ARTICLES BY Will Nicholls

Individuality

A man once wrote those who control our knowledge of the past controls the present and therefore define the future. Within the Cree world we are subject to more than the tales and legends of our people. We are overwhelmed with tales, legends and histories that are not our own and ... read more ››

Caribou and you

Recently, a poll by Léger Marketing showed Quebecers felt it was important to protect endangered species. It’s an attitude the Crees know well. It’s even one they have been a part of when the need was there. For example, in the 1940s the Cree and the Hudson Bay Company created beaver ... read more ››

Still no apology?

  Wow, we did a news brief last issue in which Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan said residential schools weren’t really genocide. Duncan instead felt “the history of residential schools tells of an education policy gone wrong.” This was done during an announcement that a stained-glass artwork in honour of residential school ... read more ››

What’s with the walk?

Quebec has yet again shown they have traditions they are unwilling to give up. After releasing the long-awaited Golder Report they withdrew their representative on the steering committee that is supposed to deal with the mining toxins affecting the area surrounding Chibougamau and Oujé-Bougoumou. We have seen unwillingness year after ... read more ››

CCDC Presidential Profile, William MacLeod

William MacLeod is a James Bay Cree, born on the land and raised in Mistissini. He lives in his community and is married with four children and is a proud grandfather. He started his contributions to his community by serving the Cree Nation of Mistissini as councillor for four years ... read more ››

Facts you should know

The Cree world is never one you can stand back and fully understand. It is like the many rivers our ancestors used for highways. A wise man once said a river is a place where every step you take is new. I guess that’s the rushing water and all that. It’s ... read more ››

Opening the door to a brighter future

I’ve been traveling a lot in the past while. I went to Eastmain for the Grand Council/Cree Regional Authority Annual General Assembly. One of the discussions I had was on meals for students. I was told that a meal program was refused because it was the parents’ responsibility to feed ... read more ››

Assessing the year

It began August 8 and ended five days later on August 12. Past Annual General Assemblies may have only run three days but the new weeklong format was more relaxing for those who attended this year’s Grand Council of the Crees/ Cree Regional Authority assembly in Eastmain. That community may ... read more ››

Lesson’s learnt

I haven’t missed a Grand Council/Cree Regional Authority Annual General Assembly since the Nation first went to press. Every one of them has been fun, unique and thoroughly enjoyable. Going to Eastmain without my wingman, Neil Diamond, felt as though something was missing. He was up in the belly of ... read more ››

Bad faith

The federal Specific Claims Tribunal is on the chopping block and October 16 is the execution date. This sudden and radical policy change has many First Nations worried. About 65 current land claims negotiations with First Nations will be immediately affected. Negotiators are saying that government representatives are telling them ... read more ››

The Indians of Quebec Association

In the mid-1960s, the Indian Affairs Head Office in Ottawa ordered its Quebec regional office to organize a number of province-wide meetings with the leaders of Indian Bands to encourage them to develop a regional Indian organization to be prepared to meet with Ottawa to discuss proposed changes to the ... read more ››

Of our beginnings

Looking back is always, as any police officer will tell you, difficult. If 10 people witness a crime you’ll have 10 different stories and many of them aren’t the same thing the others experienced. Another problem is summed up in a quote by Friedrich Nietzsche when he said, “I have done ... read more ››

First Nations spied on

Access to information can be a wonderful thing. Some of the latest information to surface through this method was the fact that in January 2006 the newly formed Harper government intensified intelligence and surveillance of First Nations with an emphasis on splinter groups, such as the Warrior societies. With the ... read more ››

Ottawa’s going Native

Peter Penashue became the first Innu ever elected to Parliament. His history-making journey didn’t end there as Prime Minister Steven Harper added him to his cabinet. Penashue in one fell swoop became the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada. Membership in the Privy ... read more ››

Congrats to everyone at the Nation

Once a year I get to sing praises on how well the Nation has done in the past year. It is the time when the Quebec Community Newspapers Association holds its Better Newspaper Competition. This is when the Nation competes against other Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal newspapers in Quebec. This year ... read more ››

Looking back

This federal election was certainly bittersweet for many. In Quebec many wished for another minority and even a coalition government in Ottawa. Harper though pulled through and got the majority government he desired and asked Canadians for. The next four years should be interesting ones as Canadians will have the ... read more ››

Make the vote count

Crees, Inuit and other First Nations traditionally don’t really vote as much as other residents of either the Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou or the Timmins-James Bay ridings. The times though are changing. Romeo Saganash, a Cree from Waswanipi, has tossed his hat into the ring as the NDP candidate hoping to win the Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou ... read more ››

Recognizing the best

Chibougamau hosted 150 people for the Regional Quebec 2011 Tourism Awards Gala on March 10. Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come was on hand to congratulate the winners. Also attending were Oujé-Bougoumou Chief Louise Wapachee and Mistissini Deputy Chief John S. Matoush, Ungava MNA Luc Ferland, Lebel-sur-Quévillon Mayor Gérald Lemoyne (also ... read more ››

A rite of spring

I turn 50 this year and this is a celebration for me so I understand the people from Salon Expert Chasse, Pêche et Camping (the Hunting, Fishing and Camping Show). After all it was 50 years ago Father Marcel de la Sablonnière founded the Salon Camping et Famille, which has ... read more ››

Election 2011

We need a better reality show! Recently the minority government headed by Prime Minister Steven Harper announced an election for all Canadians because of the Unholy Trinity of the Opposition. At least this is the message coming our way via the Conservative Party spin doctors. It is fear mongering at its ... read more ››

State of the Nation Grand Chief

It’s been an interesting year and Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come is probably one of the hardest working politicians in Canada. His typical day starts at 6am in the morning and doesn’t end until after midnight. Yet he still ensures he attends many functions, such as the opening of the ... read more ››

Who will call the shots?

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for the Cree to dissolve the economic bonds which have connected them with one another, and to combine them, creating an economic engine, the separate and equal station to which the laws of Quebec and of a constitutionally protected agreement ... read more ››

Cree got your tongue

In 1993, the Assembly of First Nations declared the month of March as Aboriginal Languages Month. Since then, March is a time when First Nations celebrate their languages and their survival. There are 192 different Aboriginal languages that are recognized in North America. Canada is home to 70 of them. Statistics ... read more ››

Satellite phones: are they worth it?

I remember a number of years back one of the Cree chiefs lent me his satellite phone to call the office. He was proud of it and I was impressed. This was before cell phones were as common as today. Satellite phones never really caught on but when Future Mobile ... read more ››

Car shows & mind blows

Every year it seems I go to a car show and they never lose their glamour for me. It’s what’s new and cool. How fast or how long will it last? Can it handle the highway as well as the byways of gravel roads? What type of new gadgets does ... read more ››

Press not necessarily a pass anymore

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. – from Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights Being a member ... read more ››