Category: Health

Ryerson U Honours Aboriginal Midwife

Carol Couchie became the first Aboriginal woman to become a registered midwife in Canada and for that achievement, was honoured by Ryerson University in Toronto with an Alumni Achievement Award on September 24. Couchie was a graduate of the first class of Ryerson’s School of Midwifery in 1998. Her work has ... read more ››

The Waswanactive Challenge!

The Waswanactive Challenge! was a physical activity challenge for all Waswanipi residents aged 13 and up. To participate, you had to make a team of five people and be as physically active as possible during two weeks, between May 23 and June 5. Members of the team could accumulate their minutes ... read more ››

CHB Recognized For Anti-Smoking Efforts

An honorable mention was awarded to the Cree Health Board and Social Services of James Bay in recognition of its collective efforts to promote a tobacco-free lifestyle in the Cree communities. Ron Shisheesh, the Program Officer of Tobacco and Gambling in the Public Health Department, received the award June 7 at ... read more ››

Bringing Midwives Back to Eeyou Istchee

Christine Roy has been a midwife for 22 years and she hopes her expertise and the assistance of the Cree Health Board will bring midwifery back to Eeyou Istchee – and soon. “The job of a midwife is such rewarding work,” said Roy, who has delivered, in her estimation, 500 to ... read more ››

Fighting Disease in Our Communities

There are many ailments that affect Native people at much higher rates than they do the Canadian public. These include cancer, diabetes and some diseases that are unique to one Nation, like Cree-leukoencephalopathy and Cree leukoencephalitis. It’s an uphill battle fighting these diseases, but our health care professionals have answered the ... read more ››

Running (and Jogging) Against Diabetes

The North West Company has done it again. Entering the 2004 Honolulu Marathon for the fourth consecutive year, Team Diabetes successfully completed their run and, most importantly, raised over $110,000 in the fight against the debilitating disease. The team was chosen from across North West’s operations in Canada. Manasie Quanaq of Igloolik, Nunavut, ... read more ››

Walking 100 Miles in One’s Moccasins – Over 500 People Participate in Month-long Walk Against Diabetes

One way to combat diabetes is to “walk it out of your life.” That’s according to the placard of one of the participants in November’s Eeyou Istchee-wide, 100-mile challenge in the fight against diabetes. Scott Langdon, who went double the distance, said that one of the best ways to beat this ... read more ››

Diabetes Can Be Prevented, Do Your Part

Diabetes is very prevalent in Native communities across Canada. November is Diabetes Awareness month, so we felt it would be appropriate to give an overview of the disease’s effects and how to prevent it. The following information was supplied by the Health Canada website: What is diabetes? Diabetes is a condition in which ... read more ››

Chisasibi Woman Walks for Diabetes – North West Company Doing Their Part in Fight Against Disease

Until last December, the furthest Shirley Chiskamush had traveled had been to Montreal. But to join the fight against diabetes, the 35-year-old Chisasibi woman flew all the way to Hawaii to participate in the Honolulu Marathon to raise money for diabetes research. “I felt very happy [to be a part of ... read more ››

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month

It has become a disease that is referred to as an epidemic amongst the Aboriginal populations. One out of every seven Aboriginal people has diabetes. In the Cree communities of Northern Quebec the number is even higher. Out of a population of roughly 14,000 people, 1,076 people have been diagnosed with ... read more ››

Diabetes can be beaten

The Crees of Eastern James Bay are experiencing a diabetes epidemic. There are three to five times more diabetes in Eeyou Istchee than in the general population of Canada. As of May 2001, there were 975 people diagnosed with diabetes. The total number of people with diabetes has more than quadrupled since ... read more ››

In their own words Cree living with diabetes

In the summer of 2001, the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay conducted a study of diabetics living in Chisasibi and Waskaganish, focusing on how they maintain control of the disease and the difficulties they encounter. The people were asked what the most difficult thing was ... read more ››

