ARTICLES BY Will Nicholls

I’ve got my eye on you

  “I’ve got my eye on you,” is a phrase you would usually expect to hear from a father of a young teenager. In this instance, it was a rude awakening. As someone with a long history at a First Nations publication, I pretty much expect that Canada’s various intelligence agencies ... read more ››

Air Creebec’s new hangar

On September 17, Air Creebec inaugurated its new airport hangar on Ryan Ave. near the Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport in Dorval, in time for its 30th anniversary. Built with a $1.3 million subsidy from the province, the $10 million construction project began on November 15, 2011 and was completed less ... read more ››

New structures

The rate of growth in the Cree Nation is amazing at times and this is one of those times. Cree Human Resources Development (CHRD) has expanded their organization to the coast by opening up a new office in Chisasibi. It might seem like a small thing but when you talk ... read more ››

United we stand

  It’s difficult to write an editorial that breaks a long-running guideline we have at the Nation. We do not target people but rather the issue, position or other components of a news story. We feel that the substance of a story and how it affects our readers is more important ... read more ››

This land is your land

  There’s an Aboriginal land grab on the horizon that hasn’t been seen since England said Rupert’s Land was owned by the Hudson Bay Company for about 200 years. That one gave away the northern parts of Quebec and Ontario, all of Manitoba, most of Saskatchewan, southern portions of Alberta and ... read more ››

AGA surprises

Nothing could have prepared the Crees of Eeyou Istchee for this year’s Annual General Assembly of the Grand Council of the Crees and Cree Regional Authority. It would have been unthinkable 20 years ago to see Hydro-Québec’s (HQ) top people and smiling Crees in the same room, but that’s what ... read more ››

The Rule of law

When you have Aboriginal blood in your veins you feel and know that the rule of law in Canada isn’t so blind or predisposed to honour the principle that every person is equal under the law. When a disproportionate percentage of Aboriginals are behind bars it says something about the ... read more ››

A better tomorrow?

On July 18, Chiefs from most First Nations in Canada gathered in Toronto. It was the Assembly of First Nations Annual General Assembly and this year elections were held for the National Grand Chief. For some reason Willie Dunn’s song, “Ballad of Crowfoot,” came into my mind. I heard, “Comes the ... read more ››

I believe

  Global Television and Postmedia News had Ipsos Reid look at how the average Canadian views the relationship between the Canadian government and Aboriginal Peoples. It is no surprise the poll said that most Canadians believe Aboriginal Peoples are well treated. They even believe Aboriginal Peoples receive too much from the ... 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 ››

Gala Mëmëgwashi honours students

  The 10th anniversary is always something to celebrate but Gala Memegwashi’s exceeded all expectations. This year saw a record number of 263 Aboriginal students honoured, from elementary school to university, along with high school, college, adult education and skills development. There was a large turnout with a crowd of more than ... read more ››

No glow!

  You could hear a pin drop when Mistissini Chief Richard Shecapio took the podium on June 5. He was there to tell the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission what the Mistissini Band Council, the Cree Nation of Mistissini and the Cree people of Mistissini decided, not only for Strateco’s exploration plans, ... read more ››

Strawberry Fields Forever

  One must love the government no matter what. At least this is the feeling one gets when they take a look at Quebec’s Bill 78 entitled An Act To Enable Students To Receive Instruction From The Postsecondary Institutions They Attend. Nowhere in Bill 78 is any real enabling of students to ... read more ››

It’s not only one community

Uranium. The very word makes us cringe. Past experiences for Aboriginal peoples have been unpleasant to say the least. The Navajo people in the US were exposed to the toxic effects in the 1940s and 1950s. In Canada, the Dene of Great Bear Lake stated, “Without being told of the ... read more ››

The death of National Aboriginal Health

People believed in 2000 that it was time that Aboriginal people here in Canada started to look at and study health issues relating to them. Thus the National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO) was born. Today that belief has fallen by the roadside and they’ll be closing shop on June 30. ... read more ››

A Cree decision

Recently a rumour came my way. It came from three different people so I assigned a reporter to look into it. The information said that by March 31 the Board of Compensation (BOC) would close its books (as it was the end of the fiscal year) and all its assets ... read more ››

Spring is in the air

Recently the Nation traveled to Toronto to attend the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s annual convention. It was huge and it was great to see so many Aboriginal people there either as communities, businesses or just plain interested individuals looking to network. There were exhibitors and delegates galore, but ... read more ››

Dealing with the First Nations

These days Canadians cannot say they aren’t aware of some of the issues First Nations face. Attawapiskat showed housing and living conditions in many northern Aboriginal communities. Yet there are many communities like Attawapiskat throughout Canada and this problem is becoming too large to ignore by mainstream media and society. Economic ... read more ››

Northern treasures

There are growth spurts and then there are unreal growth spurts but that is what Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) has achieved. Back in the mid 1990s the yearly conference was hosted entirely in one hotel and had perhaps 5,000 participants. This year, the 2012 conference saw 30,000 ... read more ››

“For you….”

  My grandmother shared a story with her family. My mother knows it and so do all her children. I would like to share it with you and I can only hope I do it justice. When Gookum was a young girl it was the hard times. Non-Native trappers came in and ... read more ››

Fact-finding mission

Ever since Goldcorp arrived in the Cree territory to open up the Eleonore Mine Project there have been questions about their dealings in Guatemala. The Marlin goldmine in that country has been an object of controversy from day one and continues to this day. Residents of the Cree community of ... read more ››

Educate me

  I never knew how blind I truly was until I saw the Tories were looking at creating a formal Native education system through a First Nations Education Act. I had always assumed one was already in place as the ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development funded First Nations schools ... read more ››

Balancing the risks

  We long ago became accustomed to the environmental review reports issued by those who wish to exploit the land. Usually we are told there will be few problems if any, no real impacts and that the materials to be left behind are already naturally present in the environment anyway. So ... read more ››

Building a legacy on a foundation of humanity

I know many of you might expect me to use this space to attack National Post columnist Christie Blatchford for her December 27 piece as full of bull… err horseshit (she’s the one who fertilized her prose with “horse manure,” after all). But, really, despite her ill-informed assertions and tortured ... read more ››

Coals in Xmas stockings

The holiday season is upon us and for some the Christmas cheer isn’t so loud. While Indian Affairs Minister John Duncan is quietly glad Parliament is finished until January, the community of Attawapiskat will still be looking at a chilly and sparse Christmas.   The 22 houses (originally 15) won’t arrive until ... read more ››

No editorial

  This issue of the Nation doesn’t have an editorial. It’s not that I have nothing to say but rather no time in which to really say it well. Other matters have occupied my mind and time. On Thursday, November 17 at 5:05 pm, my wife Amy German delivered Hunter Donald Joshua Nicholls. He ... read more ››