Volume 7, Issue 19

Billy Diamond Voted for Court Action – Minutes of 1999 Meeting Contradict L’Actualité Story

It’s hard not to walk into a corner store or magazine shop in Quebec without seeing his face. Plastered on the cover of L’Actualité, former Grand Chief Billy Diamond made a big splash in the Quebec magazine denouncing the “parasites who orchestrate the ‘Quebec-bashing’ of the Crees.” Billy Diamond’s main criticism was ... read more ››

Charly Washipabano Goes National

Charly Washipabano had the surprise of his life when a letter arrived at his home in Chisasibi one day in July. The 18-year-old was told he’d been chosen for Team Indigenous, an elite squad created and coached by Ojibway hockey legend Ted Nolan. Washipabano was joining 22 other Native teenagers from across ... read more ››

Fear & Questions on the Campaign Trail?

I must say that Billy Diamond never ceases to amaze me. After refusing to talk to the press on more than one occasion he gave in and talked to L’actualité about the Crees. Cree insiders and most Cree know L’actualité. The popular French magazine published an erroneous story on how ... read more ››

Forest Fire Forces 248 to Evacuate

A forest fire went out of control five kilometres south of Whapmagoostui on Sunday, July 31, at 3 p.m. High winds forced the community to declare a state of emergency at 5 p.m. As a result, the Canadian Armed Forces were called in to assist with the initial evacuation. A total of 248 ... read more ››

I am Quite Surprised: Reporter

Calling Billy Diamond. L’Actualité reporter Luc Chartrand wants to speak with you. Chartrand is the journalist who spent hours interviewing Billy Diamond for a nine-page cover story in L’Actualité that slammed the Cree decision last year to go ahead with an injunction in the forestry court case. Now it turns out Diamond ... read more ››

In the Land of the Maya

From craggy mountain-tops to humid jungles, Guatemala’s indigenous majority lives in a country of breathtaking physical and cultural diversity that is struggling to free itself from an apartheid-like legacy. Maŕia Pascual, a small and timid Q’anjob’al woman from the northern Guatemalan village of Yulmacap, tells me through an interpreter that she ... read more ››

Prairie Days

Tonight I am writing this from my room in the historic St. Regis Hotel in downtown Winnipeg. For the last couple of hours I have been entertained by the awesome light show of a passing thunderstorm. I am happy that we were smart enough to make the decision to stop ... read more ››

Trouble Readinq?

Lance Blacksmith has made through school with the help of his friends. Lance has an IQ in the 90-percentile range but he has always had a problem reading. No one could teach him to read even though he wanted to more than anything in the world. It’s hard to remember ... read more ››

UN Creates Permanent Indigenous Forum

The United Nations has decided to create the first permanent forum on indigenous rights that will give the world’s Aboriginal peoples their first high-level representation in the UN system. UN officials called the decision historic, noting that indigenous people have been seeking reprsentation on the international level since they first approached ... read more ››