Under The Northern Sky The urge to travel

Travelling has always been a part of my life for as far back as I can remember. As a young boy growing up in Attawapiskat along the James Bay coast, my family always thought it was natural to be able to move from our community to other areas far away ... read more ››

Diabetic children suffer as young adults, study finds

People who develop adult-onset diabetes as children – a once-unknown condition whose prevalence is rising rapidly -can have severe and occasionally fatal complications as early as in their twenties, the Washington Post reports. The problems, according to research on a group of about 80 Cree and Ojibway children in central ... read more ››

Indian Act changes

The Canadian Press reports that Native bands across Canada will have to abide by minimum standards when they elect officials or spend money under proposed legislation to revamp the 126-year-old Indian Act. The bill would require Native bands to develop codes to spell out how they choose their leaders, run their ... read more ››

New Diabetes Treatment

According to the Canadian Diabetes Association more than two million Canadians have diabetes and 500,000 of them live in Quebec. In fact Quebec has said that it has a diabetes epidemic. A third of those who are diabetic are unaware that this can be a life-threatening situation. Diabetes is one of ... read more ››

B.C treaty referendum a shoddy procedure that is unworthy of Canadian politics

Years ago when I was living in England a satirical television show conducted a poll of public opinion that exploded the myth of the objectivity of polls. By cunningly phrasing the questions to obtain the results they wanted, they managed to get a huge majority of people to agree with ... read more ››

Diabetes Awareness

An American Indian film company is doing its part to fight the diabetes epidemic in the Native American community. Conquering Diabetes Naturally — The American Indian Warrior Diet is currently in development by Rich-Heape Films and the Sovereign Nation Preservation Project. Rich-Heape Films president Steven Heape says Type II diabetes ... read more ››

Coffee to go

Some days, it seems that there is just not enough time to get everything done. The other day, I went up North to go hunting and the damn machine broke down, leaving us little to do but repair and hope for the best. This took a good six hours waiting for ... read more ››

The first month of world peace

In a move to bring some form of peace enforcement program, several Mohawk police officers have joined with the Chisasibi police to “clean up the town.” Some people have embraced this bold move, but many others feel intimidated with the “Rambo” tactics of the imported security measures. I think that ... read more ››

NAHO – National Aboriginal Health Organization

On Friday, February 16, The Nation participated in a nationwide teleconference held by the National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO). The conference, hosted by NAHO chairperson Dr. Judith Bartlett and executive director Richard Jock, was geared to provide aboriginal media from across the country with information, and to field any questions ... read more ››

Bob and Jane do Valentine’s Day

Bob’s Version of events He sent her flowers and the usual e-mail with exploding flowers and chocolate flavoured everything and she still refused to be his valentine. Geeze, Bob thinks. God. What does it take to make this lady happy enough to go out with me on the most hallowed of all ... read more ››

220-Year-Old Claim Enters Final Inning

The Algonquins of Ontario are hoping that their 220-year-old land claim, one of the oldest in the country, is about to enter the home stretch. The province’s estimated 5,000 to 6,000 Algonquins claim a traditional territory of 8.5 million hectares (85,000 square kilometres) that stretches from North Bay to Hawkesbury, 60 ... read more ››

Eastmain Launches Diabetes Screening

The people of Eastmain made Iyiyuu history on Nov. 19 by being the first Cree community to be fully screened for diabetes in Iyiyuuschii. All community members over age 10 will have the choice of being tested. The Diabetes Special Screening Project is a collaboration of the Cree Nation of Eastmain ... read more ››

Diabetes bike tour

Les Fontaine and three of his nephews are biking across Canada to raise awareness of diabetes among Native people. His nephews say this is a great way for them to spend their summer vacation, supporting a cause they believe in. It’s easy to see why they believe in this as Fontaine’s ... read more ››

Hemodialysis

What is it? It is a process where a person is hooked up to a machine. Two tubes are attached to the person’s blood system. One is an in-tube and the other is an out-tube. The blood is “cleaned” by the machine using a special filter called a dialyzer. It rids the ... read more ››