NEEGANII- IISHAWIN Gathering 2026 Continues to Grow!
by Scott A. Sumner
I asked John Beardy, Director of Business Development for Windigo Community Development Corporation and one of the organizers of the NEEGANII- IISHAWIN Gathering 2026 some questions about the event. Windigo is a parent corporation and they own subsidy organizations. One of them is Windigo Catering which provides food services as well house keeping, laundry, light maintenance and janitorial services for 600 workers at the Orla Musselwhite for over 25 years now.
Who are the organizers of the NEEGANII- IISHAWIN Gathering 2026 ?
“ We are a partnership between 5 First Nations- Bearskin Lake, Cat Lake, North Caribou, Slate Falls and Sachigo Lake”
“ This event event is a collaboration of our tribal groups. It started informally where the economic development offers from the communities met randomly to discuss partnerships and opportunities. After a few years we decided to make it more formal as a economic development gathering. It is a focus for our members with 5 tribal councils and 36 first nations, of which many have a local development office.”
When did the event begin?
“ The conference is now our third conference. We started at the Superior Inn and outgrew that, then tried the Valhalla Inn and maxed out their facility. Now we are at the Nor'wester Hotel including the Tournament Centre.”
“ We wanted to accommodate more of our partners and First Nation participants and so we used the Tournament Centre rink area to accommodate our trade show portion. We have suppliers and others in the trade show area. There are 350 participants but we are getting calls and adding more. There are 74 trade show booths.”
What is the purpose of the event?
“ This event is to build capacity in business readiness for our communities, employment training and business partnerships. We focus on the agenda with speakers helping our local communities with economic development. There is an increase in resource development projects whether it is mining, forestry or infrastructure. In some cases many of our communities aren't ready to take contracts for these projects, so this event is to help make everyone aware of what is coming and how we can grow and expand our businesses.”
“ We want to build capacity at the community level with the local economic development offices- to provide training to create more resources to build their local enterprises as well as other opportunities in the region. At Windigo where I work, we build our businesses to capture these opportunities that are happening on our territories. One of the First Nation groups owns this hotel, the Nor'wester for instance.”
How many people live in your communities? “
In our communities there is an average of about 1000 people each so about 40,000 total population. We see increased activity particularly in the mining areas with more exploration and plans to build more mines. Along with that there is so much opportunity whether it be in the construction phase or production phase. There are opportunities in construction,engineering work, fuel supply etc.
How are you feeling about the progress of your communities?
“ Based on the last 3 - 5 years we are very, very happy with the progress of our communities. We need to get ready and know we can run and manage these businesses and be successful. We work together, share and exchange resources. Behind the scenes we are working, getting ready and looking for partners. It is very, very active at this time and I am happy to see that for our team.”
“ Our goal is to create meaningful long term employment for our communities and as we grow create partnerships to grow and expand. We are interested in the federal and provincial government transportation corridor. It will take time to get ready but is very important.”
