Volume 6, Issue 11

A Journey of Wellness

The second annual Journey of Wellness was completed this past month In Mistissini. This journey which started in Nitchequon on February 24 covered approximately 500 kilometres and took the participants about 30 days in total. James Alfred Gunner, the same Jimmy leading the regional journey (see p. 10), started this ... read more ››

Bear with me on this dear readers.

Oooooooookay! Bear with me on this dear readers. Two adventurers from Chicago and Milwaukee paddled their canoe from the Mississippi River towards the muskeg in search of caribou and moose during a raging blizzard in Northern Canada. They didn’t see any life except for a few chipmunks, a raccoon and a skunk. ... read more ››

Canada violating HUMAN RIGHTS OF Natives, UN says

Canada is violating international law and the human rights of First Nations people, according to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The social situation of Native people “is the most pressing human-rights issue facing Canadians,” the committee said in a report March 26. By ignoring the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, ... read more ››

Chief pleads not guilty

Chief John Kitchen of Waswanipi made his first court appearance on March 15 in Senneterre to face a charge of drinking and driving. He pled not guilty. The charge stems from an incident last August in which the chief’s sport-utility vehicle went off the road and into the ditch between Desmaraisville ... read more ››

Chiefs launch hunger strike over health crisis

Two chiefs have occupied part of Sioux Lookout Hospital and promised not to eat until they see action on a crisis in health care in Northern Ontario, reports a newspaper. Chiefs Paddy Peters and Donny Morris began their protest on Friday, April 9. They are protesting the erosion of health services in ... read more ››

Dec. 31 set as deadline for Hydro deal

Hydro-Quebec met with Cree leaders in Montreal over two days to propose a hydroelectric project involving a partial diversion of the Rupert River into the Eastmain basin. Hydro spokeswoman Claudine Aucuit called the sessions exploratory meetings in which the provincial utility presented a commercial opportunity to the Crees. If Crees are interested ... read more ››

Greetings from Thailand

I can’t quite believe it myself but I am writing this in the comfort of an air-conditioned email business in downtown Patong, Thailand. It is plus 36 degrees outside on the bustling streets of this medium-sized fishing and tourism city. The sun has gone down and the streets have come alive ... 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 ››

Nurses strike deal

Nurses in the Cree communities stepped back from the brink of a mass resignation after a last-minute offer from Quebec. The nurses had threatened to quit en masse after saying the government has ignored their plight. They were upset about their pay, accommodations, heavy workload and other issues. Nurses in the Inuit ... read more ››

The Sweat Lodge: The Experience

It is not my wish to influence anyone’s beliefs but only to share my experience and some knowledge of the sweat lodge. My own experience is about myself and research from libraries. The reader may feel an energy that will enhance his or her thoughts and feelings. Your spirit will ... read more ››

Time for a true change

This editorial is going to be short. As short as the way Minister Guy Chevrette has treated the Crees. I hear that, after demanding a meeting with the chiefs to clear up forestry and axing the Cree/Quebec Memorandum of Understanding negotiations and funding, Chevrette canceled a scheduled meeting until after ... read more ››

Vancouver to host AFN summit with U.S. Natives

Five thousand delegates are expected in Vancouver at a historic meeting of the two biggest First Nations organizations in Canada and the U.S. The Assembly of First Nations and U.S. National Congress of American Indians are planning their meeting in late July. “There are many common issues related to land, access to resources, ... read more ››

Vehicle Accidents

Chisasibi, April 9, 1999 The Editorial Board The Nation beesum@beesum-communications.com Dear Friends, We would like to congratulate Ms. L. Moore, from Waskaganish, for calling attention to what is surely one of the greatest public health problems in Eeyou Istchee. Motor vehicle accidents have taken away the lives of people of all ages, resulting in unbearable ... read more ››

Voices of the Elders: The Flood

As told by Louisa Diamond Sr. It was during the hunt in the fall and there were a lot of birds. That’s all you would hear, wavies. Although there were many wavies, if it was a calm day, Moojoo wouldn’t go hunting. He would wait until it was windy. Even if ... read more ››

Walking for all the Right Reasons

Health needs and services in Quebec have been slashed to the bone in the name of balancing the provincial budget. Down south the stories of social and health services being cut and hospitals closed are nothing new these days. In the past people used to fundraise to get special equipment ... read more ››

Waswanipi set to block road this summer

The Waswanipi band council has decided to go ahead with a blockade to protest forestry policies sometime this summer, according to a council member. The decision was not made in a formal resolution, but the chief, John Kitchen, reportedly supported the idea. The idea was then brought before a community general assembly ... read more ››