ARTICLES BY Jesse B. Staniforth

Rex Murphy clueless on Aboriginal issues

This is a response to an op-ed that Rex Murphy published in the National Post on October 19, 2013. Not surprisingly, like so many other white commentators on Aboriginal issues, noted climate change denier Rex Murphy conjures up an entirely fictional vision of Canadian-Aboriginal relations in which racism no longer exists, not ... read more ››

Supporters mark the 8th annual march for vigil for missing and murdered Aboriginal women

There’s nothing happy about this anniversary: on Friday, October 4, supporters came together in hundreds of rallies across Canada (and around the world) for the 8th Annual Sisters in Spirit March and Vigil for Missing and Murdered Native Women. The number of October 4 events honouring missing and murdered women ... read more ››

Idle No More protesters brave weather and police repression

First came the storm, then the police. Montreal’s Idle No More action October 7, on the eve of the 250th Anniversary of the Royal Proclamation, succeeded despite the adversity. organizers Melissa Mollen-Dupuis and Widia Larivère recognized that the day’s activities had been slowed by adversity. An enormous storm pounded Montreal for the ... read more ››

Quebec in question: Scholars attack province’s colonial history

“When we first talked about this event,” said scholar David Austin, addressing an over-capacity crowd at Montreal’s Concordia University, “it was, at least to my mind, going to be a small discussion. I think we can thank Madame Pauline Marois for the fabulous turnout.” If ever there was a fruitful time ... read more ››

Cree leaders and Jamesien mayors start organizing new regional government

Bill Namagoose The first meeting of the Governance Implementation Committee for a New Regional Government September 19 was history in the making. Mandated by the Agreement on Governance in Eeyou Istchee James Bay Territory, the committee is responsible for ensuring the regional government is operational by January 1, 2014, and makes a ... read more ››

Quebec’s first FASD clinic is coming to Eeyou Istchee

After years of planning and a Memorandum of Understanding signed at last year’s Annual General Assembly, the first Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Diagnostic and Intervention Clinic in the province of Quebec is coming to Eeyou Istchee. The Grand Council of the Crees, in partnership with the Cree Board of ... read more ››

Federal budget cuts to the Library & Archives of Canada stall Truth and Reconciliation Commission

An employee of Library and Archives Canada has told the Nation that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is being strangled by a lack of funding. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the LAC worker said the work of the commission is unlikely to be completed by deadline. “It’s unlikely we ... read more ››

Confronting racism in social and traditional media

It seems to be happening everywhere. Whether in anonymous attacks on Twitter and in website comments, in semi-public forums like Facebook, or in signed letters and columns in mainstream newspapers, public expressions of anti-Aboriginal racism are appearing on a more regular basis. It’s gotten so bad that most people think ... read more ››

How will the apology be honoured?

A number of shocking stories describing the barbaric abuse of Aboriginal people in Canada in the not-too-distant past have surfaced in recent weeks, again exposing the bluntly white-supremacist values that prevailed when today’s Elders were young. Old wounds among survivors and descendants of survivors are being painfully reopened. Photograph of a ... read more ››

Waswanipi’s Teddy Otter says the ECN is just giving him a line

Talking about dealing with the poles on his trapline, Waswanipi’s Teddy Otter recalls George Orwell’s book Animal Farm. “They taught us that in school,” he said, about the story of animals that organize and fight to take control of their own destiny from their human masters, only to see some in ... read more ››

The Assembly of First Nations faces 30% budget cuts

The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) received word on June 3 that the federal government would cut its operating budget– yet again – this time by 30%. There had long been speculation by many people working in Aboriginal advocacy that the Conservative government would likely slash the AFN’s funding in the ... read more ››

Waswanipi Elders lead fight against Elder abuse

A few generations ago, it would be unthinkable for a Cree person to shout or swear at an Elder, let alone hurt or abuse one. However, Irene Otter, the Elders’ coordinator for community programs and member of the Elders’ Council in Waswanipi, says that times have changed, and the changes have ... read more ››

