ARTICLES BY Neil Diamond

Lost on the pow wow trail

The Pow Wow Trail stretches from the southern United States, north to James Bay and all the way across the ocean to Germany. Yes, Germany. Where blond, blue-eyed Aryan men, women and children assemble in the countryside and set up teepees and light fires, braid their hair, put on their ... read more ››

Fur and Fashion Explosion

The Canadian fur industry held a Fur and Fashion Exposition in Montreal and many came. A major part of the festivities, as you might have seen from the cover in living black and white, was a fashion show in a hotel downtown. Featured in the show was Canada’s premier Native ... read more ››

pret o porter

This year’s Ottawa-Hull Winterlude in February featured the first ever national Inuit cultural festival. Qaggiq ’95 was held at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull. Nineteen Inuit organizations from across Canada worked with the museum to put on the festival. Included in the festival were info booths for the ... read more ››

Waskaganish trapper catches albino beaver

A young albino beaver was recently trapped and killed by Cree trapper Bert Moar on his trapline near Waskaganish. The kit, which was about two years old and weighs about 20 pounds (you figure out the metric conversion), sports a white coat, a pink tail and feet. And of course ... read more ››

Montreal police beat Natives (at volleyball)

Station 25 of the Montreal Urban Community Police Department invited the Native Friendship Centre of Montreal to a volleyball game on Thursday, November 17. The heavily media-covered game was played at the Currie Sports Centre at McGill University. I’m sad to report that the courageous Native team lost three matches out of ... read more ››

Hearings into nuclear waste

The Canadian government is one step closer to burying tons of nuclear waste in the Canadian Shield. A federal report released on Oct. 26 says nuclear waste can be safely stored up to a kilometre deep in the Canadian Shield. The waste would be buried in rock formations known as plutons, ... read more ››

Pow Wow vibes groove Montreal

Pow Wow drums were beating once again in Montreal when the Native Friendship Centre held its 13th annual Native Cultural Festival at Vanier College on Oct. 1 and 2. THE PURPOSE of the festival was to make known to the public the diversity and socio-cultural reality of native culture in the ... read more ››

Karaoke fever

Ka-ra-o-ke (kar’e o’ke), n. the act of singing along to a music video, esp. one from which the original vocals have been eliminated. [Japn, = kara empty + oke orchestra] -Webster’s dictionary The faltering voices of young men blowing a popular song from the Sixties to smithereens assailed our ears as ... read more ››

Do the DJ’s shuffle

Downtown Montreal, Thursday night. The natives are restless and DJ’s is jumping. Crammed with CEGEP, high school, a few university students and once in a while the odd, totally out of place older couple reliving the Jurassic period by bumping and grinding to this season’s hit parade on the crowded ... read more ››

Maquatua Inn: Where the famous and infamous dine

Wemindji’s Maquatua Inn sits at the edge of the community near the river beside a softball field. If you’re lucky and get the right table at the right time, you will have a so-so view of the river, a perfect view of a softball game and an even better view ... read more ››

Top 10 reasons for not voting in the provincial election

10. Mohawks will beat you up if you do. 9. Both parties are into the wet dream of Great Whale and NBR. 8. Romeo Saganash isn’t running for either party. 7. Two words: Le Hir. 6. You’re waiting for Billy and Walter’s Cree Beaver Party to run. 5. The two main leaders look ... read more ››

A little decadence in the evil empire

How good it is to sink a business indeed! (Or at least attempt to.) My mission, which I decided to accept, was to infiltrate the eating quarters of the Evil Empire in Radisson and report my findings to CNI (Cree Nation Intelligence). Just what was the Empire putting in the digestive ... read more ››

The cook was on vacation II

Isn’t it amazing what a piece of blueberry glazed cake is capable of? Fortunately, it wasn’t available in Nemaska where I had the pleasure of experiencing a most unusual restaurant a couple of weeks ago. Actually, it’s the only restaurant in Nemaska. The place looked very popular during dinner one evening ... read more ››

“The cook was on vacation”

I love eating in restaurants so the first place I visited when I arrived in Ouje-Bougpumou this spring was the spanking new 12-room Capisissit Lodge. It’s always a delight when a new business starts in one of the communities. The 50-seat teepee-esque restaurant has a beautiful, almost 360-degree panoramic view of ... read more ››

Like no other restaurant in the world

There is no restaurant in the world like the one at the Auberge Kanio-Kashee Lodge in Waskaganish. I say this because I am positive there is no other restaurant that comes closer to combining the dining experience with the religious experience. I know this sounds incredible but let me explain. I ... read more ››