ARTICLES BY Alex Roslin

NASA Sighting Investigated

Why does NASA have an installation at LG-1 complete with satellite dish and other strange gadgets? We at The Nation felt like we were caught in a bad episode of The X-Files as we tried to get to the bottom of NASA’s presence in Iyiyuuschii. Are they keeping an eye on ... read more ››

Canada Waging “War” Against Native People

Canadian governments and industry are waging a “public relations war” against the First Nations people in this country, says a member of the Teme-Augama Anishinabai. “The standard war against Aboriginal people is we’re a drain on the taxpayers’ money, we can’t get it together, etcetera. That whole thing is fed into ... read more ››

Emotional Debate Over Royal Commish

You could cut the tension with a knife during the closing speeches at a conference in Montreal on the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Only one Native person, Ovide Mercredi, was on the panel addressing the standing-room-only crowd at McGill University. Before Mercredi, the 700 delegates listened to a Quebec professor ... read more ››

CTA, Cree Construction Moving North

Two Cree entities are moving to a community near you this spring. The Cree Trappers’ Association is relocating to Eastmain and Cree Construction is moving some of its headquarters staff to Mistissini. The moves follow requests made at several Annual General Assemblies that Cree entities move to Iyyuuschii. CTA president Edward Gilpin ... read more ››

Spin City in the Hinterlands

Journalists, you gotta love ’em. What inspires them to write what they write, sometimes God only knows. Consider the question of forestry. How does the media in Canada cover the forestry industry and its effects on the environment? The Nation looked into how the 13 largest Canadian newspapers cover forestry. We discovered ... read more ››

Two Tallymen Speak Out on Forestry – “There Is Nobody There To Help Us”

An agreement like the JBNQA is needed to protect Crees and their way of life from forestry, said two tallymen who recently spoke with The Nation. Philip Saganash and his brother Malcolm Saganash are the tallymen of two traplines in the northern part of the Waswanipi territory, W9 and W5D. The ... read more ››

Crees Ignored in James Bay Snowmobile Trail

Without consulting the Crees, Hydro-Quebec is proposing to build a $2-million snowmobile trail to connect Radisson to Chibougamau. Under discussion for at least a few months, Crees first heard about the plan just before Christmas. The trail will cut through Nemaska and will allow tourists from the South to pass through Iyiyuuschii, ... read more ››

“I Know It’s Not Nice What I Said” – But I’m not a Racist: Val d’Or Hockey Coach Swears

Val d’Or hockey coach Yvanhoé Bélisle says he’s sorry he called a young Cree hockey player a “savage,” but says everybody uses language like that and it’s just part of hockey. “I know it’s not nice what I said. It’s part of the game. I say things that everybody says,” Bélisle ... read more ››

Hunger Widespread in Barrière Lake as Blockade Enters 14th Week

Life is getting desperate in the Algonquin community of Barrière Lake as its blockade of a logging road in La Vérendrye Park enters its fourth month. Food and other basic necessities are in short supply since virtually everyone in the community has been forced onto welfare and hunting activities have been ... read more ››

Week 9 for Barrière Lake

There is finally a glimmer of hope for the protest of the Algonquins of Barrière Lake, whose blockade of a logging road is entering its ninth week. The community is getting support from an unlikely new source in its battle against clearcutting and Ottawa’s interference in the band’s affairs. Guy Chevrette, Quebec’s ... read more ››

Racist Slurs Greet Cree Youth in Val d’Or

Val d’Or hockey coach Yvanohé Bélisle should be disciplined and issue a public apology for screaming racist insults at young Cree hockey players after a recent game in Val d’Or, says Chief Abel Bosum. Bélisle was irate because his Bantam CC team had just suffered its first loss of the season ... read more ››

New Era Promised for Native People

Georges Erasmus has devoted the last six years of his life to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. But he understands why some Natives are skeptical about yet another commission that promises the world but delivers nothing. “They have good reason to be skeptical. Aboriginal people’s hopes have been risen for ... read more ››

Court: Dirty Words Shouldn’t Get Teacher Fired

Chisasibi teacher David Pepabano may have hit a student with a ruler and used inappropriate sexual language in class, but that doesn’t mean he should have been fired, a labour court has ruled. Pepabano was dismissed by the Cree School Board in 1994 after complaints of misconduct and “immorality.” Pepabano was accused ... read more ››

