ARTICLES BY Alex Roslin

Hydro Herbicides Are Unsafe, Say Experts

Hydro-Quebec is reassuring Crees that herbicides it sprayed along Route 113 aren’t dangerous to people or animals. But experts and environmentalists contacted by The Nation say the herbicide used is highly toxic and flammable, and can kill fish, animals and people if exposed in large enough doses. In smaller doses, it ... read more ››

Hockey Deal Signed

Just weeks before the start of the hockey season, Crees have reached a compromise deal with the Abitibi-Témiscamingue Midget AA Hockey League and a team is now being put together to represent the Cree Nation. “We said we’d try to get a team together this year and play hockey. We’re there,” ... read more ››

I Cannot Do This Alone

A scene from the Annual General Assembly in Waswanipi: Matthew Coon Come rose to accept a recognition award from the Waswanipi people. At that moment, the feeling that people have toward him was obvious in the room. The audience broke into the warmest and most sustained applause of the night. That ... read more ››

Midget AA offer leaves Crees peeved

Crees are reacting with amazement and bewilderment to a recent “peace offer” from the Midget AA Hockey League of Abitibi-Témiscamingue. Until now, the Midget AA league has stubbornly refused to allow a Cree Nation team to participate in the league’s games. But pressure from minor-hockey officials and the mayors of several non-Native ... read more ››

Record number of nominees in election

The time has come again for you, our readers, the Cree electorate, to prove or disprove that old saying, “If voting could change anything it would be illegal.” Yes, it is election season. An unprecedented number of candidates has been nominated for the two top jobs in the Cree Nation. For Grand Chief, ... read more ››

Suspicious Innu Deaths Inspire Film

June 9, 1977. Achille Voilant, 20, and Moise Regis, 26, go fishing on the Moisie River near Sept-lles. They never come home. The next day, the canoe of the two Innu men is found empty. Their bodies later wash ashore, bruised as if the men had been beaten. The families immediately faced obstacles ... read more ››

Crees Possessed By The Olympic Spirit

From our sports desk comes news of the Olympic spirit catching on in Eeyou Astchee big time. No Crees competed at the recent Olympic Games, but the day may not be too far off when one will. As we went to press, the finest athletes of the Cree Nation were busily preparing ... read more ››

Dusting Off idea of a Cree Education Act

After sitting on the shelf and collecting dust for five years, the idea of a Cree Education Act is being back brought to life. Cree parents soon may be able to elect the Chairman of the Cree School Board, Elders could have a seat on school committees, parental rights and the ... read more ››

Land Claims Body Resigns In Protest

All five commissioners of the Indian Claims Commission have sent a letter of resignation to the federal government, accusing Ottawa of ignoring their recommendations and moving too slowly in settling land claims. “Frustrations have been occurring because of the federal government’s lack of response,” said Dan Belgard, the commission’s co-chair and ... read more ››

Mass floods an act of God or man?

It is being described as one of the biggest natural disasters in Canadian history. After an unprecedented 11 inches of rain fell in parts of Quebec, mass floods swept the Saguenay and Lower North Shore areas, leaving 10 dead, over 10,000 evacuated, severe damage in 12 to 15 towns and up ... read more ››

Questions About Cree Culture

What does Cree culture stand for these days? A great interest in exploring and preserving the Cree culture and language has taken root in Eeyou Astchee. Many Crees, especially the youth, are asking questions about the culture, but the answers are not always easy to find. A dozen or more different Cree ... read more ››

Public Money, Public Trust

Crees are asking questions about how the James Bay Cree Cultural Education Centre is run. As one person put it, “It’s public money – there should be public knowledge.” Janie Pachano knows the James Bay Cree Cultural Education Centre has an image problem. “People have no idea what the Centre is doing. Like ... read more ››

Eeyou Astchee Belongs To Quebec, Not Crees

The Quebec government has news for you. Eeyou Astchee is not Cree land. It belongs to “the public.” That’s the latest word from Quebec’s Native Affairs department. “It’s all of Quebec’s territory. If you say it’s Cree land, this we won’t accept. It’s public land according to the law,” said Claude Despatie, ... read more ››

Where’s The Beef?

It was front-page news a year ago when Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come and the Cree chiefs met Premier Jacques Parizeau for the first time in Quebec City and burried the hatchet. The historical meeting gave the separatist leader something to hold up as proof of his good will toward ... read more ››

Cliche backs down on Chapais dump

Another development project has been done in by opposition from the Crees. A project to send Quebec’s garbage to James Bay for disposal was a done deal until the Crees came along. Environment Minister David Cliche had approved the plan to import up to 80,000 tonnes of garbage each year on May ... read more ››

Sawmill Gets Mixed Review At Tense Public Hearing

Consensus seems further away than ever among residents of Waswanipi on Chief John Kitchen’s proposed $5.8-million sawmill project. Sixty to 70 people attended a tense public hearing into the sawmill held by the COMEX environmental panel on June 6 in the community’s arena. The hearing, which lasted from 1:30 to 6:30 p.m., ... read more ››

Crees frozen out of Hydro contracts

All of Hydro-Quebec’s maintenance slashing contracts in James Bay have been awarded to non-Cree businesses in the South this year. “To our great surprise and astonishment, no work will be available in region 10 (James Bay) for the Crees of Mistissini, while the work will be performed by contractors from down ... read more ››

O.J. Faces Contamination Risk From Dump

Ouje-Bougoumou faces a danger of getting contaminated by Chapais’s proposed new dump, says Chief Abel Bosum. The dump will import garbage from the South, including toxic and industrial waste. “If there is any contamination, we will be affected,” said Bosum in an interview. The proposed dump will be located at the site of ... read more ››

Quebec’s Garbage to be Shipped North

Cree land is on its way to becoming the trash can of Quebec. Quebec Environment Minister David Cliche has approved a proposal to build a massive garbage dump in Chapais on the traplines of Lawrence Dixon of Waswanipi and Freddy Capassisit of Ouje-Bougoumou. Each year, up to 80,000 tonnes of waste will ... read more ››

O.J. Motocross Duo Fastest In Canada

The motocross world has been taken by storm by two youngsters from Ouje-Bougoumou. Katejun Coonishish, 8, and Nathaniel Bosum, 6, took first place in their age groups in a national motocross competition on Saturday, April 26, held in Victoriaville, Quebec. The next day, the speedy duo placed first in a ... read more ››

Mohawks defiant over Extreme Fighting

The Extreme Fighting match in Kahnawake has erupted into a political brouhaha that has increased tensions between the Mohawk Nation and Quebec. Atone point, Premier Lucien Bouchard even said he was worried about the possibility of another Oka Crisis. The “no-holds-barred” contest held April 26 put a dozen martial artists from ... read more ››

Domtar lawyer in on Barrière Lake coop

For four years, the Algonquins of the Barrière Lake First Nation blocked roads, fought in court and set up a tent city on Parliament Hill to stop clearcutting on their land. Their campaign forced Canada and Quebec to sign a historic agreement giving Algonquins the final say over logging on ... read more ››

IRWIN WRONG TO REMOVE CHIEF: LIBERAL MP

Indian Affairs Minister Ron Irwin had no business removing Jean-Maurice Matchewan as the chief of Barrière Lake, says an MP from Irwin’s own party. “These are the First Peoples. They’ve been here thousands of years and we’re telling them they can’t run their own affairs?” said Liberal Member of Parliament Clifford ... read more ››

Feets, don’t fail me now!

THERE’S GOING to be some sore feet in Eastmain this summer after Chief Kenneth Gilpin, his wife Sally and four other residents finish a 705-kilometre walkathon to raise $1 million for an arena and community centre. The fearless group plans to head off from Val d’Or on July 19 and march ... read more ››

Chief asked for “total control” over police We don’t need more power: police chief

Alcohol abuse is a rampant problem in Chisasibi, but the answer is more education and healing programs, not more action by police, says Samuel House, Chisasibi’s chief of police. “Ninety-five per cent of our calls are alcohol-related,” said House. “I would suggest to have programs on the abuse of alcohol integrated ... read more ››

Ottawa taken to COURT ON NEW TAX

“Tax exemption is not a privilege or a benefit, but our right. I’m willing to defend that right.” With those words, Margaret Horn of Kahnawake joined three other First Nations women in launching a court challenge to Ottawa’s new income-tax rules for Native people. The four women filed claims with the Federal ... read more ››