Category: 2010 07 16

Building the future

The phone starts ringing off the hook and the message machine crams with messages. I had been relaxing in the relative slow season of summer. The calls are all from everyone calling me back after their annual summer leave. On top of all that, construction season starts up again after ... read more ››

John Kim Bell to lend expertise to First Nations University

Brookfield First Nations energy advocate at Brookfield Renewable Power and famed Mohawk composer John Kim Bell has been appointed leader of Strategic Business Development for First Nations University. The troubled Saskatchewan university lost its federal funding earlier this year as a result of a spending scandal when it was discovered that ... read more ››

Senate passes Bill S-4 to help abused and divorced Aboriginal women

The federal government has passed the controversial Bill S-4 to keep Aboriginal women from losing on-reserve homes as a result of abuse or divorce despite the pleas of Native women’s groups to stop the bill. The women’s groups have been arguing that the bill will only leave the women worse ... read more ››

Nunavik to get $60 million more for healthcare

Quebec premier Jean Charest flew to Nunavik on July 6 to announce that the region would be getting a 60% increase in healthcare dollars. In Nunavik’s new seven-year deal with Quebec, the province will up health and social services spending from where it currently stands at $106 million to $167.5 million ... read more ››

Grant Me The Serenity

It’s raining outside and the temperature is hovering around 10 degrees. The clouds are hanging low and there is a steady stream of cold droplets falling from the sky. To most, it could be described as a very miserable summer day. It is one of those unsettling days when everything ... read more ››

Staying healthy

When you first learn you have diabetes, you may be in shock, since it can be a devastating disease. However, you can live a long and healthy life, providing you exercise and follow a proper diet. This may be easier said than done as many a diabetic can testify. For there ... read more ››

Crees on the contamination scene

Though the province of Quebec has its own steering committee mandated to assess the contamination and conduct a cleanup on sites near Oujé-Bougoumou that have been affected by several mining operations, the community has decided to get more involved. According to Oujé-Bougoumou’s Traditional Pursuits Director Norman Wapachee, Chief Louise Wapachee and ... read more ››

Video won’t kill this radio star

Joshua Iserhoff describes his radio show, “The Joshua Show”, as a blend of “Larry King stirred in Oprah, dipped in Amanpour, sprinkled with Seacrest and finally kissed by Ellen”, all in Cree. Three months ago, Iserhoff took to the James Bay Cree Communications Society airwaves and discovered the new monthly talk-show ... read more ››

A Cree-owned hotel

The city of Val-d’Or will be stepping up to the plate when it comes to offering accommodations and meeting spaces to clients from the north and abroad at the new Quality Inn and Suites, slated to open in January 2011. On June 28, Crees from the Cree Regional Economic Enterprises Company ... read more ››

And the speeches are…

Welcome everybody here in this room. My name is Ryan Erless. I am 31 years old. I am from Waskaganish. I am married to Rachel Longchap and we recently had our first child. This evening, I am going to give you examples how to find hope and hope that I can ... read more ››

And the winner is…

“Inspiring Hope” was the theme of the Youth Symposium that was held at the Hotel Forestel in Val-d’Or June 20-22. The youth came from all the communities to attend this event, though a few more people involved in the public-speaking contest would have been nice. Unfortunately there were only two participants ... read more ››

And the winner is…

“Inspiring Hope” was the theme of the Youth Symposium that was held at the Hotel Forestel in Val-d’Or June 20-22. The youth came from all the communities to attend this event, though a few more people involved in the public-speaking contest would have been nice. Unfortunately there were only two participants ... read more ››

Hanging with the future

The Cree Nation Youth Council declared 2010 the year of our youth. Reminding us – the older generation – that these are the people of our future, the people who will inherit all that is to become of our future. With that said The Cree Nation Youth Council hosted the first ... read more ››

Stopping Aboriginal stereotyping

Starting in September, a new one-day training course will be given to health and social services workers in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region that is geared specifically at diminishing racism and racial stereotypes of Aboriginals. Known as the PIWASEHA training project, the six-hour course was developed through the Algonquin Nation Programs and Services ... read more ››

Yep, you can too!

While unemployment rates in the Ontario Cree communities is high and often it is difficult to find local job training, the Youth Entrepreneurship Program at the John R. Delaney Youth Centre is offering a new solution. Starting for the first time in the 11 Ontario Mushkegowuk Cree communities in early July, ... read more ››

Suite smell of success

It seems we have finally woken up and smelt the freshly brewed coffee served in a hotel coming to your region, soon. What may well be the opportunity of a lifetime is finally coming our way. Yes, I’m talking about our own hotel in Val-d’Or. Wow, is there no end to ... read more ››

The not-so-sexy Bill C-3

To say that more than a few people were pissed at the attempts of Conservative MPs and senators to address sex discrimination in determining Indian Status through Bill C-3 would be minimizing the problem. Many are saying C-3 doesn’t fix the problem at all but legalizes it much in the same ... read more ››