Volume 19, Issue 17

Bringing shadows to life

Shadows are a strange phenomenon in our world. They are a projection of us but they are not us. They mimic our actions yet they exist in a world all their own. I remember learning how to play shadow hands as taught by my older brothers and sisters when I ... read more ››

Business as usual

  On May 30, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the creation of an advisory panel on hunting and angling, that would inform and give advice to Environment Canada on how to help conservation efforts in the country. Curiously, Aboriginal groups were excluded from that panel. “They absolutely should have included Aboriginal groups ... read more ››

Chibougamau hostel closing

The Chibougamau Eenou Friendship Centre will be ending its hostel service effective July 1. The hostel was one of the first services developed by the Friendship Centre in the early 1970s, and was largely funded by Health Canada until 1985. Never renewed or replaced, this lack of funding has led to ... read more ››

Firestorm

  Recently, on a great day on the coast of Hudson’s Bay, everyone in town was out picnicking, enjoying the final days of spring. As I ran about town picking up forgotten items like insect repellant and marshmallows and other essential items, I bumped into several friends of mine who had ... read more ››

First Peoples Festival unveils line-up

On June 18, Land InSights president André Dudemaine announced the line-up of acts for the Montreal First Peoples Festival, July 31 to August 8. The First Peoples Festival will be showcasing the best of Aboriginal and First Nations performers, like internationally acclaimed Innu singer-songwriter Florent Vollant. Vollant’s show will take place on ... read more ››

Following up

  Having maintained all along that Strateco’s uranium mining exploration project in the Otish Mountains was not a threat to the surrounding environment, Guy Hebert seemed quite weary of what had transpired in Mistissini in the days following the two-day hearings. While the President and CEO had anticipated some opposition to the ... read more ››

Free at last

  Norman Matchewan, a spokesperson and activist for the First Nation of Mitchikanibiko’inik of Barriere Lake, was acquitted of mischief and obstruction of justice charges on June 5, more than two years after attempting to protect his people’s land from illegal logging. According to Matchewan, he had learned that there was illegal ... read more ››

New Cree nurses

  The inaugural class of Centre d’études collégiales à Chibougamau’s Cree-centric nursing program leapt towards certification earlier this month, as they posted a 100% success rate on their technical exit exam. The program is based on a mandate from the Cree Human Resources Department (CHRD), to meet the need for nurses in ... read more ››

NHL stars

  February 10, 2012, is a date that will likely be celebrated annually by Los Angeles Kings forwards Dwight King and Jordan Nolan. It was on this date that King and Nolan were called up from the minor league AHL Manchester Monarchs to join the LA Kings on their drive towards ... read more ››

No way

  With the theme “Together Against Uranium”, a combination protest-rally walk and benefit concert brought out some 350 people in Mistissini to express their opposition to the Strateco mining company’s application for a license to carry out advanced uranium exploration. Occurring on June 4, the day before the three-day set of public ... read more ››

Passing on the past

  Beesum Communications is launching its Legends series, which aims to immortalize the Cree legends by filming Elders telling the stories and posting them online. The initiative began in early 2011, after Cree expressed fears youth, who are less interested in the stories that have instructed and encapsulated Cree life for centuries, ... read more ››

Respect our Aboriginal youth

On June 11, the First Nation Child and Family Caring Society of Canada (FNCFCS) and the Indigenous Bar Association (IBA) organized the “Our Dreams Matter Too” national walk and letter-writing campaign in order to get the federal government to respect the future of Aboriginal youth. The event was necessary because of ... read more ››

Saving young lives

  Apathy and boredom may seem harmless at first, which allows them to take root in communities causing devastation among those most affected – the youth. In Moose Factory, in order to combat the pervasiveness of suicide among the youth, Deputy Chief Charlie Cheechoo began Project George three years ago to help ... read more ››

Solidifying the Cree culture

  Its impact is unquestionable. It sends a clear, and powerful message, that the Cree culture and people are characterized by a lastingness that has defined their past, and will continue to define their future. The Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute (ACCI), standing boldly at the centre of Oujé-Bougoumou, will serve to ... read more ››

Standing firm

  Ashley Iserhoff, Deputy Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Crees, was direct in his statement supporting the Chief and Council of Mistissini in their opposition to the proposed Matoush uranium exploration project and mine. At the end of a long day of public hearings held on June 5 by ... read more ››

Standing up for nature

  Rivers have always had a place in human society from providing a source of water to being a source of spiritual renewal as well as being the lifeblood of the surrounding ecosystem. Even though rivers are quite powerful forces, when no one around fights for their protection, their untamed beauty ... read more ››

The consequences of our actions

  It’s quiet in the office at night. I like it. There are almost no distractions and I can see the patterns of life around the world. Connections you might have missed before are now visible. The funding cuts to the Canada’s Cultural Connections for Aboriginal Youth Program worried me for ... read more ››

The Cree role in the coming election

  Quebec will soon be facing a crucial provincial election, likely sooner than later, and probably early this autumn. As in any election campaign, a well-organized party will deploy a two-fold strategy of negative attacks against its opponents combined with a positive message of optimism that it hopes to sell on ... read more ››

Two powerful days

  While hearings for mining projects have become commonplace throughout Eeyou Istchee, none have been more controversial than those for Strateco’s mining exploration project since the Cree campaign to stop the Great Whale project back in the 1990s. In the last of a series of hearings that happened before the Strateco project ... read more ››

We need to stand together

  Recently I have been noticing so much news regarding First Nations and interaction with resource developers. This kind of thing has been going on for more than 100 years but things have changed in the past few decades. As Native people we never had much to do with all the ... read more ››