Volume 10, Issue 1

An Offensive Party?

I find most of what the Alliance stands for offensive, but nothing rivals its policy towards Aboriginal people in sheer, blatant offensiveness. In essence, the Alliance policy proposes to ignore the law as it applies to Aboriginal people. They make no such proposition in relation to white people, only to Aboriginal ... read more ››

Christmas Fever…Attacks Entire Continent

Christmas Time is a coming, Christmas Time’s a coming!… Ever get stuck with a Christmas carol repeating itself over and over again, one of those new catchy tunes, like Redrider’s version of the Chipmunk’s hit Christmas Rock (one of my favorite x-mas ditties). At least it looks like Christmas outside, I ... read more ››

Coon Come Invites U.S. to Review Forestry Impacts

Matthew Coon Come, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, is urging U.S. officials to visit Canada to see “first-hand” how forestry is impacting First Nations communities. The invitation came in the middle of sensitive Canada-U.S. negotiations to renew a trade agreement that regulates Canadian softwood lumber exports to the ... read more ››

Interview with the President

While the world might be holding it’s collective breath (as I write this) to find out who the next leader of the United States might be, this kind of indecision does not plague the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers (CANDO). We at the Nation know who the ... read more ››

Mistissini’s Local Education Conference

I had dropped in on one of the Cree School Boards Council of Commissioners meetings a while back. There were the usual discussions you would expect at these meetings about local and regional budgets, the need for teachers, post-secondary education, continuing education and somehow they even managed to celebrate Chairperson ... read more ››

More Hostility at Friendship Centre

Confusion reigned at Montreal’s Native Friendship Centre last week after rival factions wrestled for control. The problems started after the election of a new board of directors last month. The new board moved right away to suspend the centre’s two top administrators, placing them under investigation. The problems were supposed to be ... read more ››

Moses Meets Bouchard to Unjam Talks

Grand Chief Ted Moses met with Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard on Nov. 23 in a last-ditch attempt to resolve an impasse in Cree-Quebec relations. The meeting, originally scheduled for Nov. 11, had been postponed because negotiations on forestry and other issues had broken down without an agreement. Crees were repeatedly assured the ... read more ››

Parents Want Forensic Audit of School

A group of parents in Whapmagoostui is calling for a forensic audit of the community’s school. The call came in an anonymous five-page open letter that complains of a “very real crisis” in the Badabin Eeyou School. The letter was signed by “some concerned parents.” It lists numerous problems with everything from students’ ... read more ››

Review: Cree Spoken Here

On a cold and wet November night, when the television offered little more than the Montreal Canadiens blowing another hockey game, a mysterious man from Waskaganish dropped a video tape off at my door and scurried away into the darkness. The tape had a white label with the words Cree ... read more ››

Supporting the Arts

There is a vibrant and thriving Aboriginal arts community in Canada. We have some magnificent writers, musicians, dancers, storytellers and visual artists. Many of these artists are familiar with the Canada Council, which is a federal government body that provides support to Canadian artists. In Ontario we also have the ... read more ››

Work Stops on Road with 11 km to go

With only 11 kilometres to go, work has stopped on the long-awaited Waskaganish road after the province and Ottawa decided to hold back promised funds. The 102-km road was supposed to be finished in time for this winter. But the two governments suddenly suspended the flow of money in early November, complaining ... read more ››