ARTICLES BY
Xavier Kataquapit
As I finished having a meal of roast pork recently, I got the bright idea to turn my leftovers into a meat pie. However, I had to deal with the fact that I have never made a pie crust before. I was not afraid to try. My mom Susan baked ...
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I try to spend as much time in the woods as I can. The feeling of being surrounded by the familiar sights and sounds of the forest brings back my childhood on the James Bay coast. Every memory I have of being in the wilderness with my family, friends or ...
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When you take part in a traditional Pow Wow, the first thing you notice is the rhythmic beat of the drum. It is difficult to miss the deep, resounding pulse of the drumbeat. When it is played, it fills the air with an energy that attracts people to move closer ...
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Someone informed me the other day that there is a Women’s History Month designated by the Government of Canada. Women are celebrated during the month of October for their contribution to Canadian society. This got me to thinking about all the strong women that I have known in my life.
The ...
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Cookies have always been a big deal to me. In southern non-Native communities, a treat like cookies is taken for granted as being a simple pleasure that anyone could enjoy at any time.
To us in the north, cookies were considered a very special treat that were hard to come by. ...
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Now that winter is on the way people are starting to think about what to do when the cold weather arrives. Anyone who has spent time in the north knows that winters can be very hard if you are not prepared. We are like the animals in the forest: as ...
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This summer I had the opportunity to participate in events surrounding the Treaty #9 Centennial Commemorations with communities in the Wabun Tribal Council area. I had the chance to meet many people and to listen to what our First Nation leaders are saying about the past 100 years of the ...
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Recently, I took part in Treaty #9 commemoration ceremonies at Matachewan First Nation. I met with Barney Batise, an Elder and political figure in the community who has done much for his First Nation over the years. Barney is a kind and patient person who enjoys sharing his knowledge about ...
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This has been a week of many firsts for me. It has also become a week of memorable first time happenings for people around me.
I enjoy going out on the land to take in the fresh air and to enjoy quiet moments or even just to listen to the sounds ...
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I never had a lot of privacy when I was growing up. Privacy wasn’t always possible in a crowded three-bedroom home with eight siblings and two parents.
Sufficient and adequate housing on First Nations is a problem. People are happy merely to find any place to call a home for their ...
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Gardening is very new to me. No one ever took the time to grow flowers, shrubs or trees up north. The closest thing to gardening in Attawapiskat was a sort of potato farm on Potato Island, a small island in the Attawapiskat River. This island has plenty of trees and ...
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One Saturday morning I heard of some local yard sales taking place and decided to head into town to see what I could find. Whenever anything goes up for sale for a good price I am ready to have a look. I think this comes from the experience of living ...
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There is lots of excitement today. We have spent the past week cribbing an old building across the street from our home. It is one of the original two-story houses built decades ago when the town was just a small settlement. Dad is leading a work crew consisting of my ...
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Break up has just finished and every traditional hunter and gatherer in town is anxious to head out on the land to get in a few more days of hunting. It is 1982 and a good part of the community has come out onto the high riverbank to look at ...
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Spring has always been a time reserved for the excitement of the goose hunt. Everyone ventures out on the land to take part in a long tradition of gathering food and to take part in cultural activities with family and friends. However, this period also has another side that is ...
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There is nothing like the sound of a goose (Niska) to stir deep emotions and memories in a Cree person from the James Bay coast. Recently, I heard the first sign of spring in the distant calls of geese high in the sky. I think I am like most people ...
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There is a reason why my people are called the Mushkego Cree. We reside on the James Bay lowlands, a region that starts about 100 kilometres from the western coast of James Bay. This region stretches from Hudson Bay in the north and down to the southern tip of James ...
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Employment in one form or another is something all of us strive for. Working at something we enjoy doing to make a living is a goal that we all want to achieve. However, most of us see the prospect of looking for work as a huge challenge.
I was fortunate that ...
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Most North American cities and towns are connected by road, rail and air. Food comes into these communities easily. We have produce from all over the world and lots of it. I, like everyone else these days, think nothing of being able to visit any given city or town and ...
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I am flying high above the trees, looking down on the white-washed pebble beach of the southern coast of Akamiski Island. I can see every indention of the coast, the thin ribbon of beach, the green forests, swamps, the dark blue oblong lakes and the thin lines of rivers and ...
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It is the winter of 1992 and we are getting ready to make a trip in our half-ton truck to Moosonee on the winter road. Few people are using the road at this time. There is not much development happening in the north at this point and the winter road ...
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I have been dealing with a bad flu for the past week and a half. It started with a slight cough that later turned into a continuous one, along with congestion, a runny nose, headaches and weakness. It is a real setback for me.
Although I am feeling somewhat better, I ...
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Driving a vehicle is a luxury I have enjoyed for many years. I learned how to drive on my dad’s old John Deere tractor when I was 13. It was great fun and once I learned how to operate a tractor, it was only a matter of time before I ...
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It is a cold January morning in 1995 and I am getting up for another day of work. I am not an early riser but it feels like five in the morning when it is only actually nine. I look through the layers of frosted ice on my window. There ...
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You know Christmas is just around the corner when you start seeing the red, green and white lights strung out around the windows and roof ledges. As a young boy I remember my parents and older siblings preparing the Christmas tree. One of the first things to be put on ...
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My people on the James Bay coast have only been using motorized transportation for a few decades. A generation before mine, people had to use their own energy to get around on the land. It was luxury to own a team of dogs to pull a sled over the snow ...
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