Volume 1, Issue 11

“Take a hike”: Lameboy to Ottawa

George Lameboy is getting a laugh out of the government. “They’re funny people,” he says. Lameboy has been told by the government that he has to get a fishing license to take tourists out fishing for Greenland cod. “They are good comedians. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans didn’t give a ... read more ››

A Memento of a Historic Gathering

Whenever Cree people get together for one reason or another, there is a special feeling. A feeling which everyone from the youngest children to the elders feel. It is very hard to describe. It’s one of those things which you have to be a part of to understand. It is a feeling ... read more ››

A river runs through them: The people of the rivers

For many nature-lovers the Moisie River is the most beautiful river on the North Shore of the St-Lawrence. The humid soil along this majestic river’s banks is fertile ground for a rich assortment of plants and herbs, which provide the Innu people with a virtual pharmacy of medicines for every ... read more ››

Apartheid is dead

The door slammed shut on apartheid this month as non-white South Africans went to the polls for the first time. Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress was elected with an overwhelming majority. The National Party came in second with about 20 per cent of the vote. It was the National Party that ... read more ››

Comte Claims He’s Seen Cree “Cleavage”

La Presse is at it again. The newspaper printed a lengthy opinion piece on April 27 that breaks new ground in the popular Quebec pastime of native-bashing. The article in question was written by “media consultant” Henri L. Comte, and is entitled: “Bipolarization of Cree society: radicals in the north, moderates in ... read more ››

Flights might double

A new federal report says low-level military training flights over Labrador could rise to 15,000 a year from the current 7,000 to 8,000. The Innu people have protested against the flights for years. But a federal environmental report has given its okay to the Defense Department’s plans to expand activities at ... read more ››

Freeman Pushes Alternative Energy Sources

David Freeman says Canada should avoid making the same mistakes as the U.S. when it comes to the environment. “We’ve just about cleaned out nature’s store down here in the United States, and it’s precisely because we’ve done such a bad job with our own environment that we think we’re in ... read more ››

Hydro Faces Review in U.S.

Support is increasing in Massachusetts for a bill that would apply state environmental laws to the Great Whale River Project. In early April, the bill gained the backing of Senator Mark Montigny, the influential co-chair of the legislature’s energy committee. Environmentalists say Great Whale will probably not satisfy the state’s environmental ... read more ››

Hydro Troddles Off to Colombia

Hydro-Quebec is involved in a huge dam project in Colombia that threatens to destroy the way of life of local indigenous people, says a Gazette report. Hydro-Quebec International is responsible for checking the validity of an environmental-impact study into the Calima 3 hydroelectric project. The study was done by Roche International, ... read more ››

I Consider Myself Fortunate

She has seen the transition from the old to the new. She understands what an iiyou skwow is. She saw what her mother went through to raise her family. She knew the hardship. She knows what needs to be done to survive. She now has her family, putting into practice what ... read more ››

Kentucky Fried Chicken in Mistissini?

The Northern Store in Mistissini has approached the Band Council to pay for renovations on its store and help the company expand its operations in the community. The renovations could cost Mistissini Crees about $1 million. Northern’s plans may include opening a Pizza Hut and a Kentucky Fried Chicken. Without the ... read more ››

Lady Warriors on once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe

After 12 days, three countries, nine cities, seven basketball games and endless sightseeing in museums, castles, monuments, churches, restaurants and shops, the James Bay Eeyou School’s Lady Warriors basketball team could say they experienced a trip of a lifetime. With 12 girls, our first day included two airplane trips, a bus ... read more ››

Like no other restaurant in the world

There is no restaurant in the world like the one at the Auberge Kanio-Kashee Lodge in Waskaganish. I say this because I am positive there is no other restaurant that comes closer to combining the dining experience with the religious experience. I know this sounds incredible but let me explain. I ... read more ››

One-Sided History Isn’t Truth

There is a book called 1984 and in that book one of the themes is a simple idea. Whoever controls the past controls the present, and whoever controls the present controls the future. What they mean by this is that if you write the history books and write them in ... read more ››

Our Traditions Hold the Answers

Christine Metallic is a MicMac woman from Restigouche, Quebec. She is working for the Atlantic First Nations AIDS Task Force, whose mandate is to provide prevention and support to natives in the Atlantic provinces on the issue of AIDS. The Task Force is a newly formed organization which recently developed ... read more ››

Pauktuutit Ten Years After

The Inuit Women’s Association, Pauktuutit, has a big job to do. Many social issues like housing and justice get dumped into its lap because other large Inuit organizations tend to deal more with issues like land claims and development. “We deal with the rest,” says Helen Levecque, who is Pauktuutit’s ... read more ››

PCBs Caused Oka, Says Biologist

PCBs caused the Oka crisis. At least that’s the theory of Henry Lickers, a biologist who runs the Akwesasne Band Council’s environment department. “Akwesasne is the most polluted native reserve in Canada,” he says in a recent report in La Presse. “The St-Lawrence River, where the Mohawks used to fish, is contaminated. ... read more ››

SM-3 Unstoppable?

Even if the Innu of Maliotenam vote no to the SM-3 hydro-project, Hydro-Quebec plans to go ahead anyway. The Innu community at the mouth of the Moisie River is going to the polls June 13 to vote on an agreement-in-principle reached between Innu leaders and Hydro-Quebec on the Sainte-Marguerite project. “The Innu ... read more ››

Terra Nullius… Not!

This book should be required reading for the Euro-Canadians who think living conditions on reserves are as good as or better than the average Quebecer’s or who believe government funding should be cut to aboriginal people or for the journalists who have been accused of racism against native peoples. As a ... read more ››