Val d’Or hospital where doctors wondered why it had taken so long to send her there. She arrived in a coma. Before this she could hear but when she arrived home to Waskaganish she had lost her hearing.
People had advised Naomi’s parents to sue, but they didn’t because they felt they would be hurting a Cree entity and no amount of money would bring back her hearing.
Today, Naomi and her parents face many obsticles, but the most frustrating and painful one is the inability to communicate with each other. Naomi can’t hear and her parents only know minimal sign language.
“It’s a very painful situation for all of us. We feel helpless to help her with even her simple needs.” said Andrew Weistchee.
This is difficult for the Weistche’s because they are used to talking about problems with their children and finding solutions together. The most painful situation, Andrew said, is when something traumatic happens to your child, like what happened to Naomi recently. She was out walking when a teenager assaulted her with a pair of scissors and stabbed her three times.
The inability to communicate feelings and pain have made her parents determined to get Naomi a good education and end her present vulnerability. They wish to take her to a school for the deaf in either Manitoba or Ontario.
“We want to take her to a safer environment. One that would fill all of our needs like her schooling and a way for us to talk to each other,” Andrew said.
In order to do this, the Weistche’s want to follow what they consider to be an inspirational example set by Chief Kenneth Gilpin and his community of Eastmain who walked from Val d’Or to Eastmain.
The Weistche’s plan to walk for the future of their daughter – from Val d’Or to Nemaska. On the walk will be Naomi’s parents and two sisters, Sarah, who is in her twenties and and Norma, who is 16. They hope to raise enough money to send Naomi to school and to accompany her so they can learn sign language and finally be able to speak with their child.
The Weistche family is appealing to the people and all Cree entities and councils to lend their moral and financial support. All communities have had the experience of seeing the need of a local hearing impaired person at one time or another. The four members of the Weistche family plan to start the Walkathon for the Naomi Weistche Education Fund on June 26th, 1997.
Interested parties may contact the Weistche’s by phone at 819 895-2715 or by mail: Naomi Weistche Education Fund, Attn. Andrew Weistche, P.O. Box 63, Waskaganish, Quebec, J0M 1RO.
