Category: 2012 12 14

The Disturbed Grave

Told by Elsie Duff, Chisasibi Translated and transcribed by Brian Webb In the past, I considered ghost stories unbelievable. I had no concern for them since I had no belief in them whatsoever. Recently, I began considering those stories about spirits were really true. My late mother talked about a certain place where they camped ... read more ››

ᒋᔖᔮᒄ ᑳ ᒨᓈᐱᑎᐦᒃ ᐅᔅᑭᓐᐦ

ᐁᓪᓰ ᑕᕝ ᐋ ᒌ ᑎᐹᒋᒧᑦ, ᒋᓵᓰᐲ ᐱᕌᔨᓐ ᐌᑉ ᐋ ᒌ ᐃᑣᔥᑎᒫᑎᐦᒃ ᑭᔮ ᑭᔮ ᐋ ᒌ ᒥᓯᓂᐦᐊᐦᒃ ᐙᔥᑭᒡ ᐙᔥ ᐊᓂᑖ, ᑖᐹ ᓈᔥᑏᒡ ᓂᐅᐦᒋ ᑖᑆᐦᑖᓐ ᐊᓂᑖ ᒀ ᐋ ᒧᔑᐦᐋᑭᓂᐎᑦ ᐊᐙᓐ, ᐋ ᐊᔨᓈᓂᐎᒡ᙮ ᑖᐹ ᓈᔥᒡ ᓂᐅᐦᒋ ᐃᔮᓐ᙮ ᓂᒥ ᓂᐅᐦᒋ ᐃᔮᐱᑖᔨᐦᑖᓈᒋᒑ ᐊᓐ ᐙᐦᒋ ᐋᑳ ᐅᐦᒋ ᑖᑆᐦᑎᒫᓐ᙮ ᐊᓄᐦᒡ ᒫᒃ ᐐ, ᐄᔮᒄ ᐋ ᐊᑎ ᐃᑖᔨᐦᑎᒫᓐ, ᐊᓐ ᒀ ᐋ ᐊᔨᓈᓂᐎᒡ, ᐊᓂᒌ ... read more ››

First Nations will rise to the challenges

Things are not looking good for remote First Nation communities in northern Canada. In particular, there are serious problems developing for communities up the James Bay coast and much of this has to do with global warming and changes in weather patterns. My people, the Cree of James Bay, could always ... read more ››

David beats Goliath

Even for the winners, it was a shock. Last month, an unlikely coalition of local farmers, celebrity chefs, weekend cottagers and First Nations in Ontario learned they had successfully blocked what would have been the biggest open-pit mine in Canada. Buried by two years of bad press, beset by constant and ... read more ››

Organization steps up for Indigenous women

An Ottawa-based organization is making sure to tell as many stories of Indigenous women as possible after it released a second volume of a book collection on the topic. The release of the new collection, Honouring Indigenous Women: Hearts of Nations Vol.2, was produced by the Indigenous Peoples’ Solidarity Movement Ottawa ... read more ››

Rock book launched

Congratulations to Nation journalist Jesse Staniforth on the launch of his new book, The Deadly Snakes: Real Rock and Roll Tonight, published by Halifax’s Invisible Publishing as part of their Bibliophonic series of short histories of Canadian bands. The Deadly Snakes: Real Rock and Roll Tonight charts the rise and gentle ... read more ››

McGill study on residential schools

The impact of residential schools on the Cree has left scars that span generations. Dr. George Blacksmith’s doctoral thesis examining the impact on three generations from this dark period in history has been recently published. The results of the study shed light on how things were handled as well as ... read more ››

Murder in Mistissini

Mistissini police officers discovered the body of Jason-Billy Coonishish-Rock, 22, with visible markings of a violent beating at around 9 am on November 17. The local police handed the investigation over to the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) shortly after they arrived at the scene. For now, details surrounding this event are ... read more ››

We are the world

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon when 90 Cree students – 10 from each of the nine communities of Eeyou Istchee – arrived at Olympic Stadium in Montreal to enjoy the CFL Eastern final game between the Montreal Alouettes and the Toronto Argonauts. The kids came to Montreal November 18 and ... read more ››

Summit on addictions

From November 19-21, Crees from various entities gathered in Val-d’Or to brainstorm ways to address one of the biggest issues in Eeyou Istchee today: addiction. According to Sol Awashish, one of the main organizers of this year’s Addictions Summit, the event was about finding new solutions. “The idea was to come up ... read more ››

Suicide is never painless

Hundreds of First Nations and Inuit individuals from all over Quebec descended on the Sheraton Hotel November 24-29 to talk about the loved and lost and how to keep from losing more loved ones. Since 2001, the First Nations and Inuit Suicide Prevention Association of Quebec has held an annual event ... read more ››

Holiday flavours to savour

The Nation’s annual guide to tasty holiday entertaining By Amy German As Eeyou Istchee is blanketed by the first snowfalls of the season, so too comes the time of year to bask in the lovely glow of the Christmas tree with loved ones – old and young – while enjoying some delectable seasonal ... read more ››

Running dry

Written by Jesse Staniforth  Research by Eleanor Cowan The last of six COMEX Review Committee meetings to discuss the impact of the Eastmain-1A Powerhouse and Rupert Diversion Project touched down in Waskaganish November 22, after previously visiting the five other communities most affected by those developments. COMEX is a process for consulting ... read more ››

AFN chiefs march on Parliament

With the federal government’s controversial budget-implementation Bill C-45 set to pass through the House of Commons, hundreds of First Nations chiefs marched on Parliament December 4 to protest the lack of consultation on an array of legislation that will affect their members. The chiefs were meeting at an annual Assembly of ... read more ››

From me, to we, to Cree

The week of We Day, Montreal, brought a whirlwind tour for a delegation of students from communities across the Eeyou Istchee. On Sunday, November 18, the group of 90 students arrived for a busy 48 hours in the big city, kicking their stay off with the CFL Eastern final game between ... read more ››

West coast déjà-vu

Last December, Canadian news watchers were appalled by the crisis at Attawapiskat, a Cree community on the west coast of James Bay. Living in squalid conditions and lacking appropriate housing, running water, and electricity, the community and its concerns seemed to be dismissed by Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan – ... read more ››

’Tis the season

The holidays are full of promise and hope for many, but some lean to Ecclesiastes when they’re left feeling that nothing matters. It feels like it’s all the same because, “I have seen everything under the sun, and there is nothing new… nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes even has a ... read more ››