Dismissed Teacher Wants Old Job Back

Hugh Mahabir says the evidence of sexual misconduct that got him fired as a teacher in Chisasibi was fabricated, and he wants his old job back. “A lot of the evidence that you have there is fabricated and it’s meant to destroy me,” said Mahabir in a phone interview from his ... read more ››

Maamuitaau May Not Survive CBC Cuts

Maamuitaau may not survive the next round of CBC cutbacks. The Cree-language weekly TV show, which has been aired for 14 years, is not likely to survive unless there is a public outcry, said Suzanne Aubin, manager of CBC North-Quebec. “That’s one hope we have—that the public outcry will be loud enough. ... read more ››

Tierra Madre – Sacred Earth

Reverend Dario Caal, a Mayan Catholic priest from Guatemala, recently dropped by The Nation to speak about the life of Native people in his country. In Guatemala, the land is owned by the few and the rich. The Native people who have lived there for thousands of years are on the ... read more ››

Algonquins Back On The Barricades

Two weeks after the Algonquins of Barrière Lake set up a blockade on a logging road in La Verendrye Park, they were still waiting for a response from the government. “We’re still waiting. My phone’s sitting there. Our fax is ready,” said Wanda Tusky, a spokeswoman for the protesters. “They’ve got ... read more ››

Former teacher jailed for molestation

A former Chisasibi high school teacher who now lives in Val d’Or has been arrested three times for indecent acts and molesting children. The news has sent shockwaves through Chisasibi and the school system. Joe Cannon taught high school in Chisasibi for a year in the mid-1980s. He was fired after ... read more ››

John Kitchen Defends Tallyman Deals

It’s been two years since tallymen in Waswanipi started getting “assistance” from forestry companies for damage caused to their traplines. Chief John Kitchen is the man who championed the so-called “tallyman agreements.” It may not be long-term compensation, he says, but at least it’s helping people survive off the land. “You can’t ... read more ››

Dialogue of the Deaf: The Nation goes head-to-head with Quebec’s main man in the forest

The Nation: I understand you used to work in Northern Quebec. Jacques Robitaille: Yes, I used to work in Amos for eight years. I was director of the region they call Harricana for six years. At the time, it included the territories of Matagami and Lebel-sur-Quévillon. So I know this neighbourhood ... read more ››

Chisasibi Needs Proper Airport

Chisasibi has been waiting for a proper airport ever since the community relocated from Fort George Island nearly 20 years ago. The community of 3,000, which is home to the Cree Regional Hospital, is served by an airstrip without lights, no communications facilities, no control tower and no building for travellers ... read more ››

Northern Gets Boot in Big Trout Lake

Big Trout Lake, a Cree-Ojibway community in Northern Ontario, has given its Northern Store the boot. After a 150-year presence in the town of 1,000, Northern was given just a few days to pack its bags and leave after a dispute with the local Band Council. The dispute started after Big Trout ... read more ››

One Chief Too Many in Fort Albany

One community, two chiefs. Fort Albany is in a state of political uncertainty as two chiefs lay claim to being the community’s rightful leader. Arthur Scott was elected in a community election held by secret ballot on July 2. But trouble started soon after the election when some residents started getting ... read more ››

Misussini Alarmed Over New Logging Camp

Mistissini is seeking support from other Cree communities and regional leaders to stop a new forestry camp planned in the heart of the band’s territory. Mistissini learned of the proposed new camp last April, but has yet to get any details about it or an expansion of logging roads proposed by ... read more ››

Sakami Fund Down $14 Mln. In Two Years

The Sakami Eeyou fund has shrunken $14 million in the last two years, according to information obtained by The Nation’97a decline of nearly 40 per cent in its assets. But the Wemindji band was quick to reassure residents that the situation is under control and there’s nothing to worry about. The Sakami ... read more ››

Loggers “Mutilating’’ the Forests

Ten years ago most people in the Maritimes would have laughed at anyone who said that one day there would be no more fish. Today, the Maritime provinces are on the verge of bankruptcy after the collapse of their main industry. A way of life is over. In Quebec, where one in ... read more ››