Volume 10, Issue 19

A King is Born

The king of the jungle roars for his food at Parc Safari in Hemmingford, QC. Born on May 31st, 2003, the little king is the centre of attention displaying an abundance of cuteness. The little king must be handled like a newborn baby drinking formula from a bottle and establishing a ... read more ››

Back to the Land – Coon Come Faced Impossible Task at AFN

Three years ago this month, Matthew Coon Come walked into a packed Neoskweskau arena in his home-town of Mistissini to a hero’s welcome. He had just been elected National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations and the pride in the prodigal son was palpable, with the 2,000 or so ... read more ››

BC Judge Quashes Native Fishery

Native-only, commercial salmon fisheries are a form of racial discrimination and thus a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a BC Provincial Court judge ruled last week. In a landmark decision certain to have far-reaching implications for the West Coast’s fishing industry, Mr. Justice William Kitchen declared native-only ... read more ››

CBC Trashes Aboriginal Poet

Pauline Johnson, (1861 -1913) the Metis poet from a First Nations reserve in Ontario, was portrayed as a drunk with a British accent in a comedy sketch on CBC in Regina in late July. The program drew an official complaint, filed with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code against CBC Regina’s ... read more ››

Clayoquot First Nation ‘Evicts’ Forest Company

On the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Clayoquot Sound protests on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation is handing an eviction notice to International Forest Products. Tla-o-qui-aht councillor Simon Tom said hereditary chiefs say they want Interfor gone because the logging company is ignoring their ... read more ››

Cree Construction Fires Protesters

Three workers for Cree Construction have been fired after organizing a protest over what they say is racism shown them by non-native superiors. The workers had been building access roads to Hydro Quebec’s EM-1 project. They organized a blockade June 20 of about 50 Cree Construction employees, including non-native workers, to ... read more ››

Masty: Master of ‘Magoostui

In an election that produced no surprises, David Masty Sr. has been re-elected Chief for a second three-year term in Whapmagoostui. Masty won by a landslide, taking 209 out of 245 votes cast. His challenger for chief, Josie George, gained 52 votes. In other races from the July vote, Frances George ... read more ››

Natives Look to Israel for Lost Spirit

Edwin Francis Jebb is looking to the people of Israel to revive the spirit of Canada’s native children. The education director of the Opaskwayak reserve in Manitoba left Toronto in July for Israel to look for inspiration in his people’s own struggle for land, heritage and identity. “The spirit of our children ... read more ››

Natives Refusing to Register Guns

Thousands of aboriginals across Canada are refusing to obtain gun licences and register their rifles and shotguns under the federal Firearms Act, according to government documents unearthed by the Canadian Alliance and reported by the National Post. Justice Department surveys and briefing papers show that most aboriginal gun owners and their ... read more ››

Peter John Gull: June 10, 1943 – June 18, 2003

The family announces with great sorrow his death at the General Hospital in Montreal, Quebec on Wednesday June 18, 2003 at the age of 60, he was the beloved husband of Emily Gull. He is preceded in death by his parents, Anna and William Gull; his sisters Maggie & Daisy Gull; ... read more ››

Phil Fontaine: Back to the Future?

By now everyone knows that Phil Fontaine has been elected – for the second time around – as leader of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN). The easy part is over for Fontaine, now he must get down to the nitty gritty of leading an organization that faces many challenges. The first, ... read more ››

Picking up the New Canoe

Freighter canoes are important vehicles that are used to make life easier on the James Bay coast. The rivers are our highways and these canoes provide our transportation. Just about every canoe bought up north is a canvas covered wooden boat purchased from the Northern Store. These boats come at ... read more ››

The Adventures of Wee Willie Nicholls

Once upon a time, there was a young Cree with great ambitions. He was going to take the computer world by storm and he had all the right credentials. Yes, he looked like Bill Gates. After completing studies in the then unknown world of computing and Basic language, he went ... read more ››

Urban Native

I recently returned from spending two weeks researching eco-tourism and the indigenous people in Suriname. It’s a small country located above Brazil next to French Guyana. Suriname is a former Dutch colony, which they acquired in a swap with Britain for New Amsterdam, now known as New York. The country ... read more ››

Who is Phil Fontaine?

It’s probably fair to say that most Cree people didn’t follow national native politics very diligently until their native son Matthew Coon Come was elected National Chief. They’d heard of, thanks to our Mohawk brethren during the Oka Crisis, Ovide Mercredi. Chances are the only other prominent Indians they could named ... read more ››