ARTICLES BY Alex Roslin

Decision to Sell Surprises Servinor Boss

Servinor boss Pierre Goyet was surprised and bewildered to bear the company would be sold. At a December 12 meeting, the executive body of the Cree Regional Authority ordered CREECO. to sell Servinor, its money-losing food distributor. The decision was unexpected for Pierre Goyet, who has been the company’s director-general since June ... read more ››

Surprise, Dismay Over Great Whale Plan

News of the talks to revive the Great Whale hydro-electric project is taking Crees by surprise. Few Cree officials or community members had heard of the hush-hush discussions until contacted by The Nation. Crees we spoke to opposed the proposed project and worried about the effects on Cree trappers, hunters and fishers. “It’s ... read more ››

Trappers to Feel Effects of Subsidy Cuts

Getting out to the trapline is going to be harder this year after transport subsidies to trapping and hunting families were slashed in half. The subsidy cut was decided by the James Bay Eeyou Corporation last summer after falling revenues at the compensation funds it manages. The trappers’ subsidy wasn’t the only ... read more ››

Light Streaks Across Western Sky

A fireball lit up the skies of western South Dakota and Nebraska and of eastern Colorado late the night of Jan. 11, but authorities have not determined what it was, reported Associated Press and the Rapid City Journal. Some speculated that it was the Russian space station Mir, but this was ... read more ››

Mistissini Chief Resigns

In a surprise move, Mistissini Chief Kenny Loon resigned from his position on Jan. 18, citing family reasons and dissatisfaction from some community members. He made the announcement on the community radio station last Thursday afternoon, just before we went to press. He spoke for 15 minutes. The decision took the ... read more ››

Northbound Drugs Seized, Two Busted

Over 1,000 grams of marijuana and hash oil were seized from two men stopped Jan. 13 at Montreal’s Dorval Airport, say Kativik police. The men were at the airport to catch a flight to Inukjuak, where they work, said chief of police Brian Jones, of the Kativik Regional Police Force in ... read more ››

Great Whale Project “First of its Kind”

Steven Bearskin calls the latest version of the Great Whale hydro-project a “radical” idea. It would be the first-ever wholly Native-owned hydro-electric project in Canada and would guarantee Crees much-needed revenues for generations, he says. “There would be 100-percent Cree ownership. It would be the first of its kind,” said Bearskin, president ... read more ››

Secretive Talks on Reviving Great Whale

The Whapmagoostui and Chisasibi band councils are quietly discussing a proposal to revive the Great Whale River hydro-electric project, The Nation has learned. The idea is to divert the Great Whale into Hydro-Quebec’s existing La Grande dam complex — an idea first proposed by Hydro-Quebec in 1997. But this time, there’s a ... read more ››

Peyote Proponent Prosecuted

A Native man in Utah who says peyote has the power to cure society’s ills has been charged with a dozen counts of drug trafficking and one count of racketeering, reports Associated Press. James Warren “Flaming Eagle” Mooney, a former cop and prison guard, says the mystical power of the tiny ... read more ››

CREECO. Ordered to Sell Servinor

The Crees’ eight-year venture in food distribution is over. The leadership of the Cree Regional Authority has ordered CREECO., the Cree-owned economic development company, to sell Servinor Food Wholesaler Inc., its money-bleeding subsidiary. The move came in a resolution at a special Dec. 12 meeting of the Council/Board, the body that runs ... read more ››

Waswanipi Man Loses Life in Highway Tragedy

A tragic road accident near Demaraisville claimed the life of a young Waswanipi man just before the holidays. Claude Gull, 30, was dead at the scene when the car in which he was a passenger went off the road at about 3:15 a.m. on December 16 about 4 kilometres east of ... read more ››

13 Dead in Massacre

Gunmen forced 13 villagers in Colombia from their homes one by one Jan. 5 and fatally shot them in the head, reports Associated Press. The killings in the northern Colombian town of Guatape came two days after an alleged paramilitary massacre in the same region. On Jan. 3, about 100 far-right paramilitary ... read more ››

Forestry Talks End on Angry Note

Six months of negotiations with Quebec on forestry appear to have collapsed dramatically. Quebec has presented a final offer to Crees on forestry and other issues, but Cree officials say it’s not good enough. “I would personally have a hard time recommending it to the Cree leadership. It would be a hard ... read more ››

Stick it to the Man-Help Free Peltier!

It’s not every day that FBI agents put on their trenchcoats, go to the White House and march in a demonstration. What has the Man so riled up? They’re demonstrating on Dec. 15 to pressure their boss. President Bill Clinton, not to grant executive clemency to Leonard Peltier. Described as the U.S. version ... read more ››

Community Still Divided After Meeting

The atmosphere was tense and emotional as members of Montreal’s Native community gathered at the city’s Native Friendship Centre to discuss the troubled facility. The centre’s embattled new leadership set a strict agenda and tried to cut off any off-topic questions or complaints. Outside, a shouting match erupted when one community member ... read more ››

Crees Favour Liberals 18-1

Crees and Inuit favoured the Liberals 10-to-1 over the Bloc Québécois in the Nov. 27 election, according to federal voting records. The Cree vote was even more one-sided, favouring Liberal MP Guy St-Julien by a whopping 18-to-1 margin. The numbers were decisive in putting St-Julien over the top and into a new ... read more ››

Premier Poorly Briefed at Cree Summit

Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard seemed poorly briefed and misinformed at a key summit with Crees Nov. 23. The summit was held as Crees and Quebec face a serious deadlock over forestry and other disputed issues. But Bouchard didn’t seem to know what was going on. “Bouchard wasn’t informed about what was really ... read more ››

Global Warming Means Skinnier Polar Bears

This fall, polar bears gathered on the western shores of the Hudson Bay, waiting for sea ice that once again would free them from land, allowing them to hunt seals. This timeless tableau on treeless salt marshes is changing. The “Lords of the Arctic,” North America’s largest land carnivores, are 10 ... read more ››

Inuit Say Warming Affects Hunting, Animals

While governments and scientists still debate climate change, the Inuit people on Banks Island in northern Canada are pointing to signs that the world is getting warmer. The evidence is in the land and ice that surrounds them, they said in a recent report in the Associated Press. The permafrost is thawing, ... read more ››

School Committee Seconds Audit Call

The newly elected school committee in Whapmagoostui is calling on the Cree School Board to conduct a forensic audit of the community’s school. They are asking for a full review of all aspects of school operations, including teaching, administration and maintenance. The formal request was made in a letter to Gordon Blackned, ... read more ››

Feds Move to “Update” Indian Act

Indian Affairs is trying once again to change the 134-year-old Indian Act. Federal Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault plans to introduce legislation to “update” the Indian Act soon. His department is now working on what will be called the Modern Governance Act, and says it will consult First Nations. “It’s either going to ... read more ››

More Hostility at Friendship Centre

Confusion reigned at Montreal’s Native Friendship Centre last week after rival factions wrestled for control. The problems started after the election of a new board of directors last month. The new board moved right away to suspend the centre’s two top administrators, placing them under investigation. The problems were supposed to be ... read more ››

Parents Want Forensic Audit of School

A group of parents in Whapmagoostui is calling for a forensic audit of the community’s school. The call came in an anonymous five-page open letter that complains of a “very real crisis” in the Badabin Eeyou School. The letter was signed by “some concerned parents.” It lists numerous problems with everything from students’ ... read more ››

Coon Come Invites U.S. to Review Forestry Impacts

Matthew Coon Come, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, is urging U.S. officials to visit Canada to see “first-hand” how forestry is impacting First Nations communities. The invitation came in the middle of sensitive Canada-U.S. negotiations to renew a trade agreement that regulates Canadian softwood lumber exports to the ... read more ››

Moses Meets Bouchard to Unjam Talks

Grand Chief Ted Moses met with Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard on Nov. 23 in a last-ditch attempt to resolve an impasse in Cree-Quebec relations. The meeting, originally scheduled for Nov. 11, had been postponed because negotiations on forestry and other issues had broken down without an agreement. Crees were repeatedly assured the ... read more ››

Work Stops on Road with 11 km to go

With only 11 kilometres to go, work has stopped on the long-awaited Waskaganish road after the province and Ottawa decided to hold back promised funds. The 102-km road was supposed to be finished in time for this winter. But the two governments suddenly suspended the flow of money in early November, complaining ... read more ››