Bust and boom

A high-profile raid in Waswanipi gets locals talking about drugs and crime. Some people said that the police had their guns drawn. Others even said that shots were fired. As the rumours circulated, however, it became clear that few in Waswanipi were certain of whether the police raid that took place ... read more ››

From conflict to partnership

Grand Chief celebrates new governance agreement for James Bay Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come did not hold back in his description of Bill 42. Speaking in Quebec City on May 29, he described the bill as “legislation of fundamental importance” that will “bring the Cree and the Jamésiens together in a ... read more ››

Voices of truth and reconciliation

Supporting survivors and telling truths Crees were well represented at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) National Event in Montreal. They weren’t just on the stand, speaking to the Commission, or in the Survivors’ Sharing Circle. They were also there to support their friends, family and other community members who made ... read more ››

Looking back in order to move forward

Romeo Saganash discusses residential school’s impact on his life and family NDP MP Romeo Saganash’s personal struggles and emotions have been very public in recent months. After being removed from a flight in October for drunkenness, he immediately came clean about his alcoholism and the emotions that underpinned it – the ... read more ››

She shoots, she scores

Jenna Ottereyes of Waswanipi is rising fast in the world of youth soccer Four years ago, when Jenna Ottereyes moved to Val-d’Or with her family, she was hoping she could play hockey like she had back home in Waswanipi. Because she was only eight years old, however, she was too young ... read more ››

Facing the past

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearing in Chisasibi airs a painful chapter of Cree history   In the lead-up to its four-day Quebec National Event in Montreal at the end of April, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) held the last of its four Quebec regional events in Chisasibi on March 19-20. Following ... read more ››

Waiters & Walkers

The Nation’s first-hand report of the historic arrival of the Nishiyuu Walkers   photo by Ernest Webb   The Nation spoke to a few of the thousnads of people waiting for the Nishiyuu walkers about why they had come out, and what the Journey of Nishiyuu meant to them. Here’s what they said:   Vivian Snowboy, Mistissini I’m ... read more ››

Walkers arrival

Winter 2013 and Nishiyuu arrival Video & Nishiyuu Walkers Arrival in Ottawa – March 2013 Video    

Nishiyuu arrive in Ottawa

By the final day of the Journey of the Nishiyuu, the number of young people walking to Ottawa had grown from the “original seven” who left Whapmagoostui in mid-January to nearly 300. At first, the crowd waiting for their arrival on Ottawa’s Victoria Island—where Attawapiskat’s Chief Theresa Spence held her ... read more ››

Strongly opposed

A poll on uranium mining in Quebec confirms support for the Cree Nation’s position A new poll from Leger Marketing commissioned by the Canadian Boreal Initiative shows widespread opposition to uranium mining – and by association, to the Matoush uranium project – across both Cree and non-Cree communities. Though Cree opposition ... read more ››

Mapping the Matoush project

An American geographer says the topography around Strateco’s uranium exploration proposal poses unacceptable threats to the region’s watershed The Grand Council of the Crees and others in Eeyou Istchee opposed to Strateco Inc.’s plan for advanced uranium exploration in the Mistissini area recently made an important new ally: Michael Hunt, director ... read more ››

Developing the South

A Chisasibi delegation trolls Quebec towns for business opportunities   Businesses from non-Native communities often venture north to Eeyou Istchee to develop entrepreneurial opportunities within the Cree Nation. In late January, however, the Cree Nation of Chisasibi decided it was time to return the favour, sending a delegation of six representatives on ... read more ››

Gearing up for dialogue

Truth and Reconciliation Commission announces a four-day hearing in Montreal   Montreal will host a four day national Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearing this April. TRC hearings in Quebec have already taken place in Mani-Utenam, near Sept-Îles, and Val-d’Or. Two more hearings will be held next month, in La Tuque March 5-6 ... read more ››

Not yet idle

  If the meeting point for Montreal’s third Idle No More demonstration, Phillips Square, was lost on some of those attending, organizer Melissa Mollen Dupuis spelled it out for the crowd, asking them to turn around and look across the street at the Hudson’s Bay Company building. The Quebec Idle No More ... read more ››