Category: 2010 08 27

Chisasibi's New Chief

In a run-off election Abraham Rupert became the latest chief of Chisasibi. More next issue.  

Waswanipi candidates for chief announced

There will be a crowded field in the race to lead Waswanipi. No less than eight candidates will be on the ballot for the position of Chief in the election to be held on August 31. The candidates are as follows: Paul Gull, Irene Neposh, Mary Ortepi, John Kitchen, George W. ... read more ››

AFN Calls for Public Inquiry into Pickton Case

Searching for justice for scores of missing and murdered women, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is demanding that the BC government hold a public inquiry into the handling of the investigation of serial killer Robert Pickton. Robert Pickton was convicted in 2007 for the deaths of six of the dozens ... read more ››

Feds apologize to relocated Inuit

Newly appointed Indian and Northern Affairs Minister John Duncan has issued a formal apology on behalf of Canada to the 19 Inuit families that were relocated to the Far North during the 1950s. At the time, 19 families with 87 members were forcibly removed from their ancestral home at Inukjuak and ... read more ››

Beating the heat in the muskeg

I took some time this summer to travel to southern cities and towns in Ontario. Unfortunately for me, I timed my visits during some of the hottest days of the year. I also drove an older vehicle that did not have air conditioning. I was miserable most of the time ... read more ››

Cree boys hone skills at Habs' hockey school

Two Chisasibi boys worked hard on their on-ice talents during the Montreal Canadiens hockey school in Brossard recently. Darius Neacappo, the son of Patricia Neacappo and Jean-Louis Pelchat, and Gerald House, son of Sally and Jerry House, sweated through a demanding program to make their parents proud. The two boys justified ... read more ››

Boréades de la danse

For the first time in its 20-year run, the First People’s Festival was held in the heart of downtown Montreal. The Place des Festivals, home to such large-scale events as the Montreal Jazz Festival and the FrancoFolie, was transformed to showcase indigenous culture from varying parts of the world. Through the ... read more ››

A former Chief runs again

Paul Gull is back. After a period during which the former Waswanipi chief (1998-2002) and one-time Deputy Grand Chief (2002-2005) withdrew from active politics to care for his ailing wife and then to mourn her passing, Gull says he is ready to serve again. The political veteran left last summer’s ... read more ››

Hear them roar

The modern Cree women’s movement is gathering steam, with all Cree communities now to be represented at the upcoming Annual General Assembly of the Cree Women of Eeyou Istchee Association (CWEIA) in Val d’Or September 18-19. A major focus of this important new Cree political force is resolutely on the health, ... read more ››

A quarter century of youth politics

At an age when most young people, if not all, have taken on the respect, responsibilities and privileges of adulthood, the Cree Youth Grand Council (CYGC) is likewise celebrating its growing influence in Cree politics. This year marked the organization’s 25th anniversary. It’s one reason why current Cree Youth Chief Stacy ... read more ››

Draft 2010 AGA Resolutions

These are working drafts of the resolutions passed at the 2010 AGA. Final copies can be requested from the Grand Council of the Crees. Grand Council of the Cree 
(Eeyou Istchee)/Cree Regional Authority Annual General Assembly RESOLUTION 2010-07 Subject: Concerning the Request for Adequate Financial and Human Resources to Address the Issue of Bootlegging ... read more ››

Seismic Battle

The Qikiqtani Inuit Association won a court injunction August 8 that put a temporary halt to government-imposed seismic testing in Lancaster Sound, located near the eastern entrance to the Northwest Passage. Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA) represents the communities of Resolute Bay, Arctic Bay, Grise Fiord, Clyde River and Pond Inlet. It ... read more ››

Canada's stealth democracy

The federal Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs (INAC) has arranged the election of its chosen candidates for Chief and Band Council of the embattled Algonquin community of Barriere Lake by employing a range of tactics that critics there charge have blatantly disenfranchised them. Ministry officials selectively and unilaterally applied parts ... read more ››

The value of nothing

The distant blast of a side of a rocky hill being blown away and the resulting ground tremor woke me from my deep office think mode. Explosions? Up here? Is Al Qaeda around? Then I remembered that it was our blasting crew, busy at extracting nothing but money out of the ground. ... read more ››

The era of the electronic leash

Once again I might date myself in an editorial. That doesn’t mean this rant is any less pertinent to our lives, however. That’s because, my dear technologically enslaved readers, we need to travel further back in time, back to the beginning, to understand what a dinosaur I am, and how ... read more ››