"I don't like it here, no. I want to go home to Kash. But my son needed to come. And it's helped, because he's well again," said Victor Stephen, 24, as Kenneth played hockey on a tennis court outside the building where he and about 45 others from Kashechewan are staying.

"At first, he cried when I tried to make him take a shower here because he thought the water would hurt him again."

Officials evacuated about half the population of the remote reserve last week because the water was contaminated with E. coli bacteria.

The problem shone a harsh spotlight on the squalor in which many of Canada's aboriginal people live, and prompted officials in Ottawa to promise large amounts of additional aid.

"Kashechewan has sent up a flare... Canada is finally realizing that these communities can no longer be out of sight, out of mind," said Ed Sackaney, a coordinator for Ontario Aboriginal Health Advocacy Initiative.

Sackaney's group is helping take care of 243 native Indians who were among the first wave of around 1,200 people airlifted from Kashechewan.

Residents have been suffering from nausea, diarrhea, rashes and blistered skin. Some conditions are due to high levels of chlorine used to treat the water.

Kashechewan has complained for years of sub-standard water, and residents have had to boil drinking water on and off for the last five years.

The reserve is in a low-lying area that is prone to flooding. Last year, the federal government upgraded the treatment system, but did not move the intake pipe, which is downstream from the sewage lagoon.

Stephen said he hopes to return soon, after hearing that the Canadian military is installing a water treatment plant that would produce plenty of clean water for the community.

"This will make a big difference to our lives right now," he said.

The group refused reporters entry to the community center. Most stayed inside, but the few who braved the chilly drizzle said their temporary home was okay, although there was little privacy in the large hall where they are sleeping on cots.

"They're traumatized, and many have never left the reserve, so they're just staying close and indoors at the moment," said Greg Brown, who along with other local First Nation people, were helping the evacuees feel more at home,

Dr Christopher Mazza, who is leading an emergency medical team that is examining evacuees as they arrive at Sudbury airport, said clean water would be a big step forward for the residents, who are showing symptoms of anxiety as well as a myriad of health problems.

"I think it will do a lot for their confidence and well-being. Providing water, it's a staple of life, so I think it will make a huge difference to that community. But does it eliminate the challenges they face? No," he said.

Mazza said the evacuees had an unusually high incidence of diabetes and heart disease, both associated with poverty and a poor diet.

"Their problems are consistent with what I've seen throughout the remote north," he said.

Sackaney said Kashechewan's plight mirrors that of the rest of Canada's one million aboriginal people.

Many live in abject poverty on reserves with inadequate housing and other facilities. Unemployment is between 50 and 90 percent and alcoholism, substance abuse and suicide rates are high.

Ottawa spends about C$7 billion a year on Canada's native population, but living conditions and life expectancy remain far below the national average.

The problem is particularly acute in the north, where natives once led a nomadic life but now live mostly in permanent settlements.

Prime Minister Paul Martin's government has promised that 500 new homes would be built in the reserve, away from the floodplain, over the next 10 years.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg. Besides the housing the federal government has committed to, they still have to look at economic development, as well as generating their own revenue," said Sackaney.