Volume 9, Issue 5

Consultations tour newsbites

The January meeting of the Cree Nation Youth Council was postponed until Monday January 21st. This was done as an act of respect as Grand Chief Ted Mosses Mother-in-law passed away. The original two-day meeting has been shortened to one day. Selling the Youth on the AIP will be a tough ... read more ››

Dealing with the Cold

I went out for a walk today with a friend of mine and got my first blast of freezing winter weather. We were both prepared for the weather and were bundled up in warm winter ackets, an extra layer of clothes, toques, mitts and heavy Boots. It has always been ... read more ››

Elders meet in nemaska

Elders from all nine Cree communities arrived in Nemaska January 15 to discuss the AIP. Even though there were only six official delegates invited from each community, many more showed up. By the end about 100 were registered. Chisasibi, which provided more delegates than any other community, shared what they experienced ... read more ››

English Translation, Letter to Grand Chief Ted Moses

Dear Grand Chief Ted Moses, I am writing to formally give you my comments about the Agreement in Principle (AIP). In my opinion this act is what Robert Kennedy, Jr. referred to in the movie Power; One River Two Nations: “(a) re-enactment of what has happened to First Nations for 500 years.” ... read more ››

Otish Mountain a diamond site?

Even Wemindji’s diamonds didn’t set off this kind of rush to stake and claim the area. Aston Mining and Soquem Inc said in a report that a 205-kilogram sample from exploration at Otish Mountain yielded 5 macro and 54 micro diamonds. Another 163-kilogram sample saw 29 macro and 116 micro ... read more ››

Quebec’s Man of the Year

Grand Chief Ted Moses was recently named the most influential man of the Year in Quebec by the French-language newsmagazine L’Actualité. The magazine says that they chose ten people who have attracted attention and have had an impact on society that will change lives. Moses was number one on their ... read more ››

Section 35 of the Indian Act

Many people are not familiar with the real scope and actions of Section 35 of the Indian Act. Section 35 of the Indian Act allows the provincial or territorial government to take land away from the reserves for “public purposes.” These could include rights of way for power, gas and ... read more ››

the Dogs Ear

Lakota Woman Written by Mary Crow Dog and Richard Erdoes. Published by Harper Perenial, 1991 -Reviewed by Will Nicholls This is the story of a Lakota woman, hence the title, who started life as Mary Brave Bird. She was born into a reservation world that Crees know well. When she was born ... 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 ››

The Value of Our Ways

We know that traditional knowledge of Aboriginal peoples predates science and modern thinking by hundreds of years but let’s look at some comparisons to judge the value of our knowledge. What about the field of medicine? Did you know that the vast majority of medication on the market comes from Aboriginal ... read more ››

Traditional Knowledge

Another example of what is good for the economy is the destruction of the environment and nonrenewable resources generates money in terms of jobs for workers tearing up what cannot be replaced. There is a recent move to replace the GDP with the Genuine Progress Indicator, which would not only ... read more ››

White Privilege

[Note: This article by Robert Jensen, Department of Journalism, University of Texas, originally appeared in the Baltimore Sun newspaper.] Here’s what white privilege sounds like: I’m sitting in my University of Texas office, talking to a very bright and very conservative white student about affirmative action in college admissions, which ... read